Welcome again to the wasteland, you raving bunch of lunatics, as a result of as we speak’s the day that Rage 2 lastly blasts its method onto PC. Filled to the brim with tongue-waggling goons and mohawked, tattooed hoodlums with very itchy set off fingers, the successor to id Software’s 2011 post-apocalyptic shooter is now greater and boomier than ever, thanks in no small half to their collaboration with Just Cause devs Avalanche Studios and their mastery of very handsome explosions.
But will Rage 2 make your PC explode in equally spectacular style? To assist reply that query, I’ve been testing the game with a bunch of as we speak’s best graphics cards to be able to discover out what sort of efficiency you possibly can anticipate, and the way to get the most effective settings and the most effective speeds it doesn’t matter what GPU you’ve bought whirring away inside your case. Let’s get cracking.
Rage 2: PC necessities
Before we get began, let’s check out Rage 2’s PC necessities, which you’ll discover listed beneath. In phrases of the official minimum PC requirements for Rage 2, it’s fairly plain crusing, each when it comes to the CPU you’ll want in addition to the graphics card.
Minimum specs:
OS: Windows 7-10 (64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570 or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X
RAM: 8GB
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 (3GB) or AMD R9 280 (3GB)
Storage: 50GB
Cast your eye over the advisable specs, nevertheless, and lower-end graphics card homeowners could begin to panic a bit. While the Intel and AMD CPUs shouldn’t be an excessive amount of of an issue for most individuals, you may suppose a GTX 1070 or Vega 56 appears a bit steep for a game like this – and also you’d be proper.
Recommended specs:
OS: Windows 7-10 (64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core i5-4770 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
RAM: 8GB
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 or AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
Storage: 50GB
Just like my Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice graphics performance evaluation, I discovered that even an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 was capable of run Rage 2 at 60fps on max settings at 1920×1080, so something above a GTX 1060 / RX 580 shouldn’t have any downside in any respect in relation to working Rage 2 – and that features Nvidia’s new GTX 1660 and GTX 1660 Ti playing cards as properly.
Indeed, out of as we speak’s present crop of graphics playing cards, it was solely Nvidia’s GTX 1650 and GTX 1050 Ti playing cards and AMD’s RX 570 that weren’t capable of run Rage 2 at 60fps with every little thing maxed out, so I reckon Bethesda’s advisable specs are for taking part in Rage 2 at 2560×1440 relatively than the standard 1920×1080.
Fortunately, I’m right here to let you know how one can nonetheless get 60fps on these lower-end graphics playing cards at 1080p with out essentially compromising the game’s total element high quality. After all, there’s a lot to admire out in Rage 2’s wasteland, so it will be a disgrace to not see it in all its fluorescent, punk-infused glory.
Rage 2: How to get the most effective settings on PC
Rage 2 has 4 major graphics settings – Low, Medium, High and Ultra – and you may see from the images beneath what all of them appear to be in apply (click on to enlarge). As you’d anticipate, Low is a bit lean on lighting and total element, Medium has an identical stage of element to Low however extra superior lighting, whereas High has each in spades. Ultra… properly, there’s truly solely a single setting individually High from Ultra (Geometric Details), which is why you most likely can’t see a lot distinction between them.
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- Low high quality
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- Medium high quality
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- High high quality
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- Ultra high quality
Fortunately, there are a number of issues you are able to do to get that candy 60fps body fee with out dumbing down that every one necessary Geometric Details setting. One of the best issues to do is make use of Rage 2’s Resolution Scale possibility. This renders fewer pixels to be able to enhance efficiency, and you may both set it to Automatic or select a handbook minimal decision scale your self.
With the GTX 1650, for instance, I discovered that setting the Minimum Resolution Scale slider to 90% was sufficient to spice up it from 40-50fps on Ultra settings at 1080p as much as 55-60fps. On the GTX 1050 Ti, I managed to get a easy 50-55fps by setting the minimal to 80%.
If you’d relatively keep a crisp decision of 1920×1080, nevertheless, then the following neatest thing to do is to decrease Rage 2’s Anti-Aliasing (or, AA) possibility and its SSAO setting. Anti-aliasing, as it’s possible you’ll already know, is the factor helps easy out jagged edges, making them look extra like straight traces than sharp flights of pixel-shaped steps, whereas SSAO stands for ‘screen space ambient occlusion’, which is all to do with the lighting element round in-game objects.
On the Ultra preset, AA is ready to FXAA + TAA, whereas SSAO is (unsurprisingly) on Ultra. However, when you flip down the AA to common FXAA and SSAO to Medium, then GTX 1650 homeowners can get that 55-60fps once more with out having to fiddle about with the Resolution Scale function. Here’s what that appears like in apply (click on to enlarge):
The common Ultra preset…
…and Ultra with common FXAA and Medium SSAO
Those of you taking part in with a GTX 1050 Ti, alternatively, should still have to make use of a little bit of decision scaling to be able to obtain the identical type of pace right here, nevertheless, as even my AA / SSAO technique solely managed to bump up the body fee to round 45fps from its authentic Ultra pace down within the excessive 30s (or between 36-42fps if you wish to be actually particular about it).
Otherwise, I discovered that altering the remainder of Rage 2’s particular person video settings didn’t actually make an enormous quantity of distinction within the grand scheme of issues. That, or the enhance I managed to achieve was so small that you just wouldn’t discover it with out assistance from a body fee counter – and even then we’re typically solely speaking a rise of 2-3fps. Short of dropping the entire preset right down to Medium, then the tweaks I’ve described above ought to be sufficient to push the body fee in that well-greased 55-60fps zone.
If you’re actually having a tough time with Rage 2, although, then I’d suggest using its Automatic Resolution Scale Target FPS possibility as properly. This enables you to set a most body fee, so you possibly can all the time lock it to 30fps or, say, 50fps, if the changes I’ve outlined above can’t offer you a secure body fee.
Hopefully, although, you’ll have the ability to Rage 2 working with out a lot fiddling in any respect within the game’s video settings menu – though when you do spot another graphics shortcuts I’ve missed, then please do share them within the feedback beneath.
