My PC isn’t that bad, is it?
Until now, I actually thought my PC was still quite powerful. The Nvidia RTX 3080 Founder’s Edition is only two generations old, and 64 gigabytes of RAM is a lot too. But what I didn’t expect, despite my WQHD resolution (3440x1440), was that the GPU isn’t the problem at all. My CPU is the bottleneck. The i7-8700k is now 6 generations behind, and it seems more has happened in the CPU market than I thought.
Dune: Awakening is an Unreal Engine 5 game. UE5 is known for making it relatively easy to create good-looking games. But it’s also known for the fact that these games are often not well-optimized. Epic Games has added many brand-new effects to the engine that are not yet well-optimized. In doing so, they’ve significantly raised the bar for hardware.
What’s the impact?
I can play Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing on medium and all other settings on Ultra with DLSS scaling and without frame generation at about 70-90 frames per second. The game may be five years old, but CD Projekt Red has updated it repeatedly over the years, and it’s still a graphical benchmark. It’s not for nothing that it’s used as a reference game in many benchmarks. But it’s from a different era with weaker hardware and was adapted for it, despite all the updates.
With Dune: Awakening, it’s a different story. The game is new and not yet optimized, just like Unreal Engine 5. The developer, Funcom, is also not comparable to CD Projekt Red. Even though Funcom is an established and experienced development studio, they are smaller. Over 500 people worked on Cyberpunk 2077. That’s the entire (estimated) workforce of Funcom across all games and administration. At best, 300 people worked directly on Dune: Awakening.
The result? When I use the game’s or the Nvidia app’s recommended settings, I get 20-25 FPS without frame generation. Since my graphics card doesn’t support DLSS frame generation yet, I have to fall back on FSR, version 3. But it’s just not good. The problem isn’t just artifacts, but also image stuttering. The only way to play the game somewhat smoothly is in the low-performance notebook mode. This is a mode that sets the graphics settings even lower than the “Low” option can. But the game looks the part. And the experience doesn’t get that much smoother anyway. 40-50 FPS is the maximum. Thanks to Steam’s new performance overlay, it’s also quickly clear that the CPU is gasping for air and running on fumes.
The solution?
The million-dollar question. In my desperation, I even thought it was the Nvidia drivers for Linux and, once again, went back to Windows. That’s what made the 40-50 FPS possible in the first place; on Linux, I was another 10 FPS lower. With a few tweaks to the Engine.ini file, I can squeeze out a few more FPS, but it doesn’t work miracles either.
I’m honestly surprised I can even play with such crappy FPS. But in Dune: Awakening, I play a marksman. Try aiming when your enemies feel like they’re stuttering across the screen. The number of spitdarts I’ve shot into walls and floors because the enemies can’t be targeted properly. So I’m a bit frustrated, even though I’m having a ton of fun with the game.
It’s actually clear to me: I need a new CPU. But a new CPU also means a new motherboard and new DDR5 RAM. Since my case has been annoying me for years with its size and width, that means a new case too. Linux with Nvidia isn’t a great combination either, so why not add a new graphics card? After all, an AMD RX 9070 XT could deliver another 30-60% more FPS. And now SSDs can be connected via PCIe 5. 15,000 GBit/s instead of 3,500 GBit/s is nothing to sneeze at.
Unfortunately, neither is the price for that package. It would come to 2500 euros. Sure, an Nvidia RTX 5090 alone costs that much right now, but it’s still a lot of money. My heart tells me: “Buy it now.” My head says: “Dude, 2500 euros.” My girlfriend says: “Do what you want.” (which means “I’m not thrilled.”)
What now?
I have no idea. As a nerd, of course, I’m always excited about a new PC. As a responsible “adult,” I know that this is not a small investment. Roughly, I’ve spent about 300 euros per year on my PC on average over the last 10 years. Not a little, not a lot. Actually, perfectly fine for a hobby.
If I do order the PC, I will definitely report back here.