Unreal Engine 5.4 brings significant CPU and GPU improvements over the engine's first release, a new comparison video highlights.
The comparison, put together by MxBenchmarkPC, puts The Matrix Awakens tech demo running in the 5.44 and 5.0 versions side by side, highlighting how, without any custom optimization, CPU performance has been improved up to 40% depending on the scenario, which is quite an improvement. GPU performance hasn't been improved as much, by up to 20%, although, as the YouTuber noted, a proper comparison is made impossible by the many new features added in 5.4 which were absent in the engine's first version, such as proper support for Virtual Shadow Maps, Hit Lighting feature for Hardware Lumen and others.
Regarding shader compilation, which is still among the most critical aspects of the engine that impacts performance the most, Unreal Engine 5.4 featuring a short shader-pre compilation step means that any game won't stutter crazily at the beginning, but there are performance drops caused by shader compilation happening during gameplay.
You can check out how The Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5.4 runs on your system by downloading the tech demo here.
Unreal Engine 5.4 is the latest public version of the engine, but the next, 5.5, is already in the works and its first preview version was released earlier this month. The most notable new feature is MegaLights, which enables developers to have a massive number of movable, dynamic lights, all with realistic area shadows and the ability to light volumetric fog. You can learn more about this version of the engine here.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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