Death Stranding 2 Patch 1.5 Tested – DLSS Improved
Tested – Does Death Stranding 2 run faster with update 1.5?
Since we last looked at Death Stranding 2, Nixxes has released updates 1.4 and 1.5 for the game’s PC version. These updates have delivered improvements to frame generation and performance improvements for low-end devices like Valve’s Steam Deck. With this in mind, we decided to run some fresh tests for the game to see how much performance has improved.
While DLSS Frame Generation frame pacing was not mentioned in the game’s patch notes, it was an issue that we noted when we initially tested Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PC. Prior updates (see testing here) have improved this aspect of the game. Regardless, we are interested in whether this has been further improved.
DLSS Frame Pacing Improved
We have taken the time to retest Death Stranding 2: On the Beach with an Nvidia RTX 5080 graphics card. Specifically, we wanted to test two things. The first was to see whether general performance had improved. Second, we wanted to see if we experienced the same Frame Pacing issues when DLSS Frame Generation was used. We noted these in our original PC performance review for Death Stranding 2. Thankfully, we can now confirm that both are improved.
Compared to our day-1 performance numbers, there is a night-and-day performance difference. With DLSS Frame Generation set to 4x, average frame rates improve by almost 10 FPS. Things are even more impressive for lower percentile framerates. Our first percentile framerate increased from 127.5 FPS to 170.6 FPS. That’s an increase of over 33%. This change greatly increases frametime consistency, making the game appear smoother.
While performance gains compared with day-1 are huge, overall performance is only marginally improved over update 1.3. Our 1st percentile framerates increased by 6.2 FPS in our test sequence. Note that with DLSS Frame Generation disabled, game performance has improved since launch. Average framerates without frame generation have increased from 85.9 FPS to 88.3 FPS. While this gain is small, it is significant. Every little helps when you want to scale a AAA game to lower-end PCs.
Conclusion
It’s true. Update 1.5 has further optimised Death Stranding 2’s PC version. The game already ran well on most gaming PCs, but Nixxes has taken things one step further, which is always a welcome sight. For high-end PCs, the performance change is small. That said, for DLSS Frame Generation users, Death Stranding 2’s frame pacing has greatly improved since launch. Now the game runs much smoother with 3x and 4x frame generation. That said, this is an area that could be further enhanced. There’s still a large gap between our 1st percentile and 5th percentile frametimes.
While update 1.5 will deliver the largest changes to users of systems like Valve’s Steam Deck, there are improvements for everyone here. Props to Nixxes for improving what was already considered to be a solid PC release. I wonder if patch 1.6 will make things even faster?
Regarding 5x and 6x Frame Generation
Death Stranding 2 does not support DLSS 5x or 6x Frame Generation through DLSS Overrides. It also does not support DLSS Dynamic Frame Generation. Support for these features could be enabled with future game updates. As it stands, the highest level of frame generation that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach supports is 4x. If anyone was wondering why I didn’t test DLSS 6x, there’s your reason.
You can join the discussion on Death Stranding 2’s update 1.5 on the OC3D Forums.
