A lot has been said these days about the rocky launch of Red Dead Redemption 2 on the PC. The game initially suffered from major crash issues that Rockstar was able to fix a couple of days ago. However, and after applying its latest update, we have not experienced any stability issues on our PC systems. Therefore, it’s time to benchmark the game and see how it performs on the PC platform.
For this PC Performance Analysis, we used an Intel i9 9900K with 16GB of DDR4 at 3600Mhz, AMD’s Radeon RX580 and RX Vega 64, NVIDIA’s RTX 2080Ti and GTX980Ti. We also used Windows 10 64-bit, the GeForce driver 441,12 and the Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.11.1 drivers. We didn’t test the game on the GTX690 as RDR2 is one of the most demanding PC games to date.
Rockstar has included over 40 graphics settings to tweak. PC gamers can adjust the quality of textures, terrain, lighting, shadows and more. Unfortunately, the game does not come with any FOV slider, however, PC gamers can use this tool in order to adjust it.
Red Dead Redemption 2 features a built-in benchmark tool that perfectly represents its in-game performance. We’ve also lowered our resolution to 1024×768 for our CPU tests (so we could avoid any major GPU-bottleneck). Unfortunately, though, we were still GPU-limited on our Intel i9 9900K system. The game also supports both DirectX 12 and Vulkan. Since the performance difference was really small between these two APIs on both of our AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, we’ve decided to use DX12. The main reason behind this decision was the frame pacing/stuttering issues from which the Vulkan API currently suffers from.
In order to find out how the game scales on multiple CPU threads, we simulated a dual-core, a quad-core and a hexa-core CPU. Red Dead Redemption 2 does not require a high-end CPU. Even without Hyper Threading, our simulated dual-core was able to provide a better gaming experience than Xbox One X or PS4 Pro. The game appears to be using more than four CPU threads, though it did not stress our i9 9900K.
What’s also really cool witnessing here is its performance on the Intel i7 4930K. Due to DX12, this old CPU can offer a silky smooth gaming experience in this modern-day title. This right here is the reason why developers should be using low-level APIs like DX12 and Vulkan. As we can see, there is a small performance difference at 1080p. However, at 1440p and 4K the performance is similar to the Intel i9 9900K.
Contrary to the CPU requirements, the game’s GPU requirements are quite high. In fact, RDR2 is the most GPU demanding game we’ve seen so far on the PC. At 1080p and on Ultra settings, the only GPU that was able to offer a constant 60fps experience was the RTX2080Ti.
At 1440p, the RTX2080Ti was able to offer a smooth gaming experience. There were some drops below 60fps, however the minimum framerate was 56fps. As for 4K, NVIDIA’s most powerful GPU was able to push a minimum of 39fps and an average of 44fps.
As said, Red Dead Redemption 2 comes with a lot of graphics settings to tweak. Thankfully, you can lower some settings in order to hit 60fps at both 1080p or 1440p on less powerful GPUs. For instance, our Vega 64 almost offered a 60fps experience on High settings at 1080p. Not only that, but the Medium settings are equal to the High settings of other titles. This is something that you’ll have to keep in mind while playing the game, as the console versions are mostly using Medium and Low settings.
NVIDIA also claimed that the RTX2080Ti would be able to run the game in 4K and with a mix of Medium/High settings. However, that’s not the case. In 4K/High settings, our RTX2080Ti was able to offer a minimum of 43fps and an average of 49fps. In 4K/Medium, our RTX2080Ti was able to push a minimum of 50fps and an average of 57fps. The only way we could achieve a constant 60fps experience in 4K was by lowering our settings to Low.
Graphics wise, Red Dead Redemption 2 looks absolutely gorgeous. Yes, this is a really demanding title, however, we feel that the game does justify its high GPU requirements. The draw distance is great, the character models are amazing and the environmental/weather effects are stunning. The light sources can even affect the snowflakes, and there are some beautiful snow deformation effects. So yeah, Red Dead Redemption 2 is currently the most beautiful open-world game on the PC.
