Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a highly playable Red Dead Redemption 2 experience, but the data reveals a system that leans heavily on its processor to maintain frame rates. The measured results show a clear hierarchy where the CPU’s 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock provide a robust foundation, while the GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. This combination ranks in the 56th percentile of all tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database, with performance that scales predictably as settings and resolution increase.

Settings Recommendations

The data shows a distinct trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate across the four tested presets. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves a smooth 117 FPS average, which is the highest measured result for this combo. However, the jump to Medium yields 88 FPS, a significant 25% reduction, while High drops further to 73 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 53 FPS. For players prioritizing a high refresh rate experience at 1080p, the Low preset is the only option that consistently clears the 100 FPS threshold, but the Medium preset offers a better balance of visual quality and performance, staying well above the 60 FPS standard.

Moving to 1440p, the pattern shifts. The Low preset still delivers a respectable 87 FPS, but the Medium preset falls to 65 FPS, which is still playable. The High preset at 55 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 39 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. The 4K results are more demanding, with even the Low preset only reaching 58 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K produces 43 FPS, and High drops to 36 FPS, while Ultra is nearly unplayable at 26 FPS.

The best experience per the measured rows depends on the target resolution. For 1080p, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, providing 88 FPS with a substantial visual upgrade over Low. For 1440p, the Low preset is the most reliable choice at 87 FPS, though the Medium preset’s 65 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced gameplay. At 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option for maintaining a playable frame rate, as the Medium preset’s 43 FPS is marginal and the higher presets are too demanding. The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring significant settings compromises.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process node. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.80 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, which is critical for Red Dead Redemption 2’s game logic and physics calculations. The CPU’s benchmark scores confirm its capability: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303 place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. This high percentile indicates that the processor is not the limiting factor in this gaming scenario.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which has an average score of 83807, a mere 0.2% lower than the 290K Plus’s 84003 average. This negligible deltaPct suggests that the two processors perform nearly identically in synthetic benchmarks. The AMD EPYC 4584PX and EPYC 9135 trail by 1.1% and 1.2% respectively, while the EPYC 7F72 is 1.3% faster. These comparisons highlight that the 290K Plus sits at the top of the consumer desktop CPU hierarchy, providing ample headroom for the GPU to operate.

In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game’s open-world simulation. The 24 cores are more than sufficient for this task, and the high single-core boost clock ensures that the game’s main thread runs efficiently. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 117 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit for this engine. However, as resolution increases, the frame rate drops, indicating that the GPU becomes the bottleneck rather than the CPU. The CPU’s 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 115.2 GB/s memory bandwidth further support its ability to handle the game’s asset streaming without stuttering.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 3840 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. It features 30 ray tracing cores and 120 tensor cores, with a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a notable limitation for high-resolution gaming, as the 8 GB capacity can be fully utilized by Red Dead Redemption 2’s detailed textures at 4K.

The GPU’s benchmark scores show a mixed picture. Its Passmark G3D score of 20891 places it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, which is respectable but not exceptional. The nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, which is 1.2% slower, and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary, which is 0.8% faster. The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 is essentially identical at 0.3% slower, which is surprising given the architectural differences. The GPU’s 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 8 GB VRAM becomes a constraint at 4K.

The measured FPS data illustrates the GPU’s role clearly. At 1080p Low, the GPU achieves 117 FPS, but this drops to 73 FPS at High and 53 FPS at Ultra. At 4K, the Low preset yields 58 FPS, while High drops to 36 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is likely the primary reason for the steep performance drop at 4K, as the game’s high-resolution textures exceed the memory capacity, forcing the GPU to use slower system memory. The GPU’s 128-bit memory bus also limits its ability to move data quickly, exacerbating the bottleneck at higher resolutions. For this game, the RTX 5060 is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where its VRAM and bandwidth are sufficient.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination ranks 1269th out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the 56th percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 56% of all tested systems. This is a solid mid-tier ranking, but it is somewhat surprising given the CPU’s top-tier status. The ranking suggests that the GPU is the limiting component, pulling the combo down from what the CPU alone could achieve.

The combination’s rank is influenced by the fact that the RTX 5060 is a mainstream GPU, not a high-end model. The CPU’s 96th percentile performance is offset by the GPU’s 72nd percentile, resulting in a combined score that is lower than either component’s individual standing. Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing is likely to be beaten by systems with lower-end CPUs but higher-end GPUs, as Red Dead Redemption 2 is more GPU-intensive at higher resolutions.

The data shows that this combo excels at 1080p, where the CPU’s strength can compensate for the GPU’s limitations. At 1440p, the combo is still competitive, but at 4K, it falls behind systems with more powerful GPUs. The ranking of 1269th out of 2902 is a fair representation of this balance, indicating that the combo is a capable 1080p performer but not a high-resolution powerhouse. For users considering this pairing, the data suggests that the CPU is overqualified for the GPU, and future GPU upgrades would unlock more of the processor’s potential.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 117 at 1080p to 87 at 1440p, a 26% reduction, and then to 58 at 4K, a 33% further reduction. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU’s performance is resolution-independent. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is moderate, but the jump to 4K causes a disproportionate drop, suggesting that the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are overwhelmed.

At the Medium preset, the FPS drops from 88 at 1080p to 65 at 1440p, a 26% decrease, and then to 43 at 4K, a 34% decrease. The High preset shows a similar pattern: 73 FPS at 1080p, 55 FPS at 1440p (25% drop), and 36 FPS at 4K (35% drop). The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 53 FPS at 1080p falling to 39 FPS at 1440p (26% drop) and 26 FPS at 4K (33% drop). Across all presets, the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is consistently around 50-55%, indicating a uniform scaling behavior.

This scaling pattern reveals that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p. The CPU’s performance is more than sufficient to handle the game’s logic at any resolution, but the RTX 5060’s memory bandwidth and capacity limit its ability to render at higher pixel counts. The fact that the FPS drops by roughly half from 1080p to 4K, regardless of settings, suggests that the GPU is working at its maximum capacity in all scenarios. For users wanting to play at 4K, the data indicates that significant settings compromises are necessary, and even then, the frame rate may not be satisfactory.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 117 FPS, which is the highest measured result. The Medium preset produces 88 FPS, with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS, indicating consistent frame times. The High preset drops to 73 FPS, and the Ultra preset yields 53 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 64 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution, with the CPU able to push high frame rates when settings are reduced.

At 2560x1440, the performance decreases noticeably. The Low preset averages 87 FPS, which is still smooth. The Medium preset delivers 65 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 75 FPS, putting it just above the 60 FPS threshold for most of the time. The High preset falls to 55 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Ultra preset bottoms out at 39 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The 1440p results show that the GPU is starting to struggle, with the VRAM capacity becoming a factor.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The Low preset averages 58 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset produces 43 FPS, with a minimum of 37 FPS and a maximum of 50 FPS, indicating significant frame rate variance. The High preset drops to 36 FPS, and the Ultra preset is nearly unplayable at 26 FPS. The 4K data shows that even the lowest settings cannot maintain a consistent 60 FPS, and the higher presets are only suitable for screenshot purposes. The measured FPS breakdown confirms that this combo is best utilized at 1080p, with 1440p being a viable secondary option, while 4K should be avoided for serious gameplay.