Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a demanding open-world title, and the measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 provides a clear picture of how this combination behaves. The dataset covers three resolutions and four quality presets, with average FPS values ranging from 45 to 201. This analysis breaks down the numbers to explain what drives performance, where the bottlenecks are, and which settings offer the most balanced experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 201 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 150 FPS, a decline of 25.4%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 99 FPS, another 34% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steep drop-off at higher resolutions indicates that the GeForce RTX 5080 is the limiting factor once pixel count increases, while the CPU has enough headroom at lower resolutions.

The Medium preset tells a similar story. At 1080p Medium, the average is 151 FPS, which decreases to 112 FPS at 1440p (a 25.8% drop) and then to 74 FPS at 4K (a 33.9% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage declines across Low and Medium suggests that resolution scaling follows a predictable curve, with each step up in pixel count exacting a similar toll on frame rate. The 4K numbers are particularly telling: even at Low settings, the card cannot reach 100 FPS, confirming that 4K is heavily GPU-limited.

For High settings, the scaling is slightly less steep but still pronounced. From 126 FPS at 1080p, the average falls to 94 FPS at 1440p (a 25.4% drop) and then to 62 FPS at 4K (a 34% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows the most severe degradation: 90 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p (a 25.6% drop), and 45 FPS at 4K (a 32.8% drop from 1440p). Across all presets, the 1080p-to-1440p transition costs roughly 25% of performance, while the 1440p-to-4K transition costs roughly 33-34%. This consistent pattern is a hallmark of a GPU that is being saturated by resolution, with the CPU contributing less to the equation as pixel count rises.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra widens at higher resolutions. At 1080p, Low (201 FPS) is 123% faster than Ultra (90 FPS). At 4K, Low (99 FPS) is 120% faster than Ultra (45 FPS). The percentage difference remains similar, but the absolute FPS loss is more impactful at 4K, where dropping from Low to Ultra costs 54 FPS versus 111 FPS at 1080p. This indicates that the RTX 5080's raw throughput is the dominant factor at 4K, and settings changes have a proportionally similar effect but with less absolute headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth) position it as a mid-range desktop part. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 14,769 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,085 in single-core, placing it in the 89th percentile among all CPUs.

For a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which is known for its open-world simulation and physics, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 201 FPS, suggesting that the Core Ultra 5 235 can feed frames fast enough to keep the RTX 5080 busy. The single-core score of 2,085 in Cinebench R23 is respectable, and the 5.00 GHz boost clock helps with the game's primary thread workload. However, the processor has no hyperthreading (14 threads for 14 cores), which means multi-threaded scaling relies on physical cores alone.

The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark data include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% higher average score) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% lower). These deltas are negligible, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 235 sits in a performance band where small differences in synthetic scores do not translate into meaningful FPS changes in this game. The data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in Red Dead Redemption 2 at any measured setting, as evidenced by the smooth scaling pattern that tracks GPU load rather than CPU limits.

At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes further. The 62 FPS average at High settings and 45 FPS at Ultra are far below what the CPU could theoretically support, based on the 1080p results. This confirms that the RTX 5080 is the constraining component at higher resolutions, and the CPU's 14 cores and 5.00 GHz boost are sufficient to avoid holding back the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination holds rank 220 out of 3,714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the top 6% of all combinations in the database, a strong showing that reflects the GPU's high-end positioning. The RTX 5080 itself ranks in the 87th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56,083. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile with an average score of 46,062.

The combo rank of 220 out of 3,714 means that roughly 94% of tested combinations perform worse in this game. This is a competitive position, but it is not near the top, suggesting that there are faster pairings available. The measured FPS data supports this: at 4K Ultra, the combo averages 45 FPS, which is playable but not smooth by modern standards. At 1080p Low, the 201 FPS figure is excellent and indicates that the combo can handle esports-level frame rates in this title, though Red Dead Redemption 2 is not typically played at such low settings.

