Skip to main content

Prey PC: even a budget rig can hit 1080p60

Digital Foundry reports superb scalability across a range of hardware.

After a rocky start with Dishonored 2 on PC, Bethesda's Prey comes out of the gate as one of the best-performing high profile PC titles we've seen in some time. Whether you're running an enthusiast-grade PC or a budget wonder, you're in for a really good time. Even a £55 CPU coupled with a £100 graphics card can run this title at 1080p at 60 frames per second - a creditable state of affairs bearing in mind that the demanding CryEngine middleware is used as the technological foundation for Arkane Austin's excellent offering.

In common with many CryEngine titles, Prey's presets menu is relatively slight, with settings available for object detail, shadow quality, texture quality, anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing. Finishing off the list are two further tweakables that have the most profound impact on in-game performance: screen-space directional occlusion and screen-space reflections.

Rolling out the 'go to' cards for enthusiast gaming at 1080p - Nvidia's GTX 1060 and AMD's freshly-minted RX 580 - there are few issues running this game fully maxed out with SMAA T2x anti-aliasing. The GeForce card hands in an 83fps average in our tests, averaging at 118fps while its Radeon counterpart is a touch slower, dropping to a 76fps minimum and a 111fps average.

With this much overhead left over, you can push ahead to 1440p and still retain a 60fps experience by dropping settings to high, retaining the very high textures and adjusting both screen-space effects down to half-resolution. The game still looks and runs beautifully here, though there are slight dips under 60fps, which are more pronounced on the RX 580, even with an anti-aliasing reduction down to SMAA T1x.

Here's a look at how Prey runs at 1080p and 1440p on GTX 1060 and RX 580, while our Pentium G4560 budget rig pairs up with the GTX 1050 and RX 460 - still handing in decent performance.Watch on YouTube

All of which led us to wonder - if Prey runs so well at 1440p, what would happen if we transplanted those settings across to a budget-orientated PC set-up? We rolled out the budget CPU champion of the moment - the dual-core, quad-thread Pentium G4560 - and paired it with two £100 GPUs: Nvidia's GTX 1050 2GB and AMD's Radeon RX 460 4GB. We had to drop the screen-space reflections completely (in line with the console versions) and in the case of the GTX 1050, textures needed to be lowered to medium - but on the Nvidia hardware at least, a stable 60fps was mostly achievable, though some dips to 50fps in the most taxing areas were recorded.

Unfortunately, while the RX 460 could run with the high quality textures owing to its larger 4GB framebuffer, performance disappointed only averaging at 53fps and dipping to as low as 37fps. The RX 460 has been replaced with the more capable RX 560 - with two additional compute units - but AMD has not supplied one of these for review. Regardless, it would take quite something to overcome a 30 per cent performance deficit here - though clearly its extra VRAM comes in useful. Nvidia's GTX 1050 Ti provides even more performance and a similar 4GB of RAM, but at around £130, it's a touch too expensive for what it is.

Prey's scalability overall is impressive. We were half expecting our budget rig to come undone owing to CryEngine's often prodigious CPU requirements, but the Pentium powers through admirably - paired with the GTX 1050, the cheapo chip's four threads max at around 60 per cent utilisation, rising to around 80 per cent with the RX 460 - possibly owing to AMD's less efficient DX11 driver.

And there's a clear gameplay premium here. First-person shooters always benefit from the leap to 60fps when stacked up against their 30fps console brethren - and Prey works especially well here on two counts. First of all, the way the mimics move, their fast action is more difficult to track at 30fps. Secondly, we noted an issue in the Prey console demo where the PlayStation 4 version of the game suffered from significant input lag. Dual Shock 4 deadzones have been tightened up for the final game, but the core latency issue doesn't seem to have been addressed, making for a laggy experience.

Xbox One improves matters here, but PC takes response to another level - and the fact that even a £100 graphics card can deliver a decent 60fps experience bodes well for a range of older GPUs also delivering a smoother, more playable experience. From a Digital Foundry perspective, we're really enjoying this game right now, and we'll be back soon with a deeper analysis encompassing all three platforms.

Read this next

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com