Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2: Intel Core Ultra 7 265 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060

This combo ranks 2290th out of 2902 tested configurations in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the lower third of all measured combinations. The pairing of a 20-core Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with a 6 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 produces playable frame rates at 1080p with lowered settings, but the GPU consistently becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The data shows a system that can handle the game's CPU demands with ease while the graphics card struggles to maintain smooth performance beyond entry-level settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The 2290th position out of 2902 combos places this configuration in the 21st percentile of all tested systems for Red Dead Redemption 2. This is a modest ranking that reflects the GPU's age and memory constraints rather than the CPU's capability. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 itself sits at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs in general benchmarks, while the RTX 2060 rests at the 58th percentile among all GPUs — a clear disparity that explains the overall ranking.

In the measured FPS data, the combo achieves its best result of 85 FPS average at 1080p with Low settings. When pushed to 4K Ultra, performance collapses to 19 FPS average, which is unplayable by any standard. The gap between the CPU's high percentile ranking and the combo's low game-specific rank underscores that this pairing is GPU-bound in nearly every scenario. The RTX 2060's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks — the GTX 580, Radeon 680M, RTX 3050 OEM, and RX 7600 — all score within 0.8% of each other, indicating the GPU sits in a crowded performance tier that limits its ability to drive high-refresh or high-resolution gaming.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 4464P at -0.3% delta, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F at +0.3%, the AMD EPYC 7343 at +0.7%, and the AMD EPYC 9124 at -0.7%. These margins are negligible, confirming that the Ultra 7 265 is a well-positioned processor in its segment. However, in Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU bottleneck means this CPU strength translates into no measurable advantage — the frame rates are dictated almost entirely by graphics card performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 brings 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, offering 336.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's base clock runs at 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz, and it delivers 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. These specifications place it firmly in the mid-range tier of the GeForce 20-series, and the 58th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its position.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the 6 GB VRAM capacity becomes a critical constraint. At 1080p, the card manages 85 FPS on Low settings and 63 FPS on Medium, but drops to 53 FPS on High and 38 FPS on Ultra. The pattern suggests that beyond Medium settings, the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are saturated. At 1440p, the same trend continues: 63 FPS on Low, 47 FPS on Medium, 39 FPS on High, and 28 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results are the most telling — 42 FPS on Low, 31 FPS on Medium, 26 FPS on High, and 19 FPS on Ultra — showing that the card simply lacks the raw power for 4K gaming in this title.

The RTX 2060's Turing architecture includes 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, along with 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. While these features enable DirectX 12 Ultimate support, the measured data shows that Red Dead Redemption 2's demands exceed what this GPU can provide at higher presets. The GPU's end-of-life production status and its predecessor/successor relationship in the GeForce lineup further contextualize its performance ceiling — this is a card designed for 1080p gaming, and the benchmark results reflect that reality.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 63 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 73 FPS — this is the sweet spot for smooth gameplay. The Low preset achieves 85 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play or high-refresh monitors, but Medium offers a better visual experience while maintaining playability. The High preset at 53 FPS is borderline but acceptable for those prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate stability. Ultra at 38 FPS is not recommended for consistent gameplay.

At 1440p, the Low preset is the only fully playable option, delivering 63 FPS average. Medium drops to 47 FPS with a 40 FPS minimum, which may cause noticeable stuttering in busy scenes. High at 39 FPS and Ultra at 28 FPS are below the threshold for smooth play. Users targeting 1440p should stick with Low settings to maintain frame rates above 60 FPS. The data clearly shows that 1440p Medium is the highest playable configuration, but only if the user can tolerate occasional dips below 45 FPS.

For 4K, no preset achieves even 30 FPS average except Low at 42 FPS. Medium at 31 FPS is marginally playable but with a 27 FPS minimum that will produce visible hitching. High at 26 FPS and Ultra at 19 FPS are not viable for gameplay. The recommendation is to avoid 4K entirely with this GPU unless the user is willing to accept Low settings and frame rates around 42 FPS. In summary, the best experience is 1080p Medium at 63 FPS, with 1080p Low at 85 FPS as the alternative for higher refresh rates.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p with Low settings, which produces 85 FPS average. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 63 FPS, which is still above 60 but with a 54 FPS minimum. At 1440p or higher, 60 FPS is not achievable on any preset.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 or the Core Ultra 7 265 the bottleneck?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck in nearly all scenarios. The CPU ranks at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 58th percentile. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a dramatic drop that is characteristic of GPU limitation, not CPU constraint.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: The best combination is 1080p with Medium settings, yielding 63 FPS average with a 54 FPS minimum. This balances visual quality with smooth gameplay. For higher frame rates, 1080p Low at 85 FPS is the alternative.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290. Its nearest rivals are the GTX 580 at 15283 (0% delta), Radeon 680M at 15270 (0.1% delta), RTX 3050 OEM at 15199 (0.6% delta), and RX 7600 at 15171 (0.8% delta). These differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: Does the 6 GB VRAM cause issues in this game?

