STALKER 2 Patch 1.1 Tested – Has Performance Improved?
Has Patch 1.1 boosted STALKER 2’s PC performance
Patch 1.1 is now available for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. The patch notes included a section titled “Crash Fixes, Performance, and Optimisation.” As STALKER 2 is one of the most demanding games of 2024, we wanted to see if this update improved performance. To that end, we downloaded the patch and started testing.
CPU Performance – Does Patch 1.1 boost framerates?
One of the main areas of improvement that GSC Game World noted was “performance improvements in largely populated areas of the map.” To test this, we used our CPU testing sequence from our Day-1Â STALKER 2 PC Performance Review. This test sequence is in Zalissya, and performance is largely unchanged. However, it is worth noting that 1st percentile framerates have increased by 12.8%.
Note that average and 5th percentile framerates have not been boosted significantly. That said, 1st percentile framerate improvements are welcome. Clearly, something has changed in STALKER 2’s code. That said, the overall performance impact is relatively small. Regardless, improved framerate consistency in CPU-heavy areas is welcome.
GPU Performance – Has it improved?
GPU-wise, STALKER 2’s PC performance is largely identical to before. Patch 1.1 has not delivered any major performance increases for users of AMD or Nvidia GPUs. Variation in our benchmark results are small, and are within margin of error territory.
We tested AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XT and Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K to see how GPU-bound performance has chanced. Clearly, the game runs similarly to before. GSC Game World’s patch noted did not mention any generic PC performance improvements, so we are not surprised by these results.
Conclusion – Does STALKER 2 run faster?
When we read the release notes for Patch 1.1, we were happy to see that game performance was improving in “largely populated areas of the map.” While our testing has shown boosts in 1st percentile framerates, overall performance gains in CPU-limited areas are minor. Patch 1.1 won’t be a game-changer for STALKER 2’s most CPU-bound areas. Even so, a 12.8% boost in 1st percentile framerates is a welcome update. It does make the performance of these areas more consistent. Even so, these areas remain a CPU-hog in STALKER 2.
GPU-wise, STALKER 2 performs as it did at launch. Don’t expect huge framerate increases with patch 1.1. That said, I think GSC Game World is right to focus on bugfixes right now. While I would love to see this game run more smoothly on PC, it is more important for game bugs to be squashed.
Does patch 1.1 boost STALKER 2’s framerates? Not really. There are clear improvements in the game’s most CPU-limited areas, but average framerates are largely identical to before. Maybe performance will improve further with patch 1.2 or other future updates.
You can join the discussion on the performance impact of STALKER 2’s 1.1 update on the OC3D Forums.
