Halo Reach PC Performance Review with AMD Ryzen APU Testing

PC System Requirements and Graphical Options

As an Xbox 360 era game, Halo Reach’s hardware demands are incredibly low by today’s standards, allowing PC users to run the game using integrated graphics setups and graphics cards that would be considered sub-standard by a lot of today’s PC gamers. This is great news for those with older PCs, or those who wish to play the game at 4K 60FPS. 
 

Minimum Spec – Integrated Graphics

CPU: Intel i7-8750H or AMD Ryzen 7 2700U
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630 or Radeon Vega 10
RAM: 8GB
AVG FPS: 30


Minimum 1080p AMD/Radeon

CPU: AMD FX-4100
GPU: Radeon R7 360
RAM: 8GB
AVG FPS: 60

Minimum 1080p Intel/Nvidia

CPU: Intel i7-870
GPU: Nvidia GTX 560 Ti
RAM: 8GB
AVG FPS: 60

Minimum 4K AMD/Radeon

CPU: FX-6350
GPU: Radeon RX 480
RAM: 8GB
AVG FPS: 60

Minimum 4K Intel/Nvidia

CPU: i5-3450
GPU: GTX 770
RAM: 8GB
AVG FPS: 60

 

  

Settings 

When it comes to graphics settings, Halo Reach’s options are basic. This makes sense, as the game was never designed to offer a lot of visual options. This game is an Xbox 360 title, and as such doesn’t require these options. Thankfully, 343 Industries has stepped in to add some useful options for PC gamers, such as FOV options between 70 and 120 degrees for the game’s first-person view and vehicles. 

An unlocked framerate option does exist for Halo Reach, but we recommend sticking to a 60FPS lock for increased stability. Sometimes, high framerates resulted in animation issues and other glitches. On top of that, 60FPS felt more responsive in a lot of cases. 

Another oddity is that sometimes, Halo Reach will lock to 60FPS during cinematic campaign moments, even when outside of the game’s 60FPS locked in-engine cutscenes. This is another reason why the game’s 60FPS lock is preferable to playing the game unlocked. 

Three main graphics options are available, Performance (which appears to be dialled back to be lower than the Xbox 360 version), Original (which should be the same as the 360 version) and enhanced, which offers higher LOD settings and draws in more distant detail. 

When Halo: Reach is set to play in Fullscreen (Windowed) mode, Resolution Scale options are available, though these are limited to values of between 50% and 100%. Sadly, super-samples resolutions are not possible.