The rank relative to other combos is consistent with the GPU's performance tier. The RTX 5080's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 8060S (0.6% higher average score) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (0.7% higher), both of which are close in synthetic benchmarks. However, those comparisons are for the GPU alone; the combo rank accounts for the CPU pairing, and the Core Ultra 5 235's mid-range standing prevents this combo from breaking into the top 100 or top 50.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset provides 12 measured points, covering three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the averages are: Low 201 FPS, Medium 151 FPS, High 126 FPS, and Ultra 90 FPS. The Medium preset includes a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 173 FPS, indicating some frame variance but generally smooth performance. The spread from Low to Ultra is 111 FPS, a 123% difference, showing that settings have a massive impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop to: Low 150 FPS, Medium 112 FPS, High 94 FPS, and Ultra 67 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS, with the variance narrowing compared to 1080p. The Low-to-Ultra gap is 83 FPS, a 124% difference, similar to the 1080p percentage. This resolution is the sweet spot for high refresh rate monitors, with High settings still delivering 94 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 99 FPS, Medium 74 FPS, High 62 FPS, and Ultra 45 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 85 FPS show that even the lower bound is playable, but Ultra dips to 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Low-to-Ultra gap is 54 FPS, a 120% difference, consistent with the other resolutions.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values across all resolutions, providing insight into frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the 128-173 FPS range is wide, suggesting some scenes are significantly more demanding. At 1440p Medium, the 95-129 FPS range is tighter, and at 4K Medium, the 63-85 FPS range is narrower still. This pattern indicates that as resolution increases, the frame time variance compresses, likely because the GPU becomes more uniformly saturated.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node. It features 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs, along with 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores. The chip has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its FP32 performance is 56.28 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5080 scores 36,565 in Passmark G3D and 8,637 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. It ranks in the 87th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56,083. The nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark data are the AMD Radeon 8060S (0.6% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (0.7% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (2.2% lower). These deltas are small, indicating that the RTX 5080 is competitively positioned.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's role is decisive at 4K. The 62 FPS at High and 45 FPS at Ultra show that the card is fully utilized, with the 16 GB VRAM and 960 GB/s bandwidth sufficient for the game's textures and geometry. The 4K Low result of 99 FPS demonstrates that the GPU can push past 60 FPS when settings are reduced, but the 74 FPS at Medium suggests that even mid-range settings require compromises at 4K. The card's 2617 MHz boost clock and 56.28 TFLOPS provide the raw compute, but the game's optimization limits how much of that power translates to frame rate at maximum settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 151 FPS average with a 128 FPS minimum is well above any playability threshold, and the 173 FPS maximum shows there is headroom for demanding scenes. At 1440p Medium, the 112 FPS average with a 95 FPS minimum keeps gameplay smooth on high refresh rate displays, while the visual upgrade from Low is substantial. At 4K Medium, the 74 FPS average with a 63 FPS minimum is the only preset besides Low that maintains playable frame rates at this resolution.

The High preset is viable at 1080p (126 FPS) and 1440p (94 FPS), but at 4K it drops to 62 FPS, which is borderline for smooth play. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p, where the 90 FPS average is acceptable, but at 1440p (67 FPS) and 4K (45 FPS), it falls below the 60 FPS and 50 FPS thresholds respectively. For users prioritizing frame rate, Low at 4K (99 FPS) or Medium at 1440p (112 FPS) are the best choices. For visual fidelity, Medium at 4K provides the best compromise, as it stays above 60 FPS while offering more detail than Low.

The data shows that the jump from Low to Medium costs roughly 25% of performance at each resolution (151 vs 201 at 1080p, 112 vs 150 at 1440p, 74 vs 99 at 4K), while the jump from Medium to High costs another 17-20% (126 vs 151, 94 vs 112, 62 vs 74). The jump from High to Ultra costs about 28-29% (90 vs 126, 67 vs 94, 45 vs 62). This means that Medium is the most efficient preset in terms of FPS per settings increment, making it the recommended default for this combo.

FAQ

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

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the combo averages 112 FPS with a 95 FPS minimum, making it the best balance of resolution and performance. At 4K, only Low (99 FPS) and Medium (74 FPS) exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance drops when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: Across all presets, the drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is approximately 55-60%. For example, Low goes from 201 to 99 FPS, Medium from 151 to 74 FPS, High from 126 to 62 FPS, and Ultra from 90 to 45 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck at 4K. The FPS drops consistently by 33-34% from 1440p to 4K across all settings, while the CPU's performance headroom is evident in the 1080p results where frame rates exceed 200 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, but with a caveat. At 2560x1440 Ultra, the average FPS is 67, which is above the 60 FPS threshold but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. Medium or High settings provide more consistent frame rates.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 201 FPS while Ultra averages 90 FPS, a difference of 111 FPS or 123%. The Medium preset at 151 FPS offers the best middle ground.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 220 out of 3,714 combos, placing it in the top 6% of all tested CPU-GPU pairings in this game. The RTX 5080's 87th percentile GPU ranking and the Core Ultra 5 235's 89th percentile CPU ranking contribute to this strong overall position.