Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2: Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

Red Dead Redemption 2 remains a demanding title, and this pairing of Intel's Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with NVIDIA's RTX 5080 produces a broad spread of frame rates depending on resolution and preset. The measured data shows a system capable of high-refresh 1080p play, solid 1440p performance, and playable 4K, with the gap between presets widening considerably as resolution climbs.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial at every preset, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 201 FPS at 1920x1080 to 99 FPS at 3840x2160 — a reduction of roughly 51% when doubling the linear resolution. At Medium, the drop is from 151 FPS to 74 FPS, again about a 51% reduction. High settings see 126 FPS at 1080p fall to 62 FPS at 4K, a 51% decline. Ultra is the steepest: 90 FPS at 1080p drops to 45 FPS at 4K, exactly a 50% cut.

This consistent halving of frame rates across all presets when moving from 1080p to 4K indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The RTX 5080's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily, and the pixel throughput requirements at 3840x2160 are simply double those at 1920x1080. The fact that the percentage drop is nearly identical regardless of preset suggests the rendering workload scales uniformly with pixel count, which points to a GPU-bound scenario at 4K.

The 1440p data reinforces this interpretation. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at High settings, the average FPS drops from 94 to 62 — a 34% reduction, which is less than the 1080p-to-4K gap because the pixel count increase is also smaller (2.25x versus 4x). At Low settings, 150 FPS at 1440p falls to 99 FPS at 4K, a 34% drop as well. This consistent scaling pattern across resolution transitions is a hallmark of GPU-limited performance.

Notably, the Ultra preset at 4K produces just 45 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players target. The data suggests that at 4K, the RTX 5080 is working at its limits with the highest quality settings, and the CPU's role diminishes. At 1080p Low, the 201 FPS figure indicates that the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus's 24 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient to feed the GPU, as the frame rates are likely hitting engine or driver-level ceilings rather than CPU bottlenecks.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 182nd out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the top 6.3% of all configurations tested for this game, which is a strong showing given the game's age and the wide variety of hardware combinations in the database.

The CPU component of this pairing is particularly noteworthy. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus sits at the 96th percentile among all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rivals in the CPU database include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which scores 83807 (a 0.2% difference), and the AMD EPYC 4584PX at 83090 (1.1% behind). The AMD EPYC 7F72 scores 85072, putting it 1.3% ahead. These delta percentages are remarkably small, indicating that the 290K Plus is in a tightly contested performance tier where no single processor holds a decisive edge.

The GPU side shows a similar story. The RTX 5080 ranks at the 87th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 8060S at 55757 (0.6% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55698 (0.7% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54828 (2.3% behind). The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE scores 57367, which is 2.2% ahead of the 5080. These narrow margins suggest that the 5080 is competitively placed in the GPU hierarchy, though not at the very top.

The combo rank of 182 out of 2902 reflects the cumulative performance of both components. Given that the CPU and GPU each sit in the upper echelon of their respective benchmarks, the combined system's top-6.3% ranking in this specific game is consistent with expectations. The data indicates that this is a high-end pairing that outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations in Red Dead Redemption 2, even though neither component is the absolute fastest in its class.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, but the differences are stark. Low settings produce 201 FPS average, Medium delivers 151 FPS, High achieves 126 FPS, and Ultra yields 90 FPS. For competitive play or high-refresh monitors, Low or Medium offer headroom well above 144 FPS. For visual quality, Ultra at 90 FPS is still smooth, but High at 126 FPS strikes a better balance between fidelity and frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the picture changes. Low settings hit 150 FPS, Medium delivers 112 FPS, and High produces 94 FPS — all comfortably above 60 FPS. Ultra drops to 67 FPS, which is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and maximum of 129 FPS is the sweet spot for 1440p, offering a significant visual upgrade over Low while maintaining high frame rates. High is also viable at 94 FPS if visual fidelity is prioritized.

