Halo Infinite PC tested: best settings, performance analysis and Series X comparisons

Yes, it’s a first-party exclusive and yes, it’s going to sell a lot of Xbox Series consoles, but Microsoft’s policy of delivering PC versions of its tentpole titles opens up Halo Infinite to massive range of gaming hardware. I’d characterise the quality of the PC conversion as variable: the game itself is brilliant and it is possible to have a great experience without owning an Xbox console.

That said, it’s also fair to say that the PC version can be unexpectedly heavy on both CPU and GPU, there are many technical blemishes that need addressing, while 343 Studios fails to tap into any of next-gen features that work so well on modern PC set-ups – so there’s no ray tracing (yet), no AI-based super-sampling and even variable rate shading (VRS) as seen on the console builds is totally absent on PC. What we have here is fine, but not exactly special and definitely needs a lot of work.

The first issue I spotted was on the title screen itself as soon as I booted the game. Just like the technical flights I looked at months back, Halo Infinite’s implementation of v-sync and limiting frame-rate is flat-out broken. No matter how powerful your hardware, v-sync at 60fps drops frames – not that many, but enough to tell you something’s up. Double up to 120fps and the frequency of the dropped frames increases to a more noticeable degree. It should be noted that the stutter is an issue even if you’re using a FreeSync or G-Sync display.

Yes, you can turn off the in-built limiter and use the GPU control panel to fix this externally, but I have two points to make about that. Firstly, this is basic stuff that should have been fixed a long time ago – the user should not have to step in to override dodgy code. Secondly, a key feature for the game – dynamic resolution scaling – only works properly using the game’s internal frame-limiting solution. If you use an external, working, frame-rate limiting solution, adjustments to resolution see the game move to its lowest possible resolution. This is a shame because you’re effectively choosing between a visually compromised image, or else a DRS solution that gets the most out of your GPU at any given moment, but only if you can put up with the stutter.