Tech

Cyberpunk 2077 best PC settings: how to improve performance with minimal hit to quality – Eurogamer.net

Published

4 years ago

December 13, 2020

There’s no doubt about it – Cyberpunk 2077 is a demanding game, heavy on both CPU and GPU, while solid-state storage is also recommended for an optimal experience. It’s perhaps a game geared towards the computers of the future, but in the here and now, it’s still possible to get a fantastic PC experience – a process we hope to aid with our optimised settings. Put simply, we tested every graphics setting in Cyberpunk 2077, measured the performance cost and judged the overall quality you get at each preset. The idea here is straightforward: to retain everything that makes the game ‘next-gen’ from a visual perspective, but to deliver the best ‘bang for the buck’.

The test rig we used is hardly mainstream – we paired Intel’s Core i9 10900K with a RTX 3090 and 32GB of 3200MHz DDR4, and we ran the game from an NVMe drive. However, all of our measurements were taken at 4K resolution, meaning that as you move down the resolution ladder back to 1080p, the requirements of the graphics card you’ll need scale back considerably. To put all of this into perspective, our chosen settings allow an RTX 2060 to run the game without ray tracing at 4K30 resolution using the balanced version of DLSS, or to hit 1440p60 (with just minor dips in the busiest parts of the city). Interestingly, native 1080p actually seems a touch heavier than DLSS 1440p – and certainly looks a significantly less impressive.

Hopefully that gives some kind of idea of how this game scales on the graphics side – yes, it’s demanding. The RTX 2060 may well be the least capable Nvidia GPU with next-gen features, but it’s still a fairly powerful piece of kit, relatively speaking. You can of course tweak downwards still further and still have a great experience, but at that point, you’ll start to cut into the quality level. Our objective here is to set the bar, and to retain the the game’s wow factor, and to achieve this with an RTX 2060 is impressive stuff. It does have its limits – 6GB of VRAM takes ray tracing out of the equation unless you’re happy with 1080p30 (in which case, you can max out every single RT effect, right up to psycho-level lighting) – but it’s still an impressive showing overall.

First of all, to understand exactly how we’ve crafted our optimised settings, I’d recommend watching the video. To give you some idea of the overall win here, on the RTX 3090 system at 4K resolution without ray tracing or DLSS in use, moving from flat-out ultra to optimised settings delivers a 35 per cent improvement in performance, clawing back 5ms of render time. When a 60fps experience essentially requires a render budget of 16ms per frame, that’s an impressive saying for no appreciable hit in visual quality.

Our video guide to what the settings in Cyberpunk 2077 actually do – and how you can claw back performance without taking too much of a hit on visual quality.

Note we recommend DLSS quality mode at 1080p, balanced at 1440p and performance at 4K – if you are using an RTX card, of course. For optimised ray tracing settings, I recommend turning off ray traced shadows, running RT lighting at medium and turning on reflections. An alternative ‘light’ mode would see you turning off reflections too, leaning into the rasterised screen-space versions instead. As you can imagine, if the standard non-RT version is demanding, using ray traced graphics can only add significantly to the load. As you might imagine, using DLSS is essential in maintaining good performance. Right now, RT only seems to work on Nvidia cards, despite using the DXR API that should allow for AMD’s RDNA 2 offerings to operate – but with Team Red’s Super Resolution DLSS alternative currently not available, we can foresee good RT performance being difficult for AMD’s new cards.

I can foresee the heavy system requirements improving here because it is clear that the game has some technical issues. For starters, as you will have noted in the video, driving around the city is demanding on the CPU – and it appears that SMT or ‘hyper threading’ is not working properly on Ryzen processors, meaning that the mainstream favourite – the Ryzen 5 3600 – is unduly suffering, particularly when driving at speed through the city. A user-mod apparently addresses the issue but we found no improvement to CPU-bound performance at all, and we’d hope to see CD Projekt Red address this entire situation with some urgency. Secondly, some settings simply do not appear to be working. We can imagine that the level of detail setting has both CPU and GPU implications but adjusting it made no difference to the presentation or indeed performance. This, along with many other things, needs to be fixed.

While we do expect optimisations from the developer to arrive in due course, our time spent with the game re-confirms our contention that this is a title targeting the next generation of hardware, especially if you’re looking to hit 60 frames per second, or something close to it, without compromising too much on graphical equality.

Yes, there is some scalability on the graphics side of the equation, but less so on the CPU front – I’d venture to suggest that CDPR’s recommended specs are targeting a 30 frames per second experience, where four core/eight thread processors would be the minimum. Those still using four core, four thread legacy i5s are going to struggle. Based on how demanding the game is, we can foresee Cyberpunk 2077 spurring many people to upgrade their PCs, especially if RTX 2060-level hardware can’t sustain native 1080p60 on our optimised settings (DLSS provides a remarkable get-out-of-jail free card here).

There is one final purchase I’d recommend on the list of potential upgrades: a variable refresh rate monitor. Hitting 60 frames per second is one thing, but sustaining it is quite another. A G-Sync or FreeSync display allows you to target a ‘window’ of performance – say 50 to 60fps – which allows for more flexibility and ambition in your settings. On a standard display, achieving consistency means adjusting presets to accommodate for worst case scenarios – which is far, far more tricky. This process also means that you’re factoring in a certain degree of overhead, which means that your GPU may be under-utilised for much of your play time. Variable refresh rate technology solves a lot of problems here.

The ultimate pay-off is immense. The PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 really does look a generation beyond the console versions, and it’ll be fascinating to see how CD Projekt Red chooses to tap into the graphics and CPU power of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, and whether the system resources are there to implement any of the ray tracing effects. That’s something to look forward to in 2021, but in the here and now, there’s no question about it: PC is the best place to play, if you have hardware required to get the job done. Hopefully our optimised settings bring a lot more graphics cards into contention, but it’ll require more work from CD Projekt Red to deliver meaningful boosts on the CPU side of the equation.

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Tech

Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

Published

3 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Health

Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Tech

Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

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