My PC is an i5-13600KF with 32 GB DDR 3600 memory and a 10 GB RTX 3080 GPU running Windows 11 Pro 22H2. I am using the latest 531.41 driver for this game and playing the game installed to my 2 TB Samsung 980 PRO NVMe SSD at the recommended 1440p High preset, as disclosed in the system requirements sheet, but with DLSS set to Quality.
The game took around 30-35 minutes to compile the shaders, which is even more ludicrous when you realise that they total 11.5 GB in size, but once done I was able to start the game and play up to the sequence with Joel and Tess at the checkpoint before I got my first crash. At this point, system memory usage was at 29 GB, which is insane for a console port. I have tried to play the game twice since then but it will always crash, sometimes after a couple of minutes, other times after 10-15 minutes. When the game works, it runs fine at 90-120 fps (capped at 120 fps) with no stuttering.
I don't have any issues with other games crashing like this (Hogwarts Legacy, The Witcher 3 DX12, Resident Evil 4 Remake etc) so to say I am disappointed in the quality of this port is an understatement. I have bought a 4080 but will not be installing it until the weekend as I want to also move some SSDs around and give my PC a spring clean. I only bought my RTX 3080 last August but it became clear to me that 10 GB was going to be insufficient for playing games at 1440p on max settings, especially with RT. Sure, I can lower settings but the whole point of my new PC, which I bought last December, was so that I could continue playing games at 1440p at 60-120 fps (anything higher is pointless for me as single-player only gamer) with all the eye-candy enabled. Otherwise I would just have stuck with the PS5 and Xbox Series X, which admittedly do offer terrific value for money considering how much PC gaming costs these days.
Hopefully, the developers can fix the issues and quickly. However, the damage is done, people are understandably annoyed at yet another sub-par PC port in a very long list of sub-par PC ports. If something isn't done about this and soon then I fear for the future of the PC as a gaming platform because, right now, in March 2023 it is not in a very good place. At all.