Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

The measured frame rates for this combination across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher settings, with the RTX 5050's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface becoming the primary constraint as resolution increases. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225, with its 10 cores and 10 threads, provides sufficient processing headroom to keep the GPU fed at lower resolutions, but the data shows a steep performance cliff that emerges when pushing 4K Ultra settings. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data, contextualizes the GPU and CPU roles, and provides actionable settings guidance based strictly on the recorded results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and consistent across all four settings presets, indicating that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 98 FPS at 1920x1080 to 73 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 48 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 51% reduction from 1080p to 4K, and a 34% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern suggests that the RTX 5050's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, as the GPU's 82.30 GPixel/s pixel rate and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are progressively overwhelmed by the increasing number of pixels.

At Medium settings, the same trend holds: 73 FPS at 1080p, 55 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are similar to Low, confirming that resolution scaling is roughly linear regardless of the quality preset. However, the measured min and max FPS values at Medium settings provide additional insight into frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the range spans from 62 to 84 FPS, a 22 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 46-63 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it tightens further to 31-41 FPS. This compression of the frame time variance at higher resolutions is characteristic of a GPU that is consistently saturated, leaving less headroom for variance.

The High preset shows a similar pattern: 61 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 44 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and just 22 FPS at 4K. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 54 FPS (98 vs 44), while at 4K the gap shrinks to 26 FPS (48 vs 22). This shrinking delta at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU becomes the bottleneck—at 4K, even dropping to Low settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel count, whereas at 1080p, the CPU and GPU have enough combined headroom to benefit substantially from lower settings.

The data indicates that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo achieves consistently playable frame rates across all presets, with Low hitting 98 FPS and High reaching 61 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (73 FPS) and Medium (55 FPS) remain comfortably playable, while High dips to 46 FPS. At 4K, the entire preset range falls below 48 FPS, with Ultra dropping to 22 FPS—a figure that is borderline unplayable for most action-adventure titles.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node and a die size of 149 mm². Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a decisive factor in the 4K results. The GPU's base clock is 2317 MHz, boosting to 2572 MHz, with memory running at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). These clocks, combined with 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, produce a peak FP32 throughput of 13.17 TFLOPS.

The benchmark results place the RTX 5050 at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (avg score 21153, delta -0.6%), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (avg score 21237, delta -1%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (avg score 20713, delta +1.6%). This places the RTX 5050 in a competitive mid-range position, but the 4K results suggest that its 8 GB VRAM capacity is a hard limitation for Red Dead Redemption 2 at high resolutions.

The 4K Ultra result of 22 FPS is particularly telling. At that setting, the game's texture and geometry demands likely exceed what 8 GB of VRAM can comfortably hold, causing the GPU to spill over into system memory or aggressively compress assets. The fact that 4K Low only reaches 48 FPS—still below the 60 FPS target—indicates that even with minimal graphical features, the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are insufficient for smooth 4K operation. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 and Passmark G3D score of 17326 corroborate this: the GPU has moderate compute capability but is not designed for 4K gaming at high fidelity.

At 1080p, however, the RTX 5050 performs admirably. The 98 FPS Low result and 61 FPS High result demonstrate that the GPU can handle 1080p with ease, and the 73 FPS Medium result offers a good balance. The GPU's 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores, while not directly benchmarked in this game's FPS data, suggest that ray tracing features, if enabled in the game's settings, would further impact performance—though the measured data does not include RT-specific results.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal preset depends heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset at 73 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with a measured min of 62 FPS ensuring that even the most demanding scenes stay above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 61 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize visual fidelity over a small safety margin, but the Medium preset's frame time consistency (62-84 FPS range) makes it the safer choice.

At 1440p, the Low preset at 73 FPS is the only option that clears the 60 FPS bar, while Medium at 55 FPS is playable but with a narrower margin. High at 46 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra at 33 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. For users with 1440p monitors, the data suggests that Medium is the highest acceptable preset, and even then, frame rates will fluctuate between 46 and 63 FPS, which may be noticeable in fast-paced scenes.

For 4K resolution, the measured results are uniformly below 60 FPS, with Low at 48 FPS being the highest achievable average. Medium at 36 FPS and High at 30 FPS are marginal, while Ultra at 22 FPS is essentially unplayable. Players with 4K displays should either accept Low settings for a playable 48 FPS or consider reducing the resolution to 1440p for a substantially better experience. The data provides no evidence that any 4K preset can deliver a smooth, consistent frame rate with this hardware combination.

The Ultra preset is the least recommendable across all resolutions: 44 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. The performance cost of Ultra over High is substantial—17 FPS at 1080p, 13 FPS at 1440p, and 8 FPS at 4K—without a commensurate visual benefit in most cases. The Medium preset, by contrast, offers a much smaller drop from High (12 FPS at 1080p, 9 FPS at 1440p, 6 FPS at 4K) while providing noticeably better visuals than Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination ranks 1760 out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the lower-middle tier of the database, meaning that roughly 61% of tested combinations outperform it in this specific game. The rank reflects the GPU's constraint at higher resolutions—many combos with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs would achieve better frame rates, particularly at 1440p and 4K.

