Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a performance curve in Red Dead Redemption 2 that is heavily dictated by resolution, with the data revealing a widening gap between the CPU’s headroom and the GPU’s rendering limits as pixel count rises. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the three tested resolutions show a clear pattern: the combo is exceptionally strong at 1080p, competent at 1440p, and struggling to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K, particularly on higher settings presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2 shows a classic resolution scaling curve, where the performance cost of moving from 1080p to 4K is substantial. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 152 at 1920x1080 to 113 at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 25.7%, and then falls further to 75 at 3840x2160, which represents a 50.7% drop from the 1080p baseline. This indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes a limiting factor as resolution increases, though the absolute numbers remain playable at all three resolutions.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory, with average FPS of 114 at 1080p, 85 at 1440p, and 56 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 25.4%, and the drop from 1080p to 4K is 50.9%, which is nearly identical to the scaling seen at Low settings. This consistency suggests that the rendering pipeline’s response to resolution is linear regardless of the quality preset, pointing to a pure GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

High settings amplify the trend, starting at 95 FPS at 1080p, falling to 71 FPS at 1440p (a 25.3% reduction), and then to 47 FPS at 4K (a 50.5% reduction from 1080p). The fact that the percentage drop between resolutions remains constant across Low, Medium, and High is telling: the CPU is not the bottleneck at any of these settings, as the scaling is entirely proportional to the number of pixels rendered.

Ultra settings, however, break this linear pattern slightly. At 1080p, the average FPS is 68, dropping to 51 at 1440p (a 25% reduction) and then to 34 at 4K (a 50% reduction from 1080p). While the percentage drops are similar, the absolute values are much lower, indicating that the increased shading complexity and memory pressure of the Ultra preset compound the resolution burden. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo produces an average of 34 FPS, which is below the 47 FPS seen at 4K High, suggesting that the GPU’s 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain fluid frame rates under maximum load.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the primary driver of the performance differences observed across resolutions and settings, as evidenced by the benchmark scores and the scaling behavior. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz allow it to reach a peak FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS, which is substantial for a 200 W card. However, the data indicates that this compute power is not the limiting factor in Red Dead Redemption 2; rather, the memory subsystem and rasterization throughput become the bottlenecks.

The RTX 4070 features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. At 4K resolution, the game’s texture and geometry demands appear to exceed what this bandwidth can efficiently supply, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops from 1440p to 4K. For instance, moving from 1440p High (71 FPS) to 4K High (47 FPS) represents a 33.8% performance loss, which is largely attributable to the increased memory pressure and the GPU’s 64 ROPs being tasked with filling more pixels.

The GPU’s pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s are nominally high, but the measured results show that the card’s real-world performance in this specific title is constrained by its memory interface. The 21 Gbps effective memory clock is fast, but the 192-bit bus width limits total bandwidth, which becomes apparent at 4K Ultra where the average FPS collapses to 34. This is corroborated by the GPU’s percentile rank of 81 among all GPUs, indicating it is a solid mid-to-high-end part but not a top-tier 4K performer.

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, is clearly not the bottleneck in this scenario. Its boost clock of 5.80 GHz and 36 MB of shared L3 cache provide ample single-thread performance, as reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303. The fact that the FPS scales almost perfectly with resolution—rather than plateauing at lower resolutions—confirms that the CPU has sufficient headroom to feed the GPU at all tested settings. The 115.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth is also adequate for this game, as no CPU-bound stalls are evident in the data.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 95 FPS, which is smooth for most displays, while the Medium preset offers 114 FPS and Low jumps to 152 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 68 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 28.4% drop from High, making it a less attractive option given the marginal visual gains.

For 2560x1440, the High preset is the sweet spot, averaging 71 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a good balance of visual fidelity and performance. The Medium preset at 1440p produces 85 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, while Low hits 113 FPS. Ultra at 1440p drops to 51 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold and shows the GPU struggling to maintain smooth motion at this resolution with maximum settings.

At 3840x2160, the data suggests that High settings are the practical ceiling, with an average of 47 FPS. This is borderline playable but may exhibit visible stutter on high-refresh displays. The Medium preset at 4K averages 56 FPS, which is a better target for a smoother experience, but it still falls short of the 60 FPS ideal. Low at 4K yields 75 FPS, which is smooth, though it sacrifices significant visual quality. Ultra at 4K is not recommended, as the 34 FPS average is below playable standards for most users.