In conclusion, RDR2 does not require a high-end CPU, mainly thanks to its low-level APIs. On the other hand, the game does require a powerful GPU. Thankfully, though, PC gamers can improve performance by adjusting the game’s extensive graphics settings. You should also keep in mind that RDR2 can still look great on Medium settings (with Ultra textures obviously). I know that some PC gamers do not want to run a game on Medium settings, however RDR2’s Medium settings are equal to the High settings of most other triple-A titles. We also did not experience any mouse acceleration or smoothing issues. Moreover, we did not encounter any stuttering issues or crashes in DX12.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is not perfect though. We believe that the game could benefit from some additional optimization enhancements. Moreover, we were expecting a higher performance difference between Low and Ultra settings. Yes, there are 40 graphics settings, however the game’s performance on Low settings is nowhere close to what we were expecting. For instance, Ghost Recon Breakpoint looks and runs better in 4K/Very High than RDR2 does in 4K/Low.
Enjoy!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
Contact: Email
“For instance, Ghost Recon Breakpoint looks and runs better in 4K/Very High than RDR2 does in 4K/Low.”
ROFL
Recon looks horrible. It’s so inconsistent visually it almost looks different different game’s assets slapped together in an asset flip.
TLD;DR:
NVIDIA GeForce RTX2080Ti cannot run Red Dead Redemption 2 with 60fps in 4K/Ultra
Good. PC games are suppose to be demanding.
I bet you loved gta iv when it came out.
Haha, you probably nutted on himself. “Ah yes, all that stuttering”. ?
BUMP…hits a building because doenst have enough ram for the game to render all those buildings so everything is invisible.
It’s not the first game the 2080 ti cant max out at 4k/60, but people are acting like it is.
Its not about game, its allusion about all those “1080ti cannot run” dsog posts
I am 30 hours in the game so far, the volumetric effects, fog, dust, etc., are stunning. Lighting is great also. Textures and vegetation are a mixed bag. It’s not perfect, it’s a console port.
I noticed issues with vegetation textures too, especially in the snow where bushes would look green in the distance and then get snow when I got closer.
Also lots of general vegetation pop-in for me.
Pop- up for me is quite good don’t notice much during gameplay except when somethings are still loading after the cut- scenes. My criticism is too much of it looks 2D not 3D, no depth. The 2D flat geometry bugs me. and a good chunk of it isn’t very well detailed also. I’ve seen better vegetation in other games.
All games are console ports these days, aside from the PC exclusives which are getting pretty rare.
To take in comparisons the best console version xbox one x according to digital foundry its a mix of high,medium and lowest than low settings so its very hard to match the console version if someone got a low end/budget gpu.
Yep, guess that the lowest than low settings are used for most demanding and those with a cpu impact.
“The light sources can even affect the snowflakes”
HA HA FREAKING SNOWFLAKES THEY GET TRIGGERED BY THE LIGHT.
Blue-haired vampires!
tie them up and drag them to the alligators.
John’s article would be ‘deeply offensive’ to the blue-haired vampire community… or, more accurately, those wanting to be ‘offended’ on their behalf so to virtue signal via an article on Polygon/PC Gamer/Eurogamer/Kotaku and Twitter!
Haha, you send Durka are having way too much fun over there. Peep down will ya’s. Starting to make the rest of jealous over here. ??
Personally I’d rather they be locked up in a cell with a transgender rapist. And by “transgender”, I mean a biological male that fakes being transgender so that they allow him into female prisons. That would be the very climax of justice.
Why are feminists called “vampires” again? Is it because they often have snaggleteeth that look like fangs?
Just imagine all of the light rays emanating from Donald Trump’s bright, orange hair… No wonder they’re all so triggered by him!
The god emperor’s light destroys everyone it touches…no kidding every person who talked trash about him was btfo, like karma.
I still haven’t touched The Witcher 3 and barely GTA V and I have a 2080Ti so they are playable now,Just so many games to get through.
