Newb

[chcoutts2024]

What is up people? I am new to all of this PC gaming, I mean brand new, I know nothing with a brand spanking new gaming PC running Windows 11 (latest version, all drivers updated)
AMD Software Adrenaline Edition version 25.3.1
GPU- Radeon 6500 XT
V ram 4080 MB gddr6 2250
CPU- AMD Ryzen 5 5500 16 MB
Not top of the line by any means but it meets the specs of the one game I have, Cities Skylines 2 ultimate edition.
So far I have not been able to play it with any quality and the performance is crap. Jerky, slow to react and lately the game just crashes, freezes up. I tried resetting all settings to default in game and through the graphics card. I even uninstalled and re-installed the game, same results.
I am hoping someone out there will take a minute to help me get this set up right. I paid $85 for this game and I would kind of like to play it. Thanks in advance to any guidance I may receive

[AmaiAmai]

You wasted your money because that game is known to have extremely poor performance. You can ask in that game' subforum on Steam. It's well-known to perform badly.

[Wichtelman]

which monitor "resolution" do you have and how much fps do you get?
the ryzen 5 5500 should be able to handle cities skylines but the gpu may have trouble and you did not mention how much ram you have...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMonY2s8Xq4


could you do a benchmark run like userbenchmark or passmark and post the result here?
just to see if your setup runs normally...

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Very weak graphics card and Cities: Skylines II is hot mess compared to first one.

6500 XT is weaker then RX 580 and GTX 1060 that are almost ten years old entry level gaming cards, not even mentioning something more modern.

[Wichtelman]

Originally posted by Rumpelcrutchskin:

6500 XT is weaker then RX 580 and GTX 1060 that are almost ten years old entry level gaming cards, not even mentioning something more modern.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSA9PR_y4M

indeed...

[Midnight Aurais]

if you played under 2 hours in steam you can refund the game if you played over you can contact steam support you might still get your money back if you explain the issue

if you are under 2 hours click on the game in the steam library then look for the support text click it then click the refund option

[Liquid Inc]

Originally posted by chcoutts2024:

What is up people? I am new to all of this PC gaming, I mean brand new, I know nothing with a brand spanking new gaming PC running Windows 11 (latest version, all drivers updated)
AMD Software Adrenaline Edition version 25.3.1
GPU- Radeon 6500 XT
V ram 4080 MB gddr6 2250
CPU- AMD Ryzen 5 5500 16 MB
Not top of the line by any means but it meets the specs of the one game I have, Cities Skylines 2 ultimate edition.
So far I have not been able to play it with any quality and the performance is crap. Jerky, slow to react and lately the game just crashes, freezes up. I tried resetting all settings to default in game and through the graphics card. I even uninstalled and re-installed the game, same results.
I am hoping someone out there will take a minute to help me get this set up right. I paid $85 for this game and I would kind of like to play it. Thanks in advance to any guidance I may receive

You'd have been better off asking in the Cities Skylines 2 forum, BUT, had you read that first i'm almost certain you'd have saved your cash.

You'd have been better off picking up CS 1 instead, especially on such a..... low end machine. That's not trying to be nasty here, but it's just not that great, and certainly not enough for CS 2.

It sadly doesn't "Meet the specs". The card barely meets minimum requirements (and im scraping the barrel there. It's virtually on the line between "can run" and "won't run")
Since the rest of the machine is probably equally ancient, i doubt it could take an upgrade to the graphics card either. A card of the required level you'd need for the game to run "ok", would most likely cost more than this entire PC just cost you.

i'd seriously suggest you get a refund for the game, unless you plan on throwing 3k/4k+ (and probably more) on a new machine in the very near future.

[DragonPlus7]

If you want to upgrade, i suggest upgrading the BIOS, get a 850watt power supply, a ryzen 5800x and a 2080ti preowned.

With your current specs for competitive type games i suggest using a gaming resolution of 1600x900 or at the worst 720p resolution to maximise frame rates.

[Electric Cupcake]

Windows is on the way out. Even if just dual booting or VM, it's time to start at least familiarizing with Linux.

That alone can be a big performance boost.

[Haruspex]

Originally posted by chcoutts2024:

So far I have not been able to play it with any quality and the performance is crap. Jerky, slow to react and lately the game just crashes, freezes up.

It's not your computer. That's just Cities Skylines 2. It's sort of notorious for being terribly optimized.

Lots and lots of other games you can happily enjoy though, even at high settings, including Cities Skylines 1 and the wealth of DLC and mods it has to offer. I would stick to 1080p gaming for most stuff. You'll need to drop settings and rely on lower resolutions and upscaling technology for the absolute newest and most demanding stuff. Your VRAM is probably what's holding you back the most there. Technically speaking, that GPU can do raytracing. I wouldn't try and turn it on when you have the option, but you'll be able to play games where it's required, like Indiana Jones.

Skylines 2 unfortunately even brings the highest-end NASA computer to it's knees, and Paradox seems to be treating it as a lost cause, so I wouldn't expect that to improve any time soon.

It's a nice machine! Just dial things in for it's capabilities and you'll have a lot of fun with it.

[chcoutts2024]

Thanks, I already decided to get a refund on cities 2, decided to play Diablo 4 instead. It plays great, no issues.

[Chaosolous]

TBH that card would struggle to run Cities Skylines 1, let alone 2.

Cities Skylines 2 is notoriously unoptimized and has run like garbage even on good machines since launch. It's just a poorly programmed game.

I would request a refund if you haven't already passed your 2 hour limit.

[󠀡󠀡]

Skylines 2 is a mess