Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B570 presents a specific performance profile in Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows a configuration that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, while the processor's strength becomes more apparent at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, scaling behavior, and component roles to help you understand what this combination delivers.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating that the Intel Arc B570 is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 79 at 1920x1080 to 59 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 20 FPS, and then down to 39 at 3840x2160, which is roughly half of the 1080p figure. This pattern shows a clear GPU-bound scenario where the rendering load at higher pixel counts outstrips what the Arc B570 can manage.

At Medium settings, the scaling follows a similar curve: 59 FPS at 1080p, 44 at 1440p, and 29 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 15 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is another 15 FPS, showing a nearly linear decline as pixel count increases. This suggests that memory bandwidth and raw fill rate are being taxed, as the Arc B570’s 380.0 GB/s bandwidth and 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are fixed resources that must be spread across more pixels.

For High settings, the numbers are 49 FPS at 1080p, 37 at 1440p, and 24 at 4K. The 4K result is particularly telling—it dips below 30 FPS, which is generally considered the minimum for smooth gameplay. The gap between 1080p and 4K here is 25 FPS, a 51% reduction, which underscores how much headroom is lost when the GPU is pushed to its limits. Ultra settings make the situation worse, with 36 FPS at 1080p, 27 at 1440p, and just 18 at 4K.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, but the data shows a consistent decline that tracks with the GPU’s workload. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock, has ample processing power to feed the Arc B570 at 1080p, but as resolution climbs, the GPU’s 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 160-bit bus width become the constraining factors. The 4K Medium result of 29 FPS with a minimum of 25 FPS shows that even moderate settings can cause frame drops, reinforcing that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming rather than 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance on which preset offers the best balance between visual quality and playable frame rates. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 79 FPS average, which is excellent for fast-paced action, but it sacrifices visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS, which is a safer choice for maintaining a consistent experience without the visual harshness of Low settings. The High preset at 49 FPS is still playable but starts to approach the threshold where dips might become noticeable.

At 2560x1440, the situation shifts. Low settings produce 59 FPS average, which matches the 1080p Medium result, but the visual quality is lower. Medium at 1440p gives 44 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS, which is workable for a game like Red Dead Redemption 2 that doesn’t require twitch reflexes. High at 1440p drops to 37 FPS, which is borderline; it may feel smooth in calm scenes but could struggle during intense moments. Ultra at 1440p is not recommended, as the 27 FPS average falls below the 30 FPS threshold.

For 3840x2160, no preset achieves a fully smooth experience. Low settings is the only option that breaks 30 FPS, with an average of 39 FPS, but this comes with significant visual compromises. Medium at 4K produces 29 FPS, which is technically playable but risky, as the minimum of 25 FPS indicates occasional stutter. High and Ultra at 4K are effectively unplayable for most users, with averages of 24 and 18 FPS respectively.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is Medium settings at 1920x1080. It offers a 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS, which provides a stable platform for enjoying the game’s open world without the jarring frame drops that come with High or Ultra. If you have a 1440p monitor and are willing to accept visual compromises, Low settings at 1440p is the only preset that maintains a 59 FPS average, but Medium at 1440p at 44 FPS is a more balanced trade-off between detail and smoothness.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is a mid-range graphics card built on the Xe2-HPG architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation pipelines, which are the core components that determine its rendering throughput. The card operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, which is relatively high for a GPU in this class, but the data suggests that clock speed alone doesn’t overcome the memory limitations.

The 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a modest figure for modern games, and Red Dead Redemption 2’s large textures and draw distances appear to stress it, especially at 4K. The measured FPS at 4K Medium (29 FPS) and 4K High (24 FPS) indicate that the card is running out of memory bandwidth, not compute power, as the gap between Low and High at 4K is only 15 FPS (39 vs 24), while at 1080p the gap between Low and High is 30 FPS (79 vs 49). This compression of performance at higher resolutions points to a bandwidth bottleneck.

The card’s 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is adequate for 1080p, as evidenced by the 79 FPS Low result, but the 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate and 360.0 GTexel/s texture rate are not sufficient to maintain high fill rates at higher resolutions. The 18 ray tracing cores are present, but the measured data does not include ray tracing-specific tests, so their impact on this game is not quantified. The GPU’s percentile ranking of 65 against all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier, which aligns with the observed performance—capable at 1080p, strained at 1440p, and outmatched at 4K.

