Stalker 2 PC Test: GPU CPU Benchmarks Update

BREDO

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Post on Nov 21, 2024

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Stalker 2 PC Test: GPU & CPU Benchmarks Update - My Rig Nearly Melted!

Hey gamers! So, I finally got my hands on Stalker 2, and let me tell you, it's a beast. I mean, seriously, this game pushes your hardware to the absolute limit. I've been doing some serious benchmarking, and I'm here to share my totally relatable experience, including some epic fails and unexpected wins. Think of this as your friendly neighborhood warning before you dive in!

I'll be honest, I was so hyped. I'd been waiting for ages. I pre-ordered the game months ago, upgraded my PC (a whole new GPU and CPU!), and prepared for maximum immersion. But let me tell you, my initial benchmarks were...well, let's just say underwhelming. I'd been following all the hype – reading articles about "best PC settings for Stalker 2," watching videos on YouTube of others achieving max settings at high frame rates, and I was expecting similar results. Boy, was I wrong.

<h3>My Rig & Initial Disappointment</h3>

My setup? A pretty beefy Ryzen 9 7900X CPU paired with an RTX 4080. 16GB of DDR5 RAM. I figured I'd be cruising at 4K max settings, right? Wrong. I was getting, like, 25-30 FPS at 1440p with everything maxed out. I'm talking maxed. Ray tracing was mostly unusable. My initial reaction? A mixture of frustration and confusion. Did I get a faulty copy? Was I doing something wrong?

This is where the learning curve begins! After a few hours of tweaking and testing (and a whole lot of head-scratching), I discovered a few critical things that significantly improved my performance.

<h3>Lessons Learned: Optimizing Stalker 2</h3>

First off, DLSS is your friend. Seriously, folks, this tech is a game-changer. It helps you get decent frame rates without major sacrifices to visual fidelity. I bumped it up to quality mode, and I instantly saw a noticeable increase in performance.

Secondly, ray tracing is a beautiful but expensive feature. It's like a digital gourmand, always wanting more. I had to dial down the ray tracing settings quite a bit to get a smoother experience. The "medium" setting offered a reasonable trade-off between visual fidelity and performance.

Third, AMD FSR 2.0 is another option I ended up using. It's a great alternative to DLSS if you have an AMD GPU. For my Intel based CPU and NVIDIA GPU, DLSS worked best. It's all about experimentation, my friends!

I also found that fiddling with the in-game shadow settings made a substantial difference. Those shadows can really hammer your performance!

<h3>Final Benchmarks & Settings</h3>

After all that tweaking, I managed to get a pretty decent result. At 1440p, with DLSS set to Quality and ray tracing lowered to medium, I was consistently hitting 45-60 FPS. Not perfect, but definitely playable.

At 1080p with all settings cranked up, I hit a solid 60fps average; however, I had to disable ray tracing. But hey, at least the game was running smoothly. I learned my lesson about pushing hardware too hard.

It’s always good to check the game’s settings first; optimizing settings to meet your specific hardware limitations is very important. Don't just assume max settings are always the way to go. Sometimes, a few smart tweaks can bring a far better result.

In short: Stalker 2 is a gorgeous game, but it's also a serious performance hog. Don't be afraid to experiment with settings, and embrace upscaling technologies like DLSS or FSR. And always remember to check your system specs and make sure they match the game's requirements. Happy gaming!