At 3840x2160, the choices narrow considerably. Low settings produce 99 FPS, Medium delivers 74 FPS (with a minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 85 FPS), High achieves 62 FPS, and Ultra falls to 45 FPS. For a consistent 60+ FPS experience at 4K, Medium is the recommended preset — it provides a 74 FPS average with the minimum still above 60 FPS. High is borderline at 62 FPS average, which could dip below 60 in heavy scenes. Ultra at 45 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

The data shows a clear pattern: at 4K, the Medium preset is the optimal balance, while at 1440p, Medium or High both work well depending on preference. At 1080p, the system has enough headroom that Ultra at 90 FPS is viable, but High at 126 FPS is the better choice for most users.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 delivers 74 FPS average with a minimum of 63 FPS, making it the only preset that guarantees frame rates above 60 FPS at 4K. High averages 62 FPS, which may dip below 60 in demanding scenes, while Ultra drops to 45 FPS.

Q: How does this system perform at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the combo produces 201 FPS on Low, 151 FPS on Medium, 126 FPS on High, and 90 FPS on Ultra. Even the Ultra preset maintains a smooth 90 FPS, indicating the CPU and GPU are not significantly stressed at this resolution.

Q: Is the RTX 5080 the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The data indicates yes. The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is approximately 50% across all presets, which is consistent with GPU-bound rendering. The RTX 5080's 16 GB memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are the limiting factors at 3840x2160.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores 84003 on average, which is 0.2% ahead of the Core Ultra 9 285K (83807), 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090), and 1.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9135 (82980). The AMD EPYC 7F72 is 1.3% ahead at 85072.

Q: What is the minimum FPS on Medium settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 on Medium, the minimum measured FPS is 95, with an average of 112 and a maximum of 129. This makes Medium a safe choice for maintaining high frame rates at 1440p.

Q: Does this combo rank highly among all tested configurations?

A: Yes, it ranks 182nd out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 6.3% of all systems benchmarked for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB203 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, with a transistor density of 120.6 million per square millimeter. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, with memory clocked at 1875 MHz (30 Gbps effective).

Memory configuration is a significant factor in Red Dead Redemption 2's performance. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is ample for the game's textures at 1080p and 1440p, and even at 4K the data shows that the memory subsystem is not causing catastrophic frame drops — the 62 FPS average at 4K High is respectable for a demanding title.

The GPU's compute resources are substantial: 10752 shading units, 336 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 84 RT cores, and 336 tensor cores. These translate to a pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 56.28 TFLOPS. In Red Dead Redemption 2, which is primarily a rasterization-heavy game, the ROP count and texture throughput are likely the key contributors to the observed frame rates.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it at the 87th percentile among all GPUs. Its Passmark G3D score of 36565 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 8637 are competitive, though its nearest rivals show how tight the mid-to-high-end GPU market is. The AMD Radeon 8060S is only 0.6% behind in average score, and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE is 2.2% ahead. This suggests that in Red Dead Redemption 2, the 5080's performance is solidly mid-pack among high-end cards, which is reflected in the 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS.

The power delivery requirements are notable: a 360 W TDP and a suggested 750 W PSU with a single 16-pin connector. The dual-slot cooler is standard for this performance class. The GPU's release date of 2025-01-29 and launch MSRP of 999 USD position it as a premium product, and the measured performance in this game is consistent with that positioning.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, based on the Arrow Lake Refresh codename and built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It contains 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, and it has a TDP of 125 W.

The cache hierarchy is substantial: 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This is an unusual configuration for a desktop processor — the lack of hyperthreading (24 threads for 24 cores) is a notable design choice, but the high boost clock compensates in single-threaded workloads. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and 115.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, along with ECC memory support and PCIe Gen 5 with 20 CPU lanes.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The benchmark data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 201 FPS, which is likely near the engine's practical limit. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and single-core score of 7303 demonstrate strong performance, and its Passmark single-thread score of 4823 indicates that per-core performance is excellent for this game's typical single-threaded bottlenecks.

The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 84003, places it in elite company. Its nearest rivals — the Core Ultra 9 285K at 83807 (0.2% behind), AMD EPYC 4584PX at 83090 (1.1% behind), and AMD EPYC 9135 at 82980 (1.2% behind) — are all within a couple of percentage points. This tight clustering means that in Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU choice between these top contenders would have minimal impact on frame rates.

The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is not the limiting factor. The frame rates at these resolutions scale more with preset than with resolution, which is typical of a GPU-limited scenario. However, the CPU's strong single-thread performance is what enables the high frame rates at 1080p Low — a weaker processor would likely cap out below the 201 FPS observed. At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes further, as the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, but the 290K Plus ensures that even at Ultra settings, no CPU-related stutters or frame drops occur.