Fortnite gets performance mode that makes game run smoother on older hardware
Epic Games introduces a performance mode that makes Fortnite run smoother on older hardware. The feature will be available December 15 as an alpha version for the Battle Royale and Creative modes of the PC version of the game.
According to Epic Games, the new performance mode trades graphics quality for reduced memory consumption and reduced CPU and GPU load. With that, the game should run better on older hardware. The developer does report that the game falters less when it is installed on an SSD or has at least 6GB of memory available. The game would also run on the integrated GPU of a processor, but a separate GPU can, according to Epic Games, ‘provide a smoother experience’.
Fortnite performance mode uses lower quality textures, among other things
The developer itself publishes two benchmarks of its new performance mode. For example, the company is showing a laptop with Intel Core i5-8265U quad core, 8GB memory and integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 GPU. That laptop would achieve an average of 24fps without performance mode at a resolution of 1270×720 pixels. With performance mode, the frame rate would be increased to 61fps. A laptop with AMD A10-5745M with integrated GPU and 6GB memory achieves 18 fps without performance mode and 45 fps when this function is switched on at the same settings.
The new feature also allows users to choose to remove high-resolution textures from their installation. That saves about 14.5 GB of storage space, reducing the total file size of the game to about 17.3 GB. Performance mode will be available as an alpha version on Tuesday, December 15. The mode is currently only available for the game’s Battle Royale and Creative modes. It is unclear if and when the performance mode will be available for other game modes.
| System 1 | System 2 | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-8265U, 4C / 8T, 1.6GHz | AMD A10-5745M, 4C / 4T, 2.1GHz |
| GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 620 | AMD Radeon HD 8610G |
| Memory | 8GB | 6GB |
| Frame rate | 24fps without performance mode 61fps with performance mode |
18fps without performance mode 45fps with performance mode |