The measured data shows that the best experience per the rows is to use High settings at 1080p or 1440p, and Medium settings at 4K if visual fidelity is a priority. The High preset at 1440p offers the best compromise between frame rate and image quality, as it maintains 71 FPS while still delivering a detailed rendering. For users who prioritize frame rate over visuals, the Low preset at 1440p (113 FPS) or 1080p (152 FPS) provides the highest performance margins.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. The Low preset achieves an average of 152 FPS, which is the highest measured score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset follows with 114 FPS, and its minimum FPS of 97 and maximum of 131 indicate a stable frame time distribution. The High preset averages 95 FPS, which is a 16.7% reduction from Medium, while the Ultra preset averages 68 FPS, showing a 40.4% drop from High. This progression highlights the significant cost of Ultra settings even at the lowest resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset averages 113 FPS, which is a 25.7% reduction from 1080p Low. The Medium preset averages 85 FPS, with a minimum of 72 and maximum of 97, showing a slightly wider variance than at 1080p. The High preset averages 71 FPS, a 25.3% drop from 1080p High, while the Ultra preset averages 51 FPS, a 25% drop from 1080p Ultra. The consistency of these percentage drops reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the workload.

At 3840x2160, the values become more strained. The Low preset averages 75 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 33.6% drop from 1440p Low. The Medium preset averages 56 FPS, with a minimum of 48 and maximum of 64, indicating that frame times can dip below the 50 FPS threshold. The High preset averages 47 FPS, a 33.8% drop from 1440p High, while the Ultra preset averages 34 FPS, a 33.3% drop from 1440p Ultra. The 4K Medium row is the only one in the dataset with complete min and max values, showing a 16 FPS spread between the 48 FPS minimum and 64 FPS maximum.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 889th out of 3714 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 24% of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the strong 1080p and 1440p performance, but it is dragged down by the mediocre 4K results. The CPU’s high percentile rank of 96 among all processors indicates that the processor is not the limiting factor, while the GPU’s lower percentile rank of 81 suggests that the graphics card is the primary constraint in this title.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which scores 0.2% higher on average, and the AMD EPYC 4584PX, which scores 1.1% higher. The AMD EPYC 9135 is 1.2% higher, while the AMD EPYC 7F72 is 1.3% lower. These deltas are small, indicating that the 290K Plus is competitively positioned among high-end desktop and workstation processors, but none of these rivals directly impact in-game performance in this dataset.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks show a tighter grouping. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 scores 0.1% higher, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 0.4% higher, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 scores 1.3% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile scores 1.3% lower. These comparisons are based on average benchmark scores, not specific game performance, but they contextualize the RTX 4070’s position as a mid-range Ada Lovelace part that is not designed for extreme 4K workloads.

The rank of 889 out of 3714 suggests that while this combo is above average, it is not a top-tier configuration for Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows that the CPU’s immense processing power is somewhat wasted at higher resolutions, as the GPU becomes the bottleneck. This is a common pattern for high-core-count CPUs paired with mid-range GPUs, where the system’s overall gaming performance is capped by the graphics card’s memory bandwidth and rasterization capabilities.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 152, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset. This is the peak performance point for this combination.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 34 at Ultra to 75 at Low, and the scaling is proportional to resolution, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU’s high single-core score of 7303 in Cinebench R23 suggests it has ample headroom.

Q: What is the best preset for 2560x1440 gameplay?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 averages 71 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Medium preset offers 85 FPS if a higher frame rate is preferred, but High maintains a smoother experience above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 889th out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the top 24%. This ranking is influenced by strong 1080p and 1440p results, but the 4K performance pulls the overall rank down.

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings, and is it playable?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 34, which is below the 60 FPS ideal and generally considered not smooth for fast-paced action. The Low preset at 4K achieves 75 FPS, which is much more playable.

Q: Does the RTX 4070’s memory bandwidth affect performance in this game?

A: Yes. The RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s on a 192-bit bus. The measured FPS drops from 71 at 1440p High to 47 at 4K High, a 33.8% reduction, which is largely attributable to the memory subsystem’s inability to keep up with the increased pixel and texture demand at 4K.