Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination delivers a solid but aging performance profile in Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows a clear scaling pattern where the 4K experience remains demanding, while 1080p and 1440p offer smoother gameplay. This analysis breaks down the measured results, focusing on where the bottleneck shifts between the CPU and GPU across different settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a significant performance drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 145 FPS on average. Moving to 1440p at the same Low preset, the average drops to 108 FPS, a 25% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 72 FPS, another 33% decline from 1440p. This steep scaling curve indicates that the RTX 3080 becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel count demands more from the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading units.

The pattern persists across all settings presets. At High settings, the average frame rate goes from 91 FPS at 1080p, to 68 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 45 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is roughly 25%, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is about 34%. This suggests that 4K resolution is particularly taxing on this combination, with the GPU struggling to maintain playable frame rates at higher quality presets.

At Medium settings, the scaling shows a similar trend: 109 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 65 FPS at 1080p, 49 FPS at 1440p, and only 32 FPS at 4K. The data indicates that the RTX 3080's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 320-bit bus width are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K the GPU's raw compute power becomes the limiting factor, especially with higher quality settings.

The resolution scaling analysis shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 4K, only the Low preset achieves a playable average of 72 FPS, while Medium and High fall below the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 4K, with its 32 FPS average, is clearly not viable for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that the RTX 3080's performance ceiling is reached at 1440p with High settings, where it delivers 68 FPS, a reasonable balance between visual quality and frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 features a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, with 8704 shading units and 272 texture mapping units. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at 19 Gbps effective, providing a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s across a 320-bit bus. These specifications contribute to its pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s. In Red Dead Redemption 2, these characteristics directly influence the measured frame rates.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 29.77 TFLOPS supports its role in handling the game's complex lighting and shadow computations. At 1080p Low, the RTX 3080 delivers 145 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not the bottleneck at this resolution and settings level. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows proportionally. The 4K Ultra result of 32 FPS highlights the GPU's limitations when pushing 8.3 million pixels with maximum quality settings.

The RTX 3080's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present, but their impact on this game's frame rates is not directly measured. The data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution, suggesting that the 10 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for the tested settings. The 760.3 GB/s memory bandwidth helps maintain consistent frame rates at 1440p, where the GPU can keep up with the game's demands.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23172, which is 0.3% lower than the NVIDIA P106-100 and 0.4% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6600M. This places the RTX 3080 in the 68th percentile among all GPUs. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's performance at 1440p High (68 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (65 FPS) suggests it handles the game's engine well, but the 4K results reveal its age relative to newer hardware.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 30 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 bus supports the GPU's data demands. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is strong, as shown by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and PassMark multi-thread score of 49682. Its single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960, is sufficient for the game's main thread. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 145 FPS, suggesting the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output at this level.

However, the CPU's influence on frame rates becomes apparent when comparing 1080p and 1440p results at the same settings. At Low settings, the drop from 145 FPS to 108 FPS is 25%, while at High settings the drop is also 25% (91 to 68 FPS). This consistent scaling indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in these scenarios, as the GPU's workload increases with resolution.

The Core Ultra 7 265's 20 cores and 20 threads provide ample parallel processing for the game's background tasks. Its PassMark physics score of 2923 and data compression score of 522983 indicate strong computational abilities. Compared to its nearest rivals, the CPU's average benchmark score of 64640 is 0.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F and 0.7% higher than the AMD EPYC 7343. This places the CPU in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, indicating it is a high-performing processor that does not bottleneck the RTX 3080 in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 785th out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places the combo in the top 27% of all tested configurations, indicating a solid mid-to-high-tier performance. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's strong computational capabilities and the GPU's aging but capable rendering power.

The combo's ranking is influenced by the GPU's 68th percentile performance, which is lower than the CPU's 93rd percentile. This disparity suggests that the RTX 3080 is the more limiting component in this pairing. In the game's measured results, the combo performs best at 1080p, where it achieves over 90 FPS on High settings and 145 FPS on Low. These results are competitive with other combos in the same rank range.

At 1440p, the combo delivers 68 FPS on High and 108 FPS on Low, which are playable frame rates for most gamers. The 4K results, however, are less impressive, with only the Low preset exceeding 60 FPS. This performance profile aligns with the combo's rank, which suggests it is better suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p or standard 1440p gaming rather than 4K.

The combo's ranking also reflects the GPU's memory configuration. The 10 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, the 32 FPS average indicates the GPU is overwhelmed. The CPU's strong single-thread performance helps maintain frame consistency, as seen in the Medium settings results where the minimum FPS is 92 at 1080p and 69 at 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 145 FPS, Medium settings 109 FPS with a minimum of 92 and maximum of 125, High settings 91 FPS, and Ultra settings 65 FPS. These results show that the combo can comfortably handle 1080p gaming at any preset, with even Ultra exceeding 60 FPS.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates drop but remain playable. Low settings yield 108 FPS, Medium 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 and maximum of 93, High 68 FPS, and Ultra 49 FPS. The Medium settings data shows a tight frame time distribution, suggesting consistent performance. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls below 60 FPS, indicating that maximum quality is not achievable at this resolution.

At 4K, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings produce 72 FPS, Medium 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and maximum of 62, High 45 FPS, and Ultra 32 FPS. The Medium settings at 4K show a wider variance between minimum and maximum frame rates, indicating less stability. The 4K results clearly show that the RTX 3080 is the limiting factor, as the CPU's performance cannot compensate for the GPU's workload at this resolution.

The data reveals a clear hierarchy: 1080p Low is the fastest configuration at 145 FPS, followed by 1440p Low at 108 FPS, and 4K Low at 72 FPS. The Medium settings provide a good balance, with 109 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. High settings offer 91 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are only recommended at 1080p, where the 65 FPS average is still playable.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2 depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is viable with an average of 65 FPS, offering the highest visual quality while maintaining playable frame rates. For gamers prioritizing smoothness, the High preset at 91 FPS provides a better experience with a 40% increase in frame rate over Ultra.

At 1440p, the High preset is the recommended choice, delivering 68 FPS on average. This balances visual fidelity with performance, as the Ultra preset drops to 49 FPS, which may be too low for fast-paced action. The Medium preset at 81 FPS is also a strong option for those wanting higher frame rates, offering a 19% improvement over High with a slight reduction in visual quality.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset is the only configuration that achieves a consistently playable frame rate, with 72 FPS on average. The Medium preset at 54 FPS is borderline, with a minimum of 46 FPS that may cause noticeable stuttering. The High and Ultra presets at 45 FPS and 32 FPS, respectively, are not recommended for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that 4K is not the optimal resolution for this combo, as it requires significant compromises in visual quality.

The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for this combo across all resolutions. It provides 109 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K, with consistent frame times as shown by the minimum and maximum values. For most users, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the best combination of visual quality and performance, with 81 FPS average and a minimum of 69 FPS ensuring a smooth experience.