Cyberpunk 2077 on PCs also have performance issues especially with AMD

By Ewdison Then/Dec. 14, 2020 11:58 pm EST

Just when the PC Master Race thought it got the better bargain with Cyberpunk 2077, reports and guides are popping up over the Internet to reveal just how bad the game's launch has been across all platforms. Sure, the game is still playable on PCs, unlike their console counterparts, but the game apparently isn't taking advantage of the hardware that's available, making it almost feel like the game is running on consoles instead. Fortunately, PC gamers don't have to wait for an official fix from CD Projekt RED but it does require a bit of familiarity with software modding, especially if you have an AMD Ryzen processor.

The easiest issue to fix revolves around the amount of memory, both RAM and VRAM, that the game is reserving for itself on PCs, which seems to be limited to match console configurations. The good news is that simply editing configuration text files can significantly increase the frame rate. Unfortunately, it could sometimes cause the game to crash, too.

The more serious problem is one that besets PCs using AMD's Ryzen CPUs. Reddit users and tech pundits have discovered that Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be hardcoded to detect an ancient (2011) AMD processor to determine how much CPU cores and threads it uses to match that. Since all AMD-powered CPUs capable of running Cyberpunk 2077 are way more powerful than that, the game ends up underutilizing the otherwise powerful CPUs.

Unfortunately, the fix here requires some serious modification of the game's executable, using a hex editor, no less. That comes with all the risks associated with hacking a program, though it ironically gives a vibe that's in line with the spirit of Cyberpunk.

Now that the cat's out of the bag, CD Projekt RED will most likely be pushing some fixes to PCs in addition to its already promised updates for console. Although not as grave as the PS4 and Xbox One situation, it pretty shows how bad the state of the game was in when it launch, even if it was already notoriously delayed.