Red Dead Redemption 2 system requirements

To run the Red Dead Redemption 2 system requirements, you will need an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 GPU, an Intel Core i5-2500K CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 150GB of space.

Saddle up folks, and see if your PC can run the Red Dead Redemption 2 PC requirements. Fortunately, RDR2 is relatively old at this point, having released to PC in 2019. As a result, most gaming PCs and laptops should have no issue meeting the minimum specs, but you'll need a lot of HD space if you hope to install this massive RPG.

In order to meet the Red Dead Redemption 2 minimum requirements, you'll need to hunt down an AMD FX-6300 or Intel Core i5-2500K processor, an AMD Radeon R9 280 graphics card or the nearest equivalent, and 8GB of RAM. The game will run on Windows 7 64-bit, but we'd recommend sticking with Windows 10 64-bit just to be safe. This setup will only run the game on the "Low" graphics setting, so you might be more interested in aiming for a higher branch of RDR2 system requirements.

If you've the dollar to spare, you could shell out and grab some hardware to meet the Red Dead Redemption 2 recommended specs. Upgrading your system with an Intel Core i7-4770K or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X CPU, 12GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 480 GPU will allow you to run the game on much higher graphics presets, and achieve the best gameplay performance.

Still unsure if your rig will meet the Red Dead Redemption 2 requirements for PC? Take our RDR2 benchmark test using our automatic checker or by manually entering your system details to see if you can run the game. 

Red Dead Redemption 2 size - How big is RDR2?

The Red Dead Redemption 2 size for download on PC comes in at a sizeable 150GB of HD space. On consoles, the game only requires 105GB.

If you can, install it onto an SSD for faster load times. With the game requiring a significant amount of HD space, you might find yourself short on your existing HDD or SSD. If so, check the PCGamesN buyers guide for the best SSD for gaming or just check the latest, best prices for SSDs.

Red Dead Redemption 2 laptop

To get the game running on laptop, you won't need any more powerful hardware than the PC RDR2 requirements demanded, meaning any laptop with an AMD Radeon R9 280 graphics card, an AMD FX-6300 processor, and 8GB of RAM should be able to launch the game. Of course, laptops struggle more than PCs when it comes to heat dissipation and general cooling, and RDR2 is by no stretch a demanding game on the higher graphics settings. So, if you want to play Red Dead Redemption 2 on laptop smoothly, make sure you have a good cooling solution in place so your device doesn't burst into flames!

How to improve RDR2 performance

Read Dead Redemption 2’s graphics are outstanding but quite hardware intensive. If you don't have a top of the line graphics card or processor then you’ll start to notice a drop in performance when fighting larger groups of enemies, or journeying into the entity-heavy bayou. You can, however, improve your performance when playing RDR2 by lowering your graphics quality to the minimum and closing any background applications which are taking up a large amount of your CPU or RAM usage. Don't have Google Chrome, or any Microsoft Office applications open in the background if you want to guarantee the best gameplay performance. 

Lower all the RDR2 settings that correspond to textures if you need to eke out some additional performance. Lower the Lighting Quality and Reflecton Quality in particular if you're really struggling, as both impact your FPS significantly from what we've found in our testing. 

For a full list of RDR2 settings to optimize, check out the PCGamesN breakdown.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Steam Deck

The official RDR2 Steam Deck rating sits at "Playable" rather than "Verified" on account of the game's UI being potentially difficult to read for users of the Steam Deck. Beyond that though, the game runs great on the Steam Deck and shouldn't experience any major graphical hitches.

Red Dead Online

You can access Red Dead Online via a separate, and far cheaper purchase, costing just $4.99/£4.49. The Red Dead Online system requirements are exactly the same as RDR2, but you will require a good internet connection if you want to stand a chance against other players. Red Dead Online involves a fair amount of PvP, so anyone playing on a slower internet speed may want to consider using NordVPN at a low price, or sticking to the singleplayer campaign.

Looking to play the original game on PC? Check to see if your PC can meet the Red Dead Redemption 1 requirements. Or, if you fancy the modern era, check out the GTA 5 system requirements and the GTA 6 requirements.

Red Dead Redemption 2 will run on PC system with Windows 7 64-Bit and upwards.

Looking for an upgrade? Try our easy to use Red Dead Redemption 2 set up guides to find the best cards. Filter for Red Dead Redemption 2 graphics card comparison and CPU compare. We'll help you find the best deal for the right gear to run the game.

Red Dead Redemption 2 FPS - what frame rate can you expect?

How many FPS will I get on Red Dead Redemption 2? We reference thousands of reports from PCGameBenchmark users running our FPS tracking app to tell you exactly how Red Dead Redemption 2 performs across a range of different settings and resolutions on the most popular PC gaming setups.

What frame rate does Red Dead Redemption 2 run at?

Here are the typical frame rate samples

Avg FPS	CPU	GPU	RAM
91	Intel Core i7-10700K	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti	32 GB
59	Intel Core i5-10300H	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650	16 GB
38	Intel Core i7-4770	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770	16 GB
34	Intel Core i5-8400H	NVIDIA Quadro P2000	16 GB
25	Intel Core i7-10510U	NVIDIA GeForce MX130	16 GB

What frame rate does Red Dead Redemption 2 run at? Check our FPS Calculator

Are you experiencing Red Dead Redemption 2 FPS drops and stutters? Want to know exactly how the game performs on your system? You can get a free easy FPS test for all your games using the PCGameBenchmark FPS monitor tool - your first step to understanding how the parts in your gaming PC are actually performing in real-world conditions.