Silent Hill 2 Remake: Performance

[Carlos_C]

My System:

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 265k Series 2(iGPU is disabled in BIOS)

Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z890-A GAMING WIFI (BIOS version 0806)

RAM: Crucial 32gb @6400mt/s CUDIMM Memory modules

GPU: Intel ARC A770 16gb Limited Edition

Operating System: Windows 11 Pro 24H2

I just want to preface this by saying:Yes, there are serious performance issues with the software itself. I know this and fully acknowledge it might change in a future patch. Silent Hill 2 Remake is currently on Patch 1.05.

Silent Hill 2 Remake has some strange performance issues on ARC. I can play the game just fine on 1080p, but performance is all over the place. Even on medium settings, the game struggles to maintain a framerate above 50 fps. It's even worse in some indoor areas, as the FPS dips under 30 frames per second. Enabling Intel XeSS mitigates this to some degree, but it still persists throughout the game. Performance overall just seems inconsistent.

Here are two clips as an example. They both have really, really bad screen tearing. Finally, there seems to be no shader pre-compilation for intel ARC GPUs. I have played this game on  a different   PC that has a RTX 4080 and it compiles shaders right when you launch the game. Does Silent Hill 2 Remake not require shader compilation on ARC GPUs? Is this just an ARC thing? please let me know!

[The_Hyphenator]

Been having weird performance issues myself. Here's a couple of things I've found that helped me.

First, don't use XeSS. I know that's counter-intuitive, but try running FSR 3.1 with Frame Generation and see how that does for you. I was able to get a massive FPS boost from that. It seems like SH2R doesn't utilize XeSS very well, among its other failings.

The second thing I can recommend is, if you are running it with HDR on, turn it off. Again, seems counter-intuitive, but I found that HDR alone was somehow causing my framerate to drop from 45-60 FPS to 30-45 FPS. No reason it should be having that kind of a performance impact; indeed, it's the only game I've found where HDR has ANY performance impact. But I've tested it repeatedly and that alone has made a huge performance difference on my A770.

[Carlos_C]

I used the settings you recommended and I got a massive FPS boost just like you did.

turning off HDR made a difference of about 5 to 10 FPS, again thank you! This remake, while great in my opinion, is a technical mess. Hopefully it gets ironed out in the future.

[RobbieR_Intel]

Hello Carlos_C

Thank you for providing detailed information about your system setup, the issue, and your observations regarding performance in Silent Hill 2 Remake.

Kindly answer the following questions:

• Is ReBAR enabled in your BIOS?
• Does lowering the resolution further improve frame stability, or do the FPS dips persists?
• Do you encounter similar issues with other games, particularly Unreal Engine-based games?
• What are the GPU and CPU utilization and temperatures during gameplay?

Please generate an SSU report to help me further analyze important details on your system. To generate the SSU report, please refer to the article: How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows*. Please send us the generated SSU.txt file.

We look forward to your response!

Best Regards,

Robbie R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Carlos_C]

Hello and thank you for your response, RobbieR_intel.

I have ensured the following:

"Is ReBAR enabled in your BIOS?":

-ReBAR is enabled in BIOS, my BIOS version is now 1002 for my Asus ROG STRIX Z890-A GAMING WIFI Motherboard.

"Does lowering the resolution further improve frame stability, or do the FPS dips persists?":

-Lowering the resolution does not provide much benefit, if at all. It still seems to just go below 40 FPS.

"Do you encounter similar issues with other games, particularly Unreal Engine-based games?":

-No, as far as I'm aware this is the only UE game that seems to do this and the only other game that has issues with XeSS is Final Fantasy 16

"What are the GPU and CPU utilization and temperatures during gameplay?":

Seems to hover between 50c and 63c for my GPU. CPU temperature sits comfortably at around 34c~60c, so no issues there. My CPU is air cooled, if that helps in any way.

CPU usage is not an issue as it sits between 11%~23% usage during even the most demanding areas. However, using XeSS in the game causes my GPU usage to go to 86%~99%. If it was at 99% at all times it would be no issue, but there are severe drops in performance when entering certain areas in the game such as the hospital and SPOILER: Lakeside Hotel after a certain cutscene SPOILER.

It is consistent in All resolutions above 1080p. Here is my SSU report attached. Enabling FSR3 seems to be the workaround until whatever is causing XeSS to behave this way is fixed. But like I said initially: The game has a multitude of performance problems, this may get fixed in a future update.

Thank you.

[RobbieR_Intel]

Hello Carlos_C,

Thank you for answering the following questions and for providing additional information. We are currently investigating this issue. I will get back to you as soon as I have a resolution.

Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Robbie R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Ernesto_C_Intel1]

Hi Carlos_C, 

The investigation is taking more time than I've anticipated. Allow me more time to investigate the performance issue with Silent Hill 2 Remake. 

Regards, 

Ernesto C. 

Intel Customer Support Engineer

[RobbieR_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hello Carlos_C,

Thank you for patiently waiting. We would like you to update your Driver to the latest version, ⁠32.0.101.6449_101.6256 WHQL Certified. Please perform a Clean Installation to avoid errors. If the issue persists, kindly let me know.

I look forward to your response!

Best Regards,

Robbie R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Carlos_C]

Hello RobbieR_Intel,

   Seems like whatever was causing XeSS to not function properly in some areas has been fixed. I can get up to 60-80 FPS in most areas. I would try other areas in the game but the problematic areas are mostly the apartments and Lake View Hotel. You can get up to 60 fps with XeSS (Balanced Setting) there and that's solid enough for me.

Unfortunately my testing will end here, as I will be swapping to the Intel Arc B580 GPU this week.

Thank you to everyone on the intel graphics team, and I look forward to your next GPU. You guys definitely have something great going here. I will mark this response as the solution as I will likely no longer be able to test on Alchemist GPUs in the future.

My computer:
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 265k (igpu disabled)

Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z890-A Gaming Wifi, BIOS Version 1302

GPU:Intel Arc A770 16gb LE

RAM:32gb CUDIMM DDR5 RAM @6600mt/s with AEMP III Enabled

Windows 11 Pro 24H2

game is installed on an NVMe Drive.

[RobbieR_Intel]

Hello Carlos_C,

Thank you for sharing your detailed feedback and for acknowledging the improvements with XeSS. We're glad to hear that the performance has met your expectations in key areas.

We'll also take note of the specific areas you mentioned, such as the apartments and Lake View Hotel, for further investigation to ensure a consistently solid experience across all settings.

We sincerely appreciate your support and look forward to hearing about your experience with the Intel Arc B580..

Best Regards,

Robbie R.

Intel Customer Support Technician