A: The 6 GB capacity appears to be sufficient at lower settings but becomes a limiting factor at higher presets. The FPS drops from Low to Ultra at each resolution suggest that memory bandwidth and capacity constraints contribute to the performance degradation, particularly at 1440p and 4K.

Q: What is the CPU's synthetic benchmark standing relative to its rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4464P at 64823 (-0.3%), Intel Core Ultra 7 265F at 64438 (+0.3%), AMD EPYC 7343 at 64202 (+0.7%), and AMD EPYC 9124 at 65104 (-0.7%). All are within 0.7% of each other.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this combo. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 85 at 1080p to 63 at 1440p (a 25.9% decrease) and then to 42 at 4K (a 50.6% decrease from 1440p). This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that has limited compute resources and memory bandwidth — the RTX 2060's 336.0 GB/s bandwidth and 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance cannot keep up with the pixel count increases.

At Medium settings, the progression is 63 FPS at 1080p, 47 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 25.4% from 1080p to 1440p and 34.0% from 1440p to 4K. The High preset shows 53 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and 26 FPS at 4K — drops of 26.4% and 33.3% respectively. The Ultra preset demonstrates the most severe degradation: 38 FPS at 1080p, 28 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K.

The diminishing returns as resolution increases indicate that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller FPS differences between resolutions, especially at lower settings where CPU overhead is more significant. Instead, the consistent ~25-35% FPS reduction per resolution step highlights the GPU's inability to handle higher pixel counts. The 6 GB VRAM capacity also plays a role — at 4K Ultra, the card likely exceeds its memory limits, resulting in the 19 FPS average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 features 20 cores and 20 threads with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This Arrow Lake-S architecture processor on the 3 nm TSMC process node has 17,800 million transistors and a die size of 243 mm². The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw call processing. The benchmark results show that this processor is more than adequate for the task. The 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs in general benchmarks suggests it has substantial headroom even in CPU-intensive scenes. The Passmark multithread score of 49682 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42216 indicate strong parallel processing capability that would prevent CPU bottlenecks in this title.

However, the measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU limitation. The fact that frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings changes points to GPU-bound performance. If the CPU were struggling, we would see similar FPS numbers across different resolutions at the same settings, which is not the case. The CPU's nearest rivals — all within 0.7% in average benchmark score — further confirm that this processor is well-matched to its performance tier, even if that performance cannot be fully utilized in this GPU-limited configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its best performance. Low settings produce 85 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate measured across all configurations. Medium settings deliver 63 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 73 FPS. High settings drop to 53 FPS average, while Ultra settings fall to 38 FPS average. This resolution offers the most flexibility, with playable frame rates available from Low through High settings.

At 2560x1440, performance decreases notably. Low settings yield 63 FPS average, matching the 1080p Medium result. Medium settings produce 47 FPS average with a minimum of 40 FPS and maximum of 54 FPS. High settings drop to 39 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 28 FPS average. The 1440p resolution is only viable on Low settings for consistent frame rates above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal. Low settings achieve 42 FPS average, which is playable but not smooth. Medium settings produce 31 FPS average with a minimum of 27 FPS and maximum of 36 FPS. High settings drop to 26 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 19 FPS average. None of the 4K presets deliver an ideal gaming experience, with even Low settings struggling to maintain consistent frame rates.

The measured data shows a clear pattern: each settings tier costs approximately 20-25% of the frame rate at a given resolution. The RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are the primary constraints, with the GPU's 1920 shading units unable to handle the demands of higher presets. The CPU's 20 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock remain underutilized, as evidenced by the consistent FPS scaling across resolutions. This combo is best suited for 1080p gaming at Medium settings, offering a balanced experience of 63 FPS average with acceptable minimum frame rates.