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The Sinking City 2 Shows an Unusual GPU Performance Gap at Native 1080p

The Sinking City 2 hardware test results were published on August 18, 2026, revealing a notable performance gap on its Unreal Engine 5 PC build. At native 1080p, maximum settings, and with no upscaling enabled, several newer RDNA 4 graphics cards fell behind older models.

The test used Unreal Engine 5's Nanite virtualized geometry and Lumen dynamic global illumination. That combination makes this a demanding test of native GPU performance. The results should not be treated as a direct estimate of performance with DLSS or FSR enabled.

The Radeon RX 9070 XT is the most conspicuous example. It averaged just 71 frames per second, below the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti at 87 fps, the Radeon RX 7900 XT at 86 fps, and the Radeon RX 7900 XTX at 98 fps.

The result is especially unusual because both older Radeon cards outperform the newer RX 9070 XT. The newer architecture currently has no performance advantage in this test, suggesting a possible compatibility issue during the early stages of driver or engine optimization rather than a definitive weakness in the hardware itself.

The mid-range comparison is even less flattering. The Radeon RX 9060 XT averaged 42 fps, matching the GeForce RTX 3060 while trailing the Radeon RX 6950 XT at 66 fps and the Radeon RX 6900 XT at 61 fps.

At these native maximum settings, that result makes the RX 9060 XT difficult to recommend for this game.

NVIDIA's cards were more consistent across this test. The GeForce RTX 5090, GeForce RTX 4090, and GeForce RTX 5080 reached 145 fps, 120 fps, and 113 fps, respectively.

The Radeon RX 7700 XT and GeForce RTX 5060 Ti roughly met the expected 60 fps standard for stable play. The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti averaged 55 fps, meaning players may need to lower image quality slightly for a steadier experience.

The main uncertainty is whether future driver updates or game patches will improve these results. If The Sinking City 2 is the main reason for an upgrade, choosing an RDNA 4 card solely because it is newer is difficult to recommend right now. The source does not establish whether driver updates can recover the missing performance, so waiting for further testing is the cautious option.

Upscaling may raise frame rates, but the source provides no estimate of the improvement. The stronger results from the older Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 6950 XT indicate that engine compatibility may be influencing this test. The figures are unfavorable to RDNA 4 in this game, but they do not establish that the architecture is broadly slower in hardware terms.