The Sinking City 2 Demo Benchmarks Reveal CPU Optimization Issues on Mid-Range Hardware
Community tests of The Sinking City 2 PC demo on RTX 3060 highlight single-core CPU bottlenecks and low GPU utilization. Read the performance breakdown.
As we approach the August release of The Sinking City 2, community playtests of the temporary prologue demo on PC are providing valuable insight into how Frogwares’ upcoming Unreal Engine 5 title runs on mid-range rigs. The RTX 3060 remains one of the most popular graphics cards among Steam users, and recent hardware tests shared by players suggest that CPU optimization could be a key hurdle for the survival horror sequel.
According to benchmarking reports posted by community members, testing the demo on an RTX 3060 paired with a Ryzen 5 4600G resulted in noticeable performance limitations. Rather than pushing the graphics card to its limits, the bottleneck reportedly lies squarely on the CPU side, specifically with single-core utilization.
Single-Core CPU Bottlenecking Under the Microscope
Community reports show that during gameplay in the flooded streets of Arkham, the RTX 3060 is not being fully utilized by the engine. Instead, players observed that a single CPU thread is slammed at 100% capacity, leaving the GPU underutilized and causing frame rates to drop or stutter.
This single-core rendering bottleneck is a common challenge for early Unreal Engine 5 builds, especially when handling heavy physics, draw calls, or dynamic water simulation in a dense city environment. While Frogwares previously added PC demo DLSS support to alleviate GPU-side stress, upscaling technologies do very little to solve performance drops caused by CPU limitations.
Comparisons with Other Unreal Engine 5 Titles
To rule out simple hardware limitations, players contrasted the demo’s performance against other upcoming Unreal Engine 5 projects. For instance, tests of the recent Mortal Shell 2 open beta on the exact same hardware reportedly showed much better multi-core optimization, utilizing FSR 3 frame generation and hardware ray tracing with smoother frame delivery.
Currently, players running mid-range setups are hoping that Frogwares will address these thread-distribution issues before launch. Because the full game is expected to feature larger areas and more active environmental hazards, optimization patches will be crucial to meet the official system requirements without forcing players into low-resolution settings.