Red Dead Redemption 2

Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B370 lands at rank 3430 out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. That places this configuration in the bottom 8% of all tested system pairings, a result driven almost entirely by the graphics solution. The CPU is a high-end desktop part, but the benchmark data shows the combo struggling to produce playable frame rates at most settings and resolutions. For context, the Arc B370’s standalone 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 puts it at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals in that test are all legacy mobile or entry-level desktop parts from over a decade ago. This is not a combination built for modern action-adventure titles at high fidelity, and the measured FPS confirms that.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 3430 out of 3714 tested combinations places this Intel pairing in the lower tier of all configurations evaluated for Red Dead Redemption 2. Only 284 tested combos perform worse, which means roughly 92% of all system pairings deliver higher average frame rates. The gap between this combo and the top performers is enormous, but even among mid-range setups, this pairing falls far behind. The limiting factor is unambiguous: the Arc B370’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 sits at the 5th percentile, and its nearest rivals in that benchmark are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2% delta), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5% delta), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7% delta), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, +1.4% delta). Those are all parts that predate Red Dead Redemption 2’s release by years, and they are nowhere near capable of running the game at modern standards.

The CPU, by contrast, is a top-tier part. The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus scores 44253 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 2439 in single-core, and ranks at the 96th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the Intel Xeon 6520P (93786, 0% delta), AMD EPYC 4564P (95183, -1.5% delta), AMD EPYC 9175F (95615, -1.9% delta), and AMD EPYC 4565P (95764, -2.1% delta). Those are server and workstation processors, not gaming chips, but the 270K Plus holds its own against them in raw compute. In Red Dead Redemption 2, though, the CPU’s strength is wasted because the GPU cannot keep up. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 47 FPS average, which is the best result in the entire measured set. At 1080p Ultra, that drops to 21 FPS. The data shows a system where the processor is never the bottleneck; the graphics adapter is.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution using the Xe3-LPG architecture on a Panther Lake chip, fabricated on Intel’s 3 nm process. Its base clock is 300 MHz, boosting to 2400 MHz, and it has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units. The memory configuration is listed as “System Shared” in size, type, bus width, and bandwidth is “System Dependent.” That means the GPU relies on the system’s DDR5 memory, which the CPU supports in dual-channel configuration at 115.2 GB/s. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 6.144 TFLOPS. The TDP is 25 W, and it is an IGP solution with no power connectors.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, this GPU produces the following average frame rates: at 3840x2160, High gives 14 FPS, Medium gives 17 FPS (with min 15 and max 20), Low gives 23 FPS, and Ultra gives 10 FPS. At 2560x1440, High gives 22 FPS, Medium gives 26 FPS (min 22, max 30), Low gives 35 FPS, and Ultra gives 16 FPS. At 1920x1080, High gives 29 FPS, Medium gives 35 FPS (min 30, max 40), Low gives 47 FPS, and Ultra gives 21 FPS. The pattern is consistent: even at the lowest settings and lowest resolution, the GPU barely reaches 47 FPS. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 is the only GPU benchmark available, and it corroborates the in-game data. The Arc B370’s 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs means it is outperformed by 95% of graphics solutions in that synthetic test. Its nearest rivals in that benchmark are all ancient parts, confirming that this GPU is not designed for demanding titles like Red Dead Redemption 2.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of what settings are viable. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 47 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo at any resolution or settings level. Medium at 1080p yields 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 and maximum of 40, which is technically playable but below the 60 FPS target most gamers expect. High at 1080p drops to 29 FPS, and Ultra falls to 21 FPS. At 1440p, Low produces 35 FPS, Medium 26 FPS (min 22, max 30), High 22 FPS, and Ultra 16 FPS. At 4K, the results are largely unplayable: Low gives 23 FPS, Medium 17 FPS (min 15, max 20), High 14 FPS, and Ultra 10 FPS.

