RTX 5090 Hits 44.5fps in Gears of War: E-Day at 4K as DLSS Lifts It to 67

Q: If an RTX 5090 struggles in beta, will your mid-range PC survive the brutal launch of Gears of War: E-Day?

Probably yes for playable settings, but not if you expect 4K “Ludicrous” performance. The alarming RTX 5090 result comes from a beta build pushed to the absolute top end: 4K, Ludicrous settings, with FSR, where a 5090 and Ryzen 9950X3D averaged just 44.5 fps. That shows *Gears of War: E-Day* is extremely demanding when every visual feature is maxed out. It does not mean a mid-range PC is doomed at mainstream settings. The more relevant guide for most players is the official beta target. The Coalition lists hardware around a Ryzen 5 5600 and RTX 5060, RTX 3060 Ti, RX 6700 XT, or RX 9060 XT for 1440p High, with 16GB RAM recommended. Minimum specs go as low as an RTX 2060, RX 6600, or Intel Arc A580 for 1080p Medium. That suggests a solid mid-range machine should run the game, especially at 1080p or 1440p with DLSS, FSR, XeSS, or TSR. The real warning sign is memory and CPU pressure. The beta used more than 17GB of system RAM, so 32GB looks safer than 16GB for smoother play, and the game appears unusually CPU-heavy even at 4K. An older 6-core CPU and 16GB RAM may become the weak points before VRAM does; VRAM use in the test was about 9.5GB. Launch performance could improve. The beta lacks full frame generation support, final drivers, and launch optimizations. So a mid-range PC should survive, but likely only by avoiding the highest presets and leaning on upscaling.

1 articles · Updated · ExtremeTech · Aug 7

44.5fps was the average in an early-access 4K benchmark of Gears of War: E-Day on Ludicrous settings, even with an RTX 5090 paired with a Ryzen 9950X3D2 and FSR enabled.
The result suggests the beta is exceptionally demanding and possibly not fully optimized yet: the test appeared unusually CPU-bound for 4K, despite using one of 2026's fastest gaming CPUs.
67fps was reached in a second run after switching to DLSS and dropping to Ultra settings, showing Nvidia's upscaler and lower presets can materially improve playability.
9.5GB of VRAM was used at those maxed-out settings, but system memory topped 17GB, making 32GB RAM a safer target for players trying the open beta ahead of the Oct. 6 launch.