The nearest rival data shows that the Arc B570 is closely matched with the Intel Arc A750, which has a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the A750 scores 0.1% higher on average. This tells you that the B570 is not a generational leap over its predecessor, but rather a refinement. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is 0.1% ahead, which is a negligible difference, but that is a mobile part, so desktop expectations should be tempered. The 10 GB memory capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, it may be a limiting factor alongside the bandwidth.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers a range of results depending on settings. Low settings produce an average of 79 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS, showing a stable frame time distribution. High settings drop to 49 FPS average, while Ultra settings fall to 36 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra is a 43 FPS drop, which is a 54% reduction, indicating that the quality presets have a significant impact on performance.

At 2560x1440, the results are predictably lower. Low settings achieve 59 FPS average, matching the 1080p Medium score. Medium settings produce 44 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 51 FPS, which is a narrower range than the 1080p Medium result, suggesting tighter frame pacing under load. High settings average 37 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 27 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 32 FPS, a 54% reduction, which mirrors the percentage drop seen at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the performance is marginal. Low settings are the only preset that exceeds 30 FPS, with an average of 39 FPS. Medium settings average 29 FPS with a minimum of 25 FPS and a maximum of 34 FPS, which means the frame rate dips below 30 FPS for portions of the scene. High settings average 24 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 18 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 21 FPS, a 54% reduction, consistent with the other resolutions. This consistency indicates that the GPU’s performance scales uniformly with settings, but the absolute numbers are too low for a comfortable experience at 4K.

The combo’s rank in game is 2335 out of 2902 combinations, which places it in the lower half of tested systems. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range status rather than the CPU’s capability, as the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a top-tier processor in synthetic benchmarks.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the most practical resolution. At Low settings, the average FPS is 79, and at Medium it is 59, both of which are smooth. At 2560x1440, only Low settings reach 59 FPS, while Medium drops to 44 FPS. At 3840x2160, the highest average is 39 FPS on Low, which is below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile and 0.1% lower than the Intel Arc A750. The AMD Radeon R9 M390X is 0.5% higher, and the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M is 0.4% higher. These are negligible differences, indicating the B570 is competitive with these parts.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus a bottleneck for the Arc B570?

A: The CPU is not a bottleneck in this game at the tested settings. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has 24 cores and a 5.80 GHz boost clock, which provides ample processing power. The FPS scaling across resolutions (79 at 1080p Low vs 39 at 4K Low) is a classic GPU-bound pattern, showing the Arc B570 is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 59 FPS, while Ultra settings average 27 FPS. This is a 32 FPS difference, or a 54% reduction in performance. The Medium preset sits in between at 44 FPS, which is a reasonable middle ground.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: The measured data suggests that 4K is not viable for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 39 FPS, Medium produces 29 FPS, High produces 24 FPS, and Ultra produces 18 FPS. The 4K Medium result has a minimum of 25 FPS, which will be noticeable during gameplay.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the Intel Arc B570?

A: The launch MSRP of the Intel Arc B570 is 219 USD.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a high-end desktop processor with 24 cores and 24 threads, built on a 3 nm TSMC process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, and it boosts up to 5.80 GHz, which gives it substantial single-thread performance for gaming. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in Red Dead Redemption 2, as the FPS drops are primarily tied to resolution and settings, which affect the GPU workload.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores 51731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7303 in single-core, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, has an average score of 83807, which is 0.2% lower than the 290K Plus’s 84003 average. This shows that the 290K Plus is a marginal improvement over the 285K, but the difference is small enough to be within noise for gaming.

The CPU’s 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 115.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for feeding the Arc B570 at 1080p, as evidenced by the 79 FPS Low result. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, so the CPU’s advantages in multi-threaded workloads, such as the 21727 Cinebench R20 multi-core score, do not translate into higher FPS. The PassMark multi-thread score of 60860 and physics score of 3315 indicate strong processing power, but this game’s engine appears to rely more on GPU throughput than CPU physics calculations.

The 125W TDP and 24 threads make this CPU a capable partner for the Arc B570, but the pairing is unbalanced for 4K gaming. For 1080p and 1440p, the CPU provides enough headroom to ensure that the GPU is the only component being pushed to its limits. If you were to pair this CPU with a faster GPU, the FPS would likely increase, but with the Arc B570, the processor’s role is mostly to avoid being a bottleneck, which it does successfully.