Red Dead Redemption II PC performance thread

[WGMBY]

So the new update made it so I can't even boot the game. I get various errors, but the game never even starts. Best I can get is the exe running in task manager before a crash message appears.

I was able to run it fine last night, so this is incredibly disappointing.

 

[Lashley]

Making sure to avoid this patch then

Top work, Rockstar 👍

 

[J75]

Keep getting unexpectedly closed, fucking hell.

 

[Pwnz]

Yup this update caused hard crashes for me after having no issues at all before patch. On Reddit I see others having same issues. SMH

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It's amazing how companies can be so successful but fail to test.

 

[Joule]

My take after last night. Rdr2 is highly unoptimized on PC at launch especially for Nvidia cards due to improper driver support. AMD cards that my 1080ti usually smokes were beating it by 20%. I am shocked cause of how well Max Payne and GTA V were optimized on pc.

My hope is as drivers and patches are released things will get better.

Worst part is the benchmark Rockstar asked all sites to use to talk about performance prelaunch is actually less demanding than the actual game.

Specs:

Intel 8700k
Nvidia GTX 1080ti
16gb ram
Win 10
GSync running at 1080p
Variable settings that don't seem to help if turned down

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disappointing I have a similar build. this is a bad port all around.

 

[freshVeggie]

Textures at High. This ain't right.

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Had hopes the big patch today would solve texture issues but no luck.

 

[AllenShrz]

Strange.... 1080 or 4k the performance is about the same with the 1080ti.

CPU is barely doing anything, sits around 13% use.

Specs:

3900x
1080ti
64gb ram
installed on m.2

 

[Forceflow]

Another side-effect of the patch today: The benchmark changes in the last section: Arthur now looks at the cart he's blowing up with dynamite, instead of the other way.

 

[Monster Zero]

So is Red Dead fixed or are there still people that cant launch the game.

 

[Gibbo]

Keep getting long (5-10 seconds) pauses during the game. Submitted a request to Rockstar for a refund.

 

[Cross-Section]

Game's been crash-y as heck for me today. Don't know if it's the latest patch or my setup that's doing it, though.

 

[Michael B]

Just another suggestion for the ones affected by stuttering:
Try switching powerplan in Win 10 to high performance mode.

Usually I keep it on balanced and it doesn't make a difference for games, but here it apparently does.

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Thank you for suggesting this. I'm pretty sure this solved most of the stuttering for me.

 

[PixelatedDonut]

Headed to work now, but I'm getting great performance running a mix of medium to high settings with a 2070s and 2700x running vulkin. I'm averaging around 70 fps. Game looks good, but slightly blurry even with taa sharpening to Max and using Nvidia sharpening. Anyone find a way to clean up the image? Theres this weird blur in the distance.

 

[Duxxy3]

So is Red Dead fixed or are there still people that cant launch the game.

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Still broken on two of my computers.

 

[Valcon]

I preferred to play with a mix of high and ultra, at 4k and 30 locked frames. It looks amazing. No framepacing. (GTX 1080TI)

 

[TSM]

Headed to work now, but I'm getting great performance running a mix of medium to high settings with a 2070s and 2700x running vulkin. I'm averaging around 70 fps. Game looks good, but slightly blurry even with taa sharpening to Max and using Nvidia sharpening. Anyone find a way to clean up the image? Theres this weird blur in the distance.

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I'd think the issue is that in order to enhance detail there would have to be detail there to enhance. So the Nvidia sharpening likely doesn't have much to work with.

 

[Forceflow]

My little XML parser tool now understands all the settings, except the damn Geometry LoD, which is split over several settings in the XML. Will look into that further tomorrow :)

There are a lot of settings in the system XML file that are not exposed in the in-game settings menu.

Here are my current settings, with which I get about 93 fps average in the benchmark:

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, Vulkan
1920 x 1080, 144hz, Windowed: No, Vsync: No, Triple: No

Textures: Ultra
Anisotropic: 16x
Lighting: High
Global Illumination: High
Shadows: High
Far Shadows: High
SSAO: High
Reflection: High
Mirror: High
Water: Custom
Volumetrics: Custom
Particles: High
Tessellation: High
FXAA: No, TAA: High, MSAA: 0

Advanced Settings Locked: false
Near Volumetrics Quality: High
Far Volumetric Quality: Medium
Volumetric Lighting Quality: High
Unlocked Volumetric Raymarch Resolution: On
Particle Lighting Quality: High
Soft Shadows: High
Grass Shadows: High
Long Shadows: On
Full resolution SSAO: On
Water Refraction Quality: High
Water Reflection Quality: High
Water Physics Quality: 2 (range 0-4)
Resolution scale: Mode1o1
TAA Sharpen Intensity: 1.000000 (range 0-1)
Motion Blur: On
Reflection MSAA: Off
Geometry Level of Detail: TODO
Grass Level of Detail: 1.750000 (range 0-1)
Tree Quality: High
Parallax Occlusion Mapping Quality: High
Decal Quality: High
Fur Quality: High

Generated with Forceflow's RDR2 settings parser

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[Polyh3dron]

Me: So I get home, update my X570 mobo's BIOS to the very latest AGESA 1004 version that dropped yesterday. AND the Rockstar launcher downloads an update for RDR2, there's no way it can stop me from launching now!

