Unreal Engine 5 not optimized enough for PC: Matrix Awakens demo only hits 30-50 fps @1440p and is stuttery on an Nvidia RTX 3090

Unlike previous iterations, Unreal Engine 5 is now completely free to download and it also comes with a sample project based on the Matrix Awakens demo that was initially released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S last December. Thanks to VoxelPlugin creator Victor Careil, PC users can download the 17 GB Matrix Awakens UE5 project, but it looks like the new game engine is not particularly well optimized for the PC master race, as YouTuber AJ Gaming has encountered some glaring performance issues.

Some problems could admittedly be expected with low to mid-range GPUs, yet even the RTX 3090 is struggling to achieve 60 fps in the Matrix Awakening demo. And that is not even in 4K resolution. AJ Gaming ran the demo in 1440p on a system integrating an Intel i9-12900K + RTX 3090 combo and the fps counter barely goes above 50. The CPU does not get utilized too much either, meaning that the UE5 demo relies heavily on the GPU. Additionally, the experience becomes quite stuttery once the perspective shifts to 3rd person vehicle driving.

Hopefully, Epic can fix these problems before the first UE5 games hit the market later this year. Some notable upcoming UE5-powered titles include new Witcher, Tomb Raider, as well as Gears of War games plus a few MMORPGs like Ashes of Creation and Bellatores.

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