Red Dead Redemption 2 is out now on PC at long last, but its launch has not gone smoothly. Players have been unable to get into the game, and if they do, they report severe FPS drops in performance. Is there some sort of Red Dead Redemption 2 PC performance fix?
Are there any options to help fix Red Dead Redemption 2 FPS drops on PC, or do players experiencing performance issues in the game have to suffer until Rockstar decides to patch it? Fortunately there are a few fixes available, so let's take a look.
Is there a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC performance fix to stop FPS drops?
There are numerous fixes players can try to sort out Red Dead Redemption 2 PC performance, but we should point out that none of these are guaranteed fixes - even if Rockstar releases a performance-related patch, there's no guarantee it will help everyone. Still, here are some options you can do to improve performance:
- Update Graphics Drivers - yes, this sounds the dumbest and most obvious thing, but it's the current recommended way to improve performance. Both Nvidia and ATI have released new drivers especially to improve RDR2's FPS on PC, so this should be the first thing you do.
- Change Nvidia Graphics Card Settings - anyone using an Nvidia card should try changing their graphics API from Vulkan to DirectX12, which can help. You can also trying opening up your Nvidia Control Panel and choosing 'Performance' under 'Adjust image settings with preview' and 'choose my preference emphasising:'. Then go to 'Manage 3D Settings', choose Red Dead Redemption 2 and add it, then deliberately change the Power Management Mode - either to 'Maximum Performance' or 'Optimal Power', depending on what it's on now. If one doesn't work, try the other.
- Change Radeon Graphics Card Settings - Go to AMD Radeon Settings/Gaming/Global settings. Change Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering to 2x. Texture Filtering Quality to 'Performance', and Tessellation Mode to 32x or lower. Override settings where necessary.
- Lower Water Settings - water effects seem to be the biggest drain on PC FPS right now, so try lowering water quality, and maybe volumetric graphics too while you're at it.
- Turn off V-sync - Either in the graphics settings, or in your Nvidia/Radeon settings we mentioned above. V-sync/Vertical Refresh can really affect performance.
- Change Launch Options - Through Rockstar Games Launcher, find Red Dead Redemption 2 and open 'Launch Arguments'. On Epic Games Store, go to Settings/Manage Games then 'Additional Command Line Arguments'. Then, add -USEALLAVAILABLECORES -high.
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Hopefully one of these fixes will help your performance in RDR2. For further possible fixes, especially some optimal graphics settings to choose if you just want the game to run - not how good it looks - head to GhostArrow for more options. Good luck! Otherwise we'll just have to wait for a patch...