I reckon by the time I get around to buying and playing RDR2 I’ll have a 3080Ti or AMD equivalent that can handle it. 😉
Same!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8488dbf1cddcbe42a37af5177d516dbaadd4d4c3a0ff01faa5fb56fb59be080c.jpg
https://media3.giphy.com/media/26BRG4XgDf8Z2z1JK/giphy.gif
i9 7960x, 64GB 3200MHz CL16, 2x RTX 2080(non-super) user here.
Finally, I can play Doom II and Terraria super smooth. 😉
Let me know if you want to get charitable
I know right? Everything’s fine on my end… I was a bit unhappy with my 2080 Ti’s performance at 1440p, so I just went to Best Buy and got another one. Problem solved. Why is this so difficult for the complainers to comprehend??
The PC version definitely has performance issues but it’s far from being a disaster. Stability could also be compromised.
R* has some work to do.
I’m having a good experience with the game, launched fine and runs well considering how good it looks.
Yeah I pretty much agree with this remark. It isn’t a performance disaster as some are saying. It scales better than any other game’s graphics options that I’ve seen.
I was also one of the few to not have any launcher crashing issues, so my perspective is probably less sour than someone who pre-ordered the game and still couldn’t play it a week later. That’s some bullsh1+ right there.
“Ghost Recon Breakpoint looks and runs better in 4K/Very High”
What are you smoking? Breakpoint runs like garbage, unless you turn on the Temporal Injection option, which just renders the game at half resolution.
After 25 hours I can say that the game is simply excellent.
ahhahaahha
you get a upvote for this one.
What am I gonna do with you Robo? I just don’t know man. You break me heart, Homie. 010110010110
After 25 nanoseconds we all knew you’d be saying that.
Well to be fair, I never played it on console and have been waiting until now to do so, and I’m enamored with the game; I don’t have any shame in praising this game. I was one of the fortunate few to not have any of the launcher crashing issues, though I do get intermittent game crashes when using DX12 within an hour where the display driver can be seen crashing in the event logs at the same time.
I’m sure there’s people out there want it… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cdafc08b7aa515caabda982acc3b99705bf52d75bc67e878a0b4bc8e45be4593.jpg
Haha nice one. ?
Yhorm the Giant Mod From Dark Soul 3 in sekiro care to share this in your site admin 🙂
https://youtu.be/M3vECSvnhbY
I’m waiting for the steam release.
Should run fine with 8086k + 1070ti on 1440p if i turn those “fluff” settings which rarely make any difference in image quality. Talking about high vs ultra
Nice article, John. Which of the 40 settings are the most demanding, though? I’m guessing the likes of tessellation and the setting for clouds’ volumetric lighting plus maybe shadows too?
Edit – thanks for the instant salty downvote once more, Fernando Diaz!
Mostly volumetrics, water physics quality and reflections. Bumping those down a notch or two will net you some decent frame rates.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6f7220c39229080f74c83d86b3db6fc00e10384b39eff515a9c816ddfe15471c.png
Thanks for sharing that helpful chart.
Thanks for sharing that helpful chart.
Nice chart, not surprised at anything reflective. That schitt is basically like doubling the world. I notice in just about any games you kill shadows and fps sky Rockets.
I love how the system will show you who upvote you but it won’t show who downvote you. Truly the stuff of spineless puzziez. They just go crazy with the downvote button, as if that schitt matters to people that was born before the 1985. The only good the downvote button does is shows how many Insta-haters you have.
Indeed. Disqus evidently believes that negative feedback is permissible only when done so anonymously. Bizarre.
https://youtu.be/D1iNSyvIPaY
This video is a must watch Alex outdone itself
Good Tweak for Radeon (and nV Turing):
MyDocumentsRockstar gamesRed dead redemption 2settings
File = system.xml
open with notepad:
Async compute enable = True
Better frame times, less stutters.
Works best w/Freesync Monitor.
FYI If anyone is interested there IS a way to transfer your PS4 saves to PC using this software
https://x3t-infinity(dot)com/RDR_SE
You need to be able to decrypt the PS4 save file though, which I am working on finding a way to do without paying $60 for a program called Save Wizard.
I just can’t set my settings to medium.
Accurate of the times I would say.Story is solid.Don’t worry.