Cyberpunk 2077 causes technical problems, especially on the older consoles, but not everything runs smoothly for every player on the PC either. Tips for more FPS such as the so-called pool fix are correspondingly very popular. However, the major patch 1.05 has now deleted it from the game.
What’s up with the pool fix? The supposed performance tip refers to the file »memory_pool_budgets.csv« from the folder »engine config« in the game directory. By default, the entries »PoolCPU« and »PoolGPU« contain 1,536 MB and 3 GB.
It sounds as if the game only uses 1.5 GB of the available RAM and 3.0 GB of the existing video memory, while current PCs usually have significantly more to offer. The pool fix should fix this by entering higher values suitable for the computer.
In the patch notes for the hotfix version 1.05, however, CD Projekt states that the memory_pool_budgets.csv file had no influence on the game and therefore removes it:
The pool fix can’t help – actually
On our test systems, significantly more RAM and VRAM was used in the review version of the game than the lim itations in memory_pool_budgets.csv suggest. This fits in with the statement by CD Projekt that the values entered in the file have no influence on Cyberpunk 2077. And if anyone should know which files affect the game and how, it’s CD Projekt itself.
However, on the other hand, it cannot be denied that many players have noticed a significant improvement in performance after applying the pool fix. This can also be seen in the comments on our website, both under the news on the patch notes and on our tuning guide at GameStar-Plus:
more on the subject
Cyberpunk 2077: How to Get More FPS
Where do the performance improvements come from?
CD Projekt assumes that they come about by restarting the game, which is usually done as part of the pool fix. Starting as administrator, which is often recommended in this context, could also be helpful.
Problems with the hardware usage: In our impression, it is at least the case that many players who report significantly more FPS as a result of the fix previously had a problem with insufficient utilization of the hardware (or the available memory).
It is unclear exactly what causes this load problem on some systems. Basically the memory_pool_budgets.csv itself should not be able to solve it. Looking at it the other way round, our measurements showed that it had no effect if we entered even lower values such as 128 Mbytes or something completely different like the word »test«.
There are also voices claiming that the performance clearly deteriorated with the 1.05 patch. However, this does not have to be due to the deletion of the memory_pool_budgets.csv, as the big patch changed many things in the game.
All information about the patch 1.05 including a list of the official changes in Europe can be found in the article linked below. In addition to better stability and more performance for Ryzen CPUs with a maximum of six cores, he is primarily dedicated to fixing (quest) bugs in the game.
more on the subject
Cyberpunk 2077: Huge Patch 1.05 Now Available
The pool fix remains a mystery
In the end, only one thing is certain: CD Projekt is absolutely certain that the data removed with Patch 1.05 will not have any effect on the game. Otherwise it would hardly have been deleted.
If they don’t do anything, they could have basically been left in the game. However, the developers probably don’t like it when the assumption goes around the Internet that Cyberpunk 2077 would generally only use 1.5 GB of RAM and 3.0 GB of VRAM. On the one hand, that would be absolutely out of date, on the other hand, in our experience, that was never the case.
By removing the files, further counter tests of those affected are no longer possible. Theoretically, the performance of your systems should deteriorate if low values are entered again in memory_pool_budgets.csv. So far, we have not read anything in the comments about attempts with version 1.04 (or earlier).
Have you had any experiences with the pool fix yourself? And what general impression does the patch 1.05 make on you? Feel free to write it in the comments!
