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We return to the final build of developer Saber's impressively realised take on the Warhammer 40K universe - where locking at 60FPS is a true challenge on today's consoles. PS5 and Series X offer two modes: the curiously labelled Speed mode (for 60FPS performance), and a 30fps quality mode - of which the latter is the more stable choice. On PC there's a huge range of options, and the sky is the limit - though a powerful CPU is recommended in dealing with the game's high level of on-screen enemies. Alex and Tom link up for an in-depth look at the current state of play.

00:00 Introduction
00:55 PS5/Series X Mode Comparison
03:27 30FPS Quality Mode/Series S Frame-Rate Tests
04:18 60FPS Speed Mode Frame-Rate Tests
11:29 PC Shader Compilation Stutter Re-Tested
14:44 PC Optimised Settings versus PS5
18:38 Series S Frame-Rate Test
20:43 Verdict

 

[killatopak]

where summary?

 

[TxKnight7]

Playing the game for the first time.. it's Gears of war!

 

[Mr Moose]

Why did I think this was a Xbox "exclusive"?

 

[Timberwolf25]

where summary?

Series X seems to have a 5-10+ frame advantage to PS5.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Why did I think this was a Xbox "exclusive"?

Are you thinking about Warhammer 40,000: Darktide? That's still an Xbox & PC only release.

 

[Big Baller]

Why did I think this was a Xbox "exclusive"?

Because its for dudes only

 

[Mr Moose]

Are you thinking about Warhammer 40,000: Darktide? That's still an Xbox & PC only release.

Oh, yeah probably. That released?

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Oh, yeah probably. That released?

Yeah, it launched a while ago, first on PC and then a year later on Xbox Series.

 

[bbeach123]

Perf mode lol , ps3 game wouldnt even be this blurry .

 

[adamsapple]

- Current gen only
- PS5/SX have 2 modes, "Speed" and "Quality"
- Series S only has a singular mode

Visuals:
- Speed mode targets 60 FPS with DRS 720p to 1080p which upscales to 4K with FSR2
- Quality mode targets 30 FPS with DRS from 1080p to 1440p which upscales to 4K with FSR2
- Series S 720p to 1080p DRS with FSR2 upscale to 1440p
- Visual quality and features broadly the same across all consoles and modes
- Quality mode has marginal improvement in shadow quality but it's nothing too big
- Performance mode can look 'fuzzy'

- Quality mode's 30 FPS is pretty tightly locked with a single drop here and there and during camera cuts in cut-scenes
- Series S has a few more blips comparatively but is otherwise just as equally well locked to its only 30 FPS mode

Performance:
- PS5 Performance mode targets 60 but has frequent drops to 50's and mid 40's (even in 30's)
- As more enemies come on screen, the performance drops more. When sparsely populated, the game can hit 60 FPS
- One segment with a flame thrower and lots of enemies on screen dips to the mid 30's during combat

- Series X is a marked improvement over PS5 with 10 to 15 FPS higher in same situations
- At worse the flame thrower segment which drops to mid 30's on PS5 drops to mid 40's on SX
- Cut-scenes can run 21% faster on SX compared to PS5
- SX's broader VRR window additionally helps smooth out the drops where PS5 is limited to 48hz (the game does not have native 120hz support)

PC Shader Compilation:
- Alex does not recommend using the TAA option cause it uses FSR 1
- PC version has a robust DRS toggle that helps keep performance on target
- The game is more CPU limited
- Launch version still has shader comp stutters

 

[rodrigolfp]

Playing the game for the first time.. it's Gears of war!

Gladly, no.

 

[Bulletbrain]

Oh boy, this is shaping upto be one of those videos that will be picked apart and intensely scrutinized. Buckle up!

 

[Fake]

Gladly, no.

Wasn't he refering Gears of War 3?

Because imo Gears 3 was the best of the series.

 

[owandeseis]

Yeah with the end of the crossgen games, the era of good 60 FPS modes on console is gone, at least for the demanding ones.

This one's "recommended" requirements was a 5800x CPU, PS5's one is a slightly downgraded 3600 so, yeah no.

 

[Insane Metal]

720p to 1080p... amazing!

 

[rodrigolfp]

Wasn't he refering Gears of War 3?

Because imo Gears 3 was the best of the series.

Don't know, but no cover, non potato melee combat, parry, dodge, so almost nothing on Gears here.

