Red Dead Redemption 2
A masterpiece of the RAGE engine, heavily taxing the GPU with volumetric lighting and water physics. Interestingly, it has relatively low CPU utilization compared to its graphical demands. Be prepared for a massive 150GB install size.
Actual FPS may vary based on RAM speed, background processes, and other system factors
Performance Report
At 1080p, all quality settings exceed 96 FPS. At 1440p, all settings exceed 77 FPS. At 4K, frame rates range from 50 to 81 FPS.
The Radeon RX 780 is 24% below recommended, but 28% above minimum for Red Dead Redemption 2. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is 340% above the recommended CPU (Core i7-4770K).
The Radeon RX 780 sets the FPS ceiling at all 1080p settings, all 1440p settings, all 4k settings, while the Ryzen 7 9800X3D still has additional frame-generation headroom.
Approximated average price on current market:
Combo price: $1186.38. At 1080p Ultra, this combo delivers 96 FPS, equivalent to 0.08 FPS per dollar.
| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 0.140 fps/$ | 0.126 fps/$ | 0.105 fps/$ | 0.081 fps/$ |
| 1440p | 0.101 fps/$ | 0.094 fps/$ | 0.083 fps/$ | 0.065 fps/$ |
| 4k | 0.068 fps/$ | 0.064 fps/$ | 0.056 fps/$ | 0.042 fps/$ |
* Table values represent FPS per Dollar (higher is better)
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This chart answers a simple question: which upgrade is more likely to increase FPS first? In this case, the answer is clearly the GPU.
The largest gap appears at 1080p Ultra, where the Radeon RX 780 reaches about 94 FPS, while the Ryzen 7 9800X3D still has headroom up to roughly 169 FPS.
That means the Radeon RX 780 is hitting its performance ceiling first, leaving a 44% gap versus the Ryzen 7 9800X3D's available headroom in the most unbalanced scenario. Across all tested settings, this pairing is GPU-limited in 12 out of 12 cases, with 0 CPU-limited and 0 balanced results.
Overall, this is a clearly GPU-bound combination in this game.
The Radeon RX 780 is consistently the limiting part in this game, so upgrading the GPU is more likely to deliver a larger FPS gain than upgrading the CPU.
This chart shows which upgrade is more likely to unlock more FPS in each tested setting. The lower line represents the part that reaches its limit first. When the CPU and GPU lines stay close together, the system is more balanced. When the gap widens, one component is more clearly holding the other back. Hover any setting to inspect it.
The lower line is the current limiter. The closer the two lines are, the more balanced the CPU and GPU are for this game.
Each line represents an estimated FPS ceiling for one component, rather than live usage alone.
To estimate the CPU ceiling, we pair the Ryzen 7 9800X3D with GeForce RTX 5090, our current GPU anchor. To estimate the GPU ceiling, we pair the Radeon RX 780 with Ryzen 9 9950X3D, our current CPU anchor.
The lower line indicates the current limiter, since that component reaches its FPS ceiling first. In most scenarios, that is also the part most likely to deliver the bigger performance uplift if upgraded first.
The percentage shown represents the gap between the two ceilings. In practical terms, it shows how much of the stronger component's potential is left unused because the weaker one becomes the bottleneck first.
See how your processor and graphics card compare against the game official minimum and recommended system specs. The placement of your hardware is calculated using relative synthetic performance scores to help you gauge overall playability.
Your CPU is 340% below recommended and your GPU is 24% below recommended, but both meet minimum specs. Playable at Low/Medium settings, 1080p or below.
+340%vsrecommended
-24%vsrecommended
+865%vsminimum
+28%vsminimum
Yes, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the Radeon RX 780 can run Red Dead Redemption 2 smoothly up to 1440p achieving around 77 FPS at Ultra quality. Your GPU is 24% below the recommended specs, and your CPU is 340% above the recommended requirements.
This CPU + GPU combo costs approximately $1,186.38 ($465.38 CPU + $721 GPU). Your Radeon RX 780 is currently the main performance bottleneck and its market value ($721) is actually higher than newer, faster alternatives. Trading it or upgrading could yield immediate profit and performance gains. For example, upgrading to the Radeon RX 7700 for around $449 (Rank #373 for value) could deliver noticeably better performance while costing less than your current GPU.
For Red Dead Redemption 2, upgrading the GPU would usually give you the most noticeable improvement. In the Performance Limiter Analysis, the Radeon RX 780 is the side that most often caps the frame rate, while the Ryzen 7 9800X3D still has additional headroom in the tested presets. The main bottleneck appears on the GPU side. The largest gap shows up at 1080p Ultra, where the GPU reaches about 94 FPS while the CPU still has headroom up to roughly 169 FPS. Across all tested settings, the distribution is 12/12 GPU-limited, 0/12 CPU-limited, and 0/12 balanced.
Red Dead Redemption 2 does not currently support Frame Generation technologies like DLSS 3 or FSR 3. Your performance is based entirely on native rendering. If the game adds support in a future update, newer GPUs will benefit the most.
Red Dead Redemption 2 requires at minimum a Core i5-2500K (CPU) and GeForce GTX 770 (GPU) with 8 GB RAM and 150 GB storage. For the recommended experience, you need a Core i7-4770K and GeForce GTX 1060 with 12 GB RAM. Your setup meets the minimum requirements but falls short of the recommended specs. You may need to lower some settings for smooth performance.
These Red Dead Redemption 2 FPS results are not arbitrary numbers. They come from calculations informed by thousands of real gaming benchmarks, and the typical accuracy range is around 10% to 15%. That makes them far more useful than generic FPS calculators that simply invent values without a benchmark foundation. Actual in-game performance can still vary with drivers, updates, RAM configuration, cooling, and the exact scene being rendered.
Performance estimates are based on synthetic benchmarks and hardware capabilities.
Results may vary based on drivers, OS, and background processes.
