Red Dead Redemption 2 PC graphics settings are extensive, runs on Vulkan API

Red Dead Redemption 2
Can I Run It?

Add FPS
Compare GPU
Trailers

Red Dead Redemption 2
Have your say

User Review

8.49

Optimisation

5.4

Most Demanding

100+

Low vs Ultra Screenshots

Editorial

Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC comes with an absolutely monstrous set of PC gaming graphics settings. By our count we put it at 42 graphics settings along, and this doesn’t even account for video settings on top of that. There are a phenomenal number of graphics settings to tweak to achieve your ideal performance. That could either fill you with glee or dread but at least we ultimately have control over how RDR2 looks and plays on PC.

Just about everything can be tweaked from the water quality and the physics down to some very granular volumetric lighting settings. Grass shadows can be handled individually; soft shadows, long shadows, SSAO. There’s a ton to play around with basically, so plenty of room for finding the ideal balance between visuals and performance in Red Dead Redemption 2.

One particular thing we’d like to focus on for a moment as well. By default, RDR2 runs on the Vulkan graphics API, which is certainly not what we were expecting. There is a toggle for DirectX 12 but it is not the default. Grand Theft Auto V was a DirectX title through and through so we expected much the same here. Historically, Vulkan games have benefited AMD users so we’ll certainly be keen to see whether that ends up being the case here.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Video Settings

Output Adapter Output Monitor Resolution Refresh Rate Screen Type – Fullscreen/Windowed/Windowed Borderless Vsync – Off/On/Half Triple Buffering – Off/On Pause Game on Focus Loss – Off/On Constrain Mouse Pointer – Off/On

Red Dead Redemption 2 Graphics Settings

Quality Preset Level – Favour performance/Balanced/Favour Quality Texture Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Anisotropic Filtering – Off /2x/4x/8x/16x Lighting Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Global Illumination Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Shadow Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Far Shadow Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Screen Space Ambient Occlusion – Off/Medium/High/Ultra Reflection Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Mirror Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Water Quality – Low/Medium/High Volumetrics Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Particle Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Tessellation Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra TAA – Off/Medium/High FXAA – Off/On MSAA – Off/2x/4x/8x

Red Dead Redemption 2 Advanced Graphics Settings

Advanced Settings – Locked/Unlocked Graphics API – Vulkan/DirectX 12 Near Volumetric Resolution – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Far Volumetric Resolution – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Volumetric Lighting Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Unlock Volumetric Raymarch Resolution – Off/On Particle Lighting Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Soft Shadows – Off/Medium/High/Ultra Grass Shadows – Low/Medium/High Long Shadows – Off/On Full Resolution Screen Space Ambient Occlusion – Off/On Water Refraction Quality – Low/Medium/High Water Reflection Quality – Low/Medium/High Water Physics Quality – Min>Max Resolution Scale TAA Sharpening – Min>Max Motion Blur – Off/On Reflection MSAA – Off/2x/4x/8x Geometry Level of Detail – Min>Max Grass Level of Detail – Min>Max Tree Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Parallax Occlusion Mapping Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Decal Quality – Low/Medium/High/Ultra Fur Quality – Medium/High

That’s it for now but we’ll be hopping into Red Dead Redemption 2 pronto to get some preliminary performance benchmarks ready for you folks. We know a number of you will probably be waiting for the Steam release but the good news is you should have a very firm idea of how RDR2 should run on your system by then.