Rockstar:

The Rockstar Games Services are unavailable and offline play could not be verified (code 149). Please check your connection and try again later. If you continue to have problems playing the game, please contact Rockstar Games Customer Service at https://support.rockstargames.com. Code:7002.1

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Me:

 

[Reinhard]

My take after last night. Rdr2 is highly unoptimized on PC at launch especially for Nvidia cards due to improper driver support. AMD cards that my 1080ti usually smokes were beating it by 20%. I am shocked cause of how well Max Payne and GTA V were optimized on pc.

My hope is as drivers and patches are released things will get better.

Worst part is the benchmark Rockstar asked all sites to use to talk about performance prelaunch is actually less demanding than the actual game.

Specs:

Intel 8700k
Nvidia GTX 1080ti
16gb ram
Win 10
GSync running at 1080p
Variable settings that don't seem to help if turned down

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It wouldn't surprise me if Nvidia suggested that Rockstar focus on coding the engine for DX12 and Vulkan with features that Pre-turing cards are weak at just to help drum up sales of newer cards. But the engine in general just doesn't seem to scale down very well when lowering graphic options.

 

[catpurrcat]

Me: So I get home, update my X570 mobo's BIOS to the very latest AGESA 1004 version that dropped yesterday. AND the Rockstar launcher downloads an update for RDR2, there's no way it can stop me from launching now!

Rockstar:
Me:

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lol. That was me today too. I was reading twitter on the bus about the patch going "see, you were mad about nothing"

Install patch. Update bios.

"....exit unexpectedly..."

:(

On the plus side I had my best elimination streak going on in Overwatch. Figure I'll be playing RDR2 sometime in January at this point.

 

[Lazybob]

Me: So I get home, update my X570 mobo's BIOS to the very latest AGESA 1004 version that dropped yesterday. AND the Rockstar launcher downloads an update for RDR2, there's no way it can stop me from launching now!

Rockstar:
Me:

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I've been getting that same message. After pressing launch a bunch of times it eventually doesn't get the message and actually launches. This launch has been a mess.

 

[Polyh3dron]

I've been getting that same message. After pressing launch a bunch of times it eventually doesn't get the message and actually launches. This launch has been a mess.

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LOLOLOLOLOL sure enough, I try for the 5th time right after reading this, and it finally loads up.

But wait! Holy shit!

"Windows Defender has blocked some features of this app"

Oh boy. PC gaming, amirite?

 

[Plague Doctor Cosby]

MSI just uploaded the new BIOS for my motherboard (B450m Gaming Plus).

Installing now, hopefully it fixes my launcher crash issue at least.

Edit: Yup, game booted for me for the first time.

 

[Davilmar]

Game just crashed for me again on another mission. Which is incredibly infuriating, given how scripted the game is and the lack of quicksaves. This is after their patch, mind you.

 

[Trisc]

I wonder if a lot of the launching/crashing is happening on Ryzen rigs. Anyone with Intel chips having similar difficulties?

 

[Polyh3dron]

I have played about 8 hours on these settings.
Completely locked 60fps at 4k (80% render res) Even in St Denis.
GPU usage usually around 80% up to high 90s. Looks great and way better than the ps4 pro version.
2080ti on water @ 2115mhz
2700x @ 4.2
16GB 3200cl14

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Thanks for these settings! I got an average of 57 FPS in the benchmark with them after getting a mid-40s average with the previous settings I'd tried from one of the presets. And this is with a stock 2080 Ti Founder's, no water cooling.

I'd noticed some texture pop-in with these settings though, while running off one of the fastest SSDs available, when I hadn't noticed it running off of Vulkan. Perhaps this is a DirectX 12 issue?

 

[Pwnz]

I'll have to parse this thread starting here tomorrow morning for any workarounds on the patch crashes. I didn't crash until the patch, I'm midway through chapter 2.

