Prey Performance And Optimization Guide With The AMD Radeon RX 580
Prey Graphics And Performance
Prey is a great looking game, though it's not a ground-breaking graphical stunner. Still, for the open-world scope and staggering level of interactivity, Prey is a visual treat to behold. Textures reveal a nice bit of detail; while coloring and contrast remind us a lot of the Dishonored franchise, for which Arkane Studios is also responsible -- so there's little surprise there, we suppose.
However, Prey has the potential to be a real winner. It's exceptionally well-thought out in terms of game-play variety and level design. The Talos I space station is intricate with seemingly countless nooks and crannies to explore and unlock. There are no levels or missions to deal with either, because the station is one, big connected map, which adds greatly to the immersion.
With that out of the way, lets look at some numbers...
Prey doesn't have a ready-made benchmark. So, we found a good repeatable section about 35 - 45 minutes into the story, where Morgan gets her hands on a backpack that allows for zero-g protection and propulsion outside the space station. Our run had Morgan traveling back and forth from within the station to the vacuum of space. It provided a good mix of confining indoor areas and more expansive deep space locations.
However, Prey has the potential to be a real winner. It's exceptionally well-thought out in terms of game-play variety and level design. The Talos I space station is intricate with seemingly countless nooks and crannies to explore and unlock. There are no levels or missions to deal with either, because the station is one, big connected map, which adds greatly to the immersion.
With that out of the way, lets look at some numbers...
Prey doesn't have a ready-made benchmark. So, we found a good repeatable section about 35 - 45 minutes into the story, where Morgan gets her hands on a backpack that allows for zero-g protection and propulsion outside the space station. Our run had Morgan traveling back and forth from within the station to the vacuum of space. It provided a good mix of confining indoor areas and more expansive deep space locations.
Prey is such a fun game, it would be a shame if it all fell apart due to buggy rendering or shoddy performance. Thankfully, there is none of that here. The Gigabyte Radeon RX 580 Gaming 8G is clearly a worthy upgrade for users on older hardware. It was much faster than the Radeon R9 380 at both 1080p and 1440p resolutions, both in terms of minimum and average framerates. If you're lucky enough to have a FreeSync compatible display, take note, because Prey and the RX 580 are also a perfect match. Framerates at both 1080P and 1440P stay right in the optimal zones, for smooth, stutter free animation.
If you prefer to keep that minimum framerate above 60 FPS as well (at least on the RX 580), a few changes make that easily possible, without sacrificing much in terms of image quality. By dialing the Object detail down to "High" and setting Screen Space Ambient Occlusion and Screen Space Reflections to "Half" resolution, the average and minimum framerates for both cards increase considerably. You could continue dialing the detail down further to increase performance even more, but it's not really necessary with the Radeon RX 580.
If you prefer to keep that minimum framerate above 60 FPS as well (at least on the RX 580), a few changes make that easily possible, without sacrificing much in terms of image quality. By dialing the Object detail down to "High" and setting Screen Space Ambient Occlusion and Screen Space Reflections to "Half" resolution, the average and minimum framerates for both cards increase considerably. You could continue dialing the detail down further to increase performance even more, but it's not really necessary with the Radeon RX 580.
