Halo Campaign Evolved RTX 5090 FPS Drops Below 100 at 1440p Ultra

Halo: Campaign Evolved faces performance hurdles on high-end hardware ahead of its July 28 release. A preview build running on an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 3D CPU struggles to maintain high frame rates at 1440p resolution with Ultra settings and no upscaling. The game generally runs between 90 and 100 FPS, hitting 120 FPS only in closed interiors. This performance falls short of expectations for the top consumer graphics card.

Preview build on flagship hardware reveals performance hurdles for upcoming PC release

The title switches from the Slipspace Engine to Unreal Engine 5 for its return to PC alongside PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Content creator Jackfrags shared a video preview showing the game running on this new engine architecture. The test system used an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 3D processor paired with the RTX 5090 at 1440p resolution. Players tested the build without using any upscaling technologies like DLSS or FSR.

Official system requirements target 4K performance at 60 FPS on Ultra settings with an NVIDIA RTX 4080 GPU and 32 GB of RAM. The preview results suggest that reaching this official target will likely require upscaling solutions such as DLSS, AMD FSR, or Intel XeSS. Players using lower-end hardware may need to drop visual settings significantly to achieve playable frame rates. Aggressive upscaling and frame generation will probably become necessary for high-resolution play.

Former Bungie developer Niles Sankey raised concerns about the visual direction of the game. He noted that Unreal Engine 5 visuals can gut tactical readability, a core element of the original Halo series. The preview build ships on an older version of Unreal Engine 5 that lacks recent optimizations. Developers cannot currently leverage features like the Lumen mode introduced in Unreal Engine 5.8 for better performance on low-spec hardware.

Performance metrics could improve before launch as development continues on the engine. The current stuttering and performance issues may be addressed through future updates to the game code. Players should monitor official channels for patches that might optimize the experience ahead of release. The final product will likely differ from the preview build shown by Jackfrags.

Halo: Campaign Evolved launches on July 28 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game uses Unreal Engine 5 instead of the previous Slipspace Engine. Preview testing shows an RTX 5090 achieving 90 to 100 FPS at 1440p Ultra without upscaling. Official requirements list an RTX 4080 and 32 GB RAM for 4K at 60 FPS on Ultra settings.