 

[Xtib81]

But, but, I hear that we don't need a ps5 pro.. lmao

 

[Bojji]

 

[Darsxx82]

- Current gen only
- PS5/SX have 2 modes, "Speed" and "Quality"
- Series S only has a singular mode

Visuals:
- Speed mode targets 60 FPS with DRS 720p to 1080p which upscales to 4K with FSR2
- Quality mode targets 30 FPS with DRS from 1080p to 1440p which upscales to 4K with FSR2
- Series S 720p to 1080p DRS with FSR2 upscale to 1440p
- Visual quality and features broadly the same across all consoles and modes
- Quality mode has marginal improvement in shadow quality but it's nothing too big
- Performance mode can look 'fuzzy'

- Quality mode's 30 FPS is pretty tightly locked with a single drop here and there and during camera cuts in cut-scenes
- Series S has a few more blips comparatively but is otherwise just as equally well locked to its only 30 FPS mode

Performance:
- PS5 Performance mode targets 60 but has frequent drops to 50's and mid 40's (even in 30's)
- As more enemies come on screen, the performance drops more. When sparsely populated, the game can hit 60 FPS
- One segment with a flame thrower and lots of enemies on screen dips to the mid 30's during combat

- Series X is a marked improvement over PS5 with 10 to 15 FPS higher in same situations
- At worse the flame thrower segment which drops to mid 30's on PS5 drops to mid 40's on SX
- Cut-scenes can run 21% faster on SX compared to PS5
- SX's broader VRR window additionally helps smooth out the drops where PS5 is limited to 48hz (the game does not have native 120hz support)

PC Shader Compilation:
- Alex does not recommend using the TAA option cause it uses FSR 1
- PC version has a robust DRS toggle that helps keep performance on target
- The game is more CPU limited
- Launch version still has shader comp stutters

XSX coming out best in the 2 most technologically demanding multiplatform games recently released.

XSS with a very decent version.

Surprising that the PS5 version is so far from XSX in a comparison and at this point in the generation and the situation being what it is. I suppose they are one of those strange cases that always occur far from the norm.

 

[Anchovie123]

Is there a single UE5 game that doesnt have performance or image quality issues? (Fortnite doesnt count)

Garbage engine.

 

[Gaiff]

The state of UE5 games:

A. Consoles with low resolution and awful FSR artifacts/ghosting

B. Capable PC with stutters everywhere

PS5 Pro is becoming a very interesting proposition.

Edit: Not UE5, but same problem nonetheless.

 

[tommib]

720p upscaled to 1080p? Holy moly. Bring the fucking Pro already. Not buying this until it comes out.

 

[Bojji]

720p upscaled to 1080p? Holy moly. Bring the fucking Pro already. Not buying this until it comes out.

It's dynamic 720p to 1080p native upscaled to 4K via FSR so FSR Performance at best (lol) to FSR ultra performance at worst.

 

[Gaiff]

It's dynamic 720p to 1080p native upscaled to 4K via FSR so FSR Performance at best (lol) to FSR ultra performance at worst.

This is insane. We're frequently back to PS360-era resolutions. We're a massive step back from the X1X/PS4 Pro in terms of IQ.

 

[KyoZz]

The state of UE5 games:

A. Consoles with low resolution and awful FSR artifacts/ghosting

B. Capable PC with stutters everywhere

PS5 Pro is becoming a very interesting proposition.

It's not UE5; it's Saber proprietary engine.

 

[adamsapple]

The state of UE5 games:

A. Consoles with low resolution and awful FSR artifacts/ghosting

B. Capable PC with stutters everywhere

PS5 Pro is becoming a very interesting proposition.

This is a custom engine, not UE5.

 

[Bartski]

PS5 ver is so rough I'll watch it just to see what kind of a trainwreck series S is

 

[Gaiff]

It's not UE5; it's Saber proprietary engine.

Even worse. Gotta add another engine to the pile that stutters. UE5, this one, whatever engine FF XVI uses, and Frostbite.

 

[Timberwolf25]

Given the tons of enemies, both large and small, I'm not surprised at the performance. DF speculates that is likely the reason for the frame drops (CPU limited).
I didn't think the PS5 had that big a deficit compared to the SX in CPU though, so maybe something else in addition?

 

[Timberwolf25]

PS5 ver is so rough I'll watch it just to see what kind of a trainwreck series S is

Series S only has 1 mode and seems to be a solid 30 fps like the PS5/SX albeit at a lower res

 

[KyoZz]

Even worse. Gotta add another engine to the pile that stutters. UE5, this one, whatever engine FF XVI uses, and Frostbite.