It is pretty clear to me that:
1. Rockstar heavily depends upon system testing, eg people playing games
2. RDR2 is mid to late Beta, it is not release quality

I think the only people that have hope for stability are those with flagship hardware with all of the updates. I was fine with updates with a 3900x and 1080ti, but now I'm not. With flagship hardware it is more likely that Rockstar, Nvidia, and AMD prioritized testing it.

Whatever crashed it probably has to do with settings as safe mode bypassed it.

 

[Zips]

Textures at High. This ain't right.

Had hopes the big patch today would solve texture issues but no luck.

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Yuck.

I can't believe there are people that can honestly sit there and say that there are no issues with this game and that it's just "futureproof" or "low is now 'high'" when it's clear there are some pretty major issues on multiple fronts.

 

[leng jai]

I'm beginning to think the Steam release was basically the real date and they pushed this one month earlier to promote their launcher. It felt suspiciously soon as soon as they announced it considering this port wasn't even officially a thing until very recently.

 

[Pwnz]

I'm beginning to think the Steam release was basically the real date and they pushed this one month earlier to promote their launcher. It felt suspiciously soon as soon as they announced it considering this port wasn't even officially a thing until very recently.

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Regardless it isn't done. And I doubt it is the dev team or QA's fault unless they thought it was release quality. Most likely upper management.

 

[Cross-Section]

Well, I managed to stop the crashing. It was either me switching over from Vulkan to DX12, or not using the ultrawide trainer. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Pwnz]

Well, I managed to stop the crashing. It was either me switching over from Vulkan to DX12, or not using the ultrawide trainer. 🤷‍♂️

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Ah, lame. Isn't Vulkan to DX12 a significant performance hit for 1080ti?

 

[zerocalories]

was anyone else set on using m+kb but ending up using controller? Maybe I should try it with a steam controller

 

[Cross-Section]

Ah, lame. Isn't Vulkan to DX12 a significant performance hit for 1080ti?

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No clue, I'm using a 2070S. :P

As it stands, I'm getting around 40 to 60 frames in the Ch.2 environs, using the settings that similar-spec'd users have posted.

 

[catpurrcat]

Guys if you're running a B450 motherboard check your manufacturer website - MSI just posted an update a few minutes ago for my board, to support 1.0.0.4.

I noticed some other boards got updated bios' earlier today (thanks again Keikaku ) and someone on twitter said more got updated this evening.

And...RDR2 launches! FINALLY!

 

[Mecha Meister]

I managed to get the game to work on my Ryzen 5 3600 system by updating my BIOS. Be careful when updating your BIOS, as you run the potential risk of bricking your motherboard. Make sure you follow the update process instructions if you attempt a BIOS update, and be sure that you have the correct BIOS for your motherboard! Hopefully this will be fixed soon without having to update your BIOS.

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Guys if you're running a B450 motherboard check your manufacturer website - MSI just posted an update a few minutes ago for my board, to support 1.0.0.4.

I noticed some other boards got updated bios' earlier today (thanks again Keikaku ) and someone on twitter said more got updated this evening.

And...RDR2 launches! FINALLY!

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I saw that yesterday and posted about it in this thread. I've been able to play the game on my Ryzen 5 3600 system now too!

I saw a new bios dropped for the MSI B450 Mortar. AGESA 1.0.0.4.B

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450M-MORTAR

I'm gonna start my PC back up and try it.

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I spent hours trying to get the game to work, then MSI released a bios update on 06/11/2019. I've been able to play the game on my PC since updating it.

Be careful when updating your BIOS as there is a potential risk of bricking your motherboard.
I've been running the same bios I had since I installed my CPU and did a BIOS flashback, Destiny 2 previously had issues launching on Ryzen CPUs which was later fixed with a BIOs and chipset driver update. Destiny 2 was a game that worked on my PC. There was a RdRand instruction issue that was fixed in a BIOS update. I wonder what prevent Red Dead Redemption 2 from launching if a BIOS update has fixed the problem?

Phoronix - AMD Releases BIOS Fix To Motherboard Partners For Booting Newer Linux Distributions

I just received the following official statement from AMD:

AMD has identified the root cause and implemented a BIOS fix for an issue impacting the ability to run certain Linux distributions and Destiny 2 on Ryzen 3000 processors. We have distributed an updated BIOS to our motherboard partners, and we expect consumers to have access to the new BIOS over the coming days.

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Hopefully it won't take too long for motherboard vendors to release new BIOS updates. But considering it also has a fix for the Desinty 2 Windows game rather than "just a Linux fix" plus with the rush of other motherboard BIOS updates now that more consumers are getting their hands on these exciting new processors, hopefully most motherboards will be patched in the very near future. Stay tuned and I also have more AMD Zen 2 Linux benchmarks on the way.

