RDR at 60 FPS? Switch gamers are playing Red Dead Redemption at 60 FPS with overclocking

Switch gamers show the power of overclocking by running Red Dead Redemption at 60 FPS in handheld mode

When Rockstar released Red Dead Redemption on PlayStation 4 and Switch, gamers were disappointed that the game was locked to 30 FPS on both systems, and that the game did not launch with any major graphical improvements over the game’s original Xbox 360 version. Many gamers want the modern version of Red Dead Redemption to have a substantial improvement over its original incarnation, and this has lead Switch modders to target 60 FPS gameplay on their handheld system, something that is very achievable though Switch overclocking. 

Using an original Switch model, the YouTuber Modern Vintage Gamer has managed to get Red Dead Redemption running at a fairly smooth 60 FPS on his console. To do this he unlocked Red Dead Redemption’s framerate and then overclocked the CPU, GPU, and memory of his Switch.

From the Switch’s base CPU clock speed of 1 GHz, Modern Vintage Gamer overclocked his system to 1.785 MHz, and overclocked his GPU from 460 MHz in handheld mode to 614 MHz, and then overclocked the system’s memory from 1.6 GHz to 1.8 GHz. By doing this Modern Vintage Gamer achieved 60 FPS gameplay in Red Dead Redemption in most areas of the game, and noted that higher memory clock speeds should enable a tighter lock to 60 FPS, something that is very achievable on newer 14nm “Mariko” Switch models, which are known to support memory overclocking beyond 2 GHz. 

The benefits of 60 FPS

By running Red Dead Redemption at 60 FPS on a modified Switch, gamers receive two benefits. For starts, the game looks smoother at 60 FPS, as two times as many frames are now displayed per second. This makes animations appear smoother, and for fast-=paced gameplay to appear less choppy. Another major benefit is a reduction in input latency, as game frames are now being delivered at two times the normal rate, allowing the reactions to controller inputs to appear faster on screen. At 60 FPS, Red Dead Redemption both looks and plays better on Switch.

With Red Dead Redemption running at 60 FPS on a modified Switch, it is crazy that Rockstar Games did not attempt to get their game running at 60 FPS on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, or PlayStation 5. All of these consoles have the hardware grunt to achieve this, but Rockstar did not attempt to get their game to run at a higher framerate. If Switch can do it, there is no excuse for it not running at 60 FPS on Sony’s vastly more powerful PlayStation systems. 

You can join the discussion on the Switch users that are playing Red Dead Redemption at 60 FPS on the OC3D Forums.