The CPU's individual benchmark standing is stronger than the combo's overall rank. The Core Ultra 5 225 sits at the 85th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (avg score 36945, delta 0%), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (avg score 37018, delta -0.2%), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (avg score 37093, delta -0.4%), and the Intel Core i9-12900T (avg score 37112, delta -0.5%). The near-zero deltas indicate that the CPU is well-matched with these competitors in synthetic benchmarks, but the game's FPS results show that the GPU is the limiting factor in this combo.

The GPU's percentile ranking (66th among all GPUs) is notably lower than the CPU's (85th), reinforcing the conclusion that the RTX 5050 is the bottleneck in Red Dead Redemption 2. The GPU's nearest rivals in the database—the RX Vega M GL, HD 8970M, and RX 5600 XT—are older or lower-tier parts, yet the RTX 5050 only marginally outperforms or underperforms them in synthetic benchmarks. This explains why the combo's in-game rank is lower than what the CPU alone might suggest.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets stay above 44 FPS, with Low reaching 98 FPS and High reaching 61 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (73 FPS) and Medium (55 FPS) are playable, while 3840x2160 results in 48 FPS or lower across all presets.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The data indicates no. The highest 4K result is 48 FPS at Low settings, with Medium at 36 FPS, High at 30 FPS, and Ultra at 22 FPS. None of these achieve the 60 FPS target, and the 4K Ultra result of 22 FPS is well below playable thresholds.

Q: Which settings preset provides the best balance of quality and performance?

A: At 1080p, the Medium preset at 73 FPS (min 62, max 84) offers the best balance. At 1440p, Low at 73 FPS is the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS, while Medium at 55 FPS is a viable alternative for those willing to accept lower frame rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 ranks at the 85th percentile among CPUs, while the RTX 5050 ranks at the 66th percentile among GPUs. The FPS scaling with resolution—dropping sharply from 1080p to 4K—confirms the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 1760 out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the lower-middle tier. The CPU's nearest rivals (Ryzen 5 5600F, Ryzen 5 5500X3D) have near-identical synthetic scores, but the GPU's performance in this game limits the overall ranking.

Q: What is the measured FPS range at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the range is 62-84 FPS (avg 73). At 2560x1440 Medium, the range is 46-63 FPS (avg 55). At 3840x2160 Medium, the range is 31-41 FPS (avg 36). The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates increasing GPU saturation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 98, Medium 73 (min 62, max 84), High 61, and Ultra 44. The 54 FPS spread between Low and Ultra demonstrates that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution, allowing settings to substantially impact performance. The Medium preset's min of 62 FPS ensures that even the most demanding scenes stay above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the most reliable preset for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop to: Low 73, Medium 55 (min 46, max 63), High 46, and Ultra 33. The Medium preset's min of 46 FPS means that some scenes will dip below the 60 FPS target, but the overall experience remains playable. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 40 FPS, reflecting the increased pixel load. The High preset at 46 FPS is borderline, while Ultra at 33 FPS is likely to feel choppy in action sequences.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 48, Medium 36 (min 31, max 41), High 30, and Ultra 22. The Medium preset's max of 41 FPS is still below the 60 FPS target, indicating that 4K is simply beyond this GPU's capability for this game. The Low preset at 48 FPS is the only 4K option that approaches playability, but even it falls short of a smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 22 FPS is effectively unplayable, and the data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant compromises.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It is built on Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm process from TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 20 MB shared L3. Memory support is DDR5 dual-channel with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth, and the CPU connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes.

Synthetic benchmarks show the CPU performing strongly: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 25891, single-core scores 3655, and Passmark multithread scores 30459. The Passmark single-thread score of 4412 confirms strong single-core performance, which is important for games that rely on a few heavily threaded tasks. The CPU's percentile ranking of 85th among all CPUs places it well above the GPU's 66th percentile, and its average benchmark score of 36938 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals—the Ryzen 5 5600F at 36945 and the Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37018.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 98 FPS, which suggests the CPU can handle high frame rates when the GPU is not bottlenecked. However, as resolution increases and the GPU becomes saturated, the CPU's contribution diminishes. The fact that 1080p Ultra (44 FPS) is much lower than 1080p Low (98 FPS) indicates that the GPU, not the CPU, is the limiting factor at higher settings. The CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads are sufficient for this game's threading model, which typically scales well with fewer, faster cores rather than massive multi-core counts.

The CPU's TDP of 65 W and the GPU's TDP of 130 W suggest a balanced power envelope for a mid-range desktop system, though the data does not include power draw measurements during gaming. The CPU's integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 16 execution units is present but irrelevant for gaming when the discrete RTX 5050 is installed. Overall, the Core Ultra 5 225 provides ample processing power for this game, and the performance ceiling in Red Dead Redemption 2 is determined almost entirely by the RTX 5050's capabilities.