The data suggests that the only setting that approaches a playable experience is 1080p Low, which still falls short of 60 FPS. For users who prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity, 1080p Low is the best option, as it is the only configuration that breaks past 40 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a modest visual upgrade but costs 12 FPS on average compared to Low, and its minimum frame rate of 30 FPS means occasional stutter. High and Ultra at any resolution are not recommended, as the average frame rates dip below 30 FPS even at 1080p. The measured data indicates that this combo is best suited for low-resolution, low-detail gaming, and even then, it will not maintain a locked 60 FPS. If the game is playable at 30 FPS, 1080p Medium is the highest quality setting that stays above that threshold on average, but 1080p Low is the only setting that provides a consistent margin above minimum playability.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 47, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset. No other resolution or settings combination exceeds 35 FPS average.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 with a score of 1186 (-0.2% delta), ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1190 (-0.5% delta), AMD Radeon HD 7650M with 1192 (-0.7% delta), and AMD FirePro M2000 with 1168 (+1.4% delta). These deltas are all within 1.4% of the Arc B370’s score.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus a strong processor relative to others?

A: Yes, the CPU ranks at the 96th percentile among all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 44253, and its single-core score is 2439. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Xeon 6520P (93786, 0% delta) and AMD EPYC 4564P (95183, -1.5% delta), showing it performs comparably to server-class parts.

Q: What is the lowest frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 10, recorded at 3840x2160 with the Ultra settings preset. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum FPS of 15, which is the lowest min FPS value explicitly listed in the measured data.

Q: Can this combo run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 1440p?

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 35 FPS average, Medium 26 FPS (min 22, max 30), High 22 FPS, and Ultra 16 FPS. None of these results are consistently above 30 FPS, so 1440p is not a viable resolution for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the combo’s performance rank among all tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 3430 out of 3714 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. That places it in the bottom 8% of all tested system pairings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep decline as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 47 FPS at 1920x1080 to 35 FPS at 2560x1440, a 25.5% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160 at Low, the average drops from 35 FPS to 23 FPS, a further 34.3% reduction. At Medium settings, 1080p yields 35 FPS, 1440p yields 26 FPS, and 4K yields 17 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 9 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is another 9 FPS. At High settings, 1080p gives 29 FPS, 1440p gives 22 FPS, and 4K gives 14 FPS. At Ultra, 1080p gives 21 FPS, 1440p gives 16 FPS, and 4K gives 10 FPS.

The pattern is consistent: each resolution step up reduces the frame rate by roughly 25-35%. This scaling behavior is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering workload increases with pixel count. The Arc B370’s limited compute resources, as evidenced by its 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate, are simply insufficient to handle higher resolutions. The fact that the frame rate drops so dramatically from 1080p to 4K indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the processor’s workload does not scale with resolution. The data shows the opposite, confirming that the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is not the constraint. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44253 and 96th percentile ranking suggest it has ample headroom, but the GPU cannot feed frames fast enough to utilize it.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process from TSMC. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, boosting up to 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache configuration includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3. It supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s. The processor also features integrated graphics in the form of Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44253 and single-core score of 2439 place it at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 93785 is nearly identical to the Intel Xeon 6520P’s 93786.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role is largely underutilized due to the GPU bottleneck. The measured frame rates are low across all settings, but the pattern of results is characteristic of a system where the graphics adapter is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 47 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 21 FPS. The CPU’s performance does not change with resolution or settings; it is the GPU that must render more pixels and apply more complex effects. The 24 cores and 24 threads of the 270K Plus are far more than needed for this game, which is an action-adventure title released in 2018 and does not scale well beyond a handful of threads. The processor’s high single-core score of 2439 in Cinebench R23 ensures that even the game’s primary simulation thread is handled with ease. The data shows no evidence of CPU-related stuttering or frame drops; the minimum FPS values recorded (e.g., 15 FPS at 4K Medium, 30 FPS at 1080p Medium) align with the GPU’s limitations rather than any CPU constraint. This CPU is more than capable of driving a much faster discrete GPU, but in this pairing, it is held back by the integrated Arc B370.