I played the first mission on PC with a 4090 and haven't noticed any stutter so I dunno. Maybe later in the game?

Game is really beautiful tho and run quite well.

 

[TehGoomba7s]

My library for the PS5 Pro grows even more

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Japanese physical version releases Monday and I was going to pick it up day 1 but the PS5 Performance issues mean I will be waiting for the Pro version instead.

 

[YCoCg]

Not even FSR3.1? I get that FSR isn't the best but surely you'd at least use the most up to date and best performing version, especially when your game is upscaling from such low resolutions.

 

[Insane Metal]

Given the tons of enemies, both large and small, I'm not surprised at the performance. DF speculates that is likely the reason for the frame drops (CPU limited).
I didn't think the PS5 had that big a deficit compared to the SX in CPU though, so maybe something else in addition?

Yeah in terms of CPUs there isn't that much difference (if any at all). Sonethong else is at play here.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Lots of shit going on so it probably prefers the wider gpu.

Ps5 pro should run this really well.

1440p and 60fps hopefully.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I guess it’s cool that devs are doing whatever they can to push out 60 fps modes but 720p in 2024 is wild

 

[Kacho]

I had a feeling this would be rough on consoles. Damn.

 

[Mr Moose]

Lots of shit going on so it probably prefers the wider gpu.

Ps5 pro should run this really well.

1440p and 60fps hopefully.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Are the stutters on PC that bad? I'll wait for a sale if that's the case, maybe they've patched up the game by then.

 

[kevboard]

this has to be the biggest framerate advantage we've seen on Series X so far, only Apex Legends' 120fps mode shows a similar difference.

add to that the lack of 120hz on PS5, and damn, this is a clear Series X version for me... but not right away, I'm still playing through EDF6 with friends, and also still need to finish Astrobot and Gori... too much on my plate atm to add this on top of lol

 

[Mister Wolf]

Using FSR with that low of an input resolution is a joke.

 

[Topher]

Both them seem genuinely perplexed by the frame rate advantage for XSX

 

[Bojji]

This is insane. We're frequently back to PS360-era resolutions. We're a massive step back from the X1X/PS4 Pro in terms of IQ.

Yep, this is quite insane but at the same time most games have that 60fps options and options are great, consoles didn't have them before 2016.
In this case we have so, so 60fps with bad IQ vs. stable, properly frame paced 30fps with decent IQ. Not that bad.

Game is clearly CPU limited:

So DF (and me) wonder why XSX version performs much better. XSX version is much better with higher FPS and much higher VRR range.

Are the stutters on PC that bad? I'll wait for a sale if that's the case, maybe they've patched up the game by then.

It stutters when some specific effects appear on the screen for the first time, so maybe every 20, 30 minutes (probably more at the start)?

 

[Darsxx82]

I guess it’s cool that devs are doing whatever they can to push out 60 fps modes but 720p in 2024 is wild

These are the consequences of wanting to offer a 60fps mode in games designed to run at 30fps on consoles. Looking at the situation on PC it is clear that stable 60fps was impossible.

In other times/generations the 60fps mode would not even be attempted on consoles. But nowadays if you don't offer it it, it's usually a reason for critics to penalize you on Metacritic.

That said, 720-1080p FSR2 IQ-level is perfectly comparable to the native 1080p games of the last gen. It's funny because the use of FSR is criticized a lot, but in many cases including this one, it's its existence that has allowed that "60fps" mode

 

[winjer]

Not even FSR3.1? I get that FSR isn't the best but surely you'd at least use the most up to date and best performing version, especially when your game is upscaling from such low resolutions.

The PC version is confirmed to get an update for FSR 3.1. No word about consoles.

 

[TintoConCasera]

It stutters when some specific effects appear on the screen for the first time, so maybe every 20, 30 minutes (probably more at the start)?

Doesn't sound that bad! Thanks fren.

 

[King Dazzar]

It'll be interesting revisiting this and others come November. And in the future even more so if we start seeing PSSR instead of FSR. Interesting times ahead. Lets hope with more positive outcomes.

 

[Timberwolf25]

It'll be interesting revisiting this and others come November. And in the future even more so if we start seeing PSSR instead of FSR. Interesting times ahead. Lets hope with more positive outcomes.

What's PSSR?