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What's going on with the Intel systems then? Because I heard that people were unable to launch the game with CPUs like the i7-8700K and i-9900K.

I updated my BIOS numerous times in an attempt to get the game to work, then MSI released a new BIOS.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450M-MORTAR

 

[scabobbs]

Strange.... 1080 or 4k the performance is about the same with the 1080ti.

CPU is barely doing anything, sits around 13% use.

Specs:

3900x
1080ti
64gb ram
installed on m.2

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Yikes this is my setup... I'm definitely sitting this one out for a few months as its sorted out.

 

[dreamfall]

Any CPU comparisons benchmarked? This is what I'm more worried about rocking an older i7 when it releases on Steam.

 

[Fezan]

Anyone here has 1060m with i7 8760H. Should I bother buying this game or PS4 version is better? I hate variable FPS fixed 30 is better than it

 

[Mecha Meister]

Any CPU comparisons benchmarked? This is what I'm more worried about rocking an older i7 when it releases on Steam.

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What CPU do you have? I ran the benchmark on an i7-2600K at 3.2GHz with a GTX 1080 Ti.
I've heard the benchmark may not be the best representation of in-game performance though.

CPU: i7 2600K 3.2GHz
CPU Cooler: Intel Stock Cooler
Motherboard:
MSI H61-M-P31/W8
Ram: CMY16GX3M2A2400C11 16GB (2x8GB) 2400MHz CL11
Memory Timings (Stock): CL 9 - 9 - 9 - 24 - 1T Memory Clock speed: 1333MHz
GPU: GTX 1080 Ti (Core – 1911MHz, Memory 5508 MHz, Effective 11016 MHz)
PCI-E 2.0 x16
Case: Riotoro CR1080
PSU: Corsair CX600M SSD
(Operating System): Crucial MX300 275 GB
Game is installed to a 500GB Samsung 860 EVO

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[Davilmar]

Does anyone have any idea why this game crashes during missions, or what might be causing the random crashes? I checked the Reddit forum, and it just seems random. It crashed again after a long "robbery" mission, and I'm not doing this scripted bullshit again. I formally asked for a refund, and I have no idea when my ticket will ever me responded to.

 

[ss_lemonade]

Ok, just bought the game. This is strange, can anyone tell me why disabling vsync in the game also disables gsync for me (I have vsync enabled in the nvidia control panel)? This is the first time I've encountered a game like this. Enabling vsync makes gsync work again.

Edit:
So it's the vulkan api. Once I switch to dx12, gsync starts working again even with vsync disabled ingame. Loading time (at least in the benchmark) seems to have increased significantly though. Like 4-5x longer with dx12

 

[leng jai]

Patch didn't do shit on my i5. Still get the random pausing and towns still run like trash.

 

[ss_lemonade]

Patch didn't do shit on my i5. Still get the random pausing and towns still run like trash.

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What i5 do you have? I used to have a 3570k and certain games (usually open world ones like FInal Fantasy 15) would stutter like crazy. Upgrading from 8 GB to 16 GB only helped a little

 

[PolarisLight]

Is anyone bothered by the vignette effect that darkens the edges of the screen? It's super distracting, anyone found a way to remove it?

 

[leng jai]

What i5 do you have? I used to have a 3570k and certain games (usually open world ones like FInal Fantasy 15) would stutter like crazy. Upgrading from 8 GB to 16 GB only helped a little

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4.4ghz 6600k. I have a similar problem in AC Origins but 95% of the time I'm fine.

 

[dreamfall]

What CPU do you have? I ran the benchmark on an i7-2600K at 3.2GHz with a GTX 1080 Ti.
I've heard the benchmark may not be the best representation of in-game performance though.

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Thank you for this, still rocking an i7 3770K!

 

[Dommo]

Pretty astounding that for a port that's had an entire whole year to iron out the kinks could be released in such a state. How do games whose PC version is released simultaneously manage to fuck things up less?

 

[ConfusedOwl]

Patch didn't do shit on my i5. Still get the random pausing and towns still run like trash.

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There's a program called BES that some people on reddit recommended using for this issue and it got rid of all of the freezing for me. Just set it to throttle your CPU by 2% and it won't have any noticeable performance impact and will get rid of those annoying pauses, worth a shot if you haven't tried it already. Sucks needing to use third party software to fix bugs but it's a good temporary fix until Rockstar gets their shit together.

 

[Bricktop]

Pretty astounding that for a port that's had an entire whole year to iron out the kinks could be released in such a state. How do games whose PC version is released simultaneously manage to fuck things up less?

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PC release is the beta test for PS5/Nextbox.