I just installed both SR2 and SR3 and, while I certainly don't have the greatest video card around, it is ridiculous that SR3 runs noticeably more smoothly. SR2 has jerky framerate that is especially noticeable when driving, and most especially when driving a police car. I already installed the Gentlemen of the Row mod but it didn't seem to help - I would really appreciate any suggestions!


Windows 7 x64
Core i7-3770
Geforce GT 620
12GB RAM

I installed the Gentlemen of the Row mod, too. I wasn't too satisfied, either.

I think what would be best is if the same folks who ported SR2 to PC would fix it up and redeliver it to us DRM-free. ;p

I have this post bookmarked, but I haven't tried the fixes listed myself:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/humble_deep_silver_bundle/post171

The PC version of SR2 wasn't the best optimized game from what I've heard and it's not uncommon for older games to run worse than newer games.
The best way to improve performance is to lower visual settings especially resolution, also turning off v-sync might help.
Another thing you can do is use FXAA instead of SMAA, you can enable FXAA in the driversettings and turn off anti aliasing in the game altogether.

Turn Dynamic Lighting to Simple or to Off. Setting it to Simple or to Off will cause some outdoor areas (during the day) and most interiors to be overly bright and glow-y (including in some cutscenes) but it eliminates lag and improves overall responsiveness. For whatever reason Dynamic Lighting seems to consume more performance alone than all the other settings combined, with Dynamic Lighting set to Simple or set to Off you should be able to crank all the other settings up with ease.

Download and install the Saints Row 2 Powertools. Installing is easy, just a simple copy/paste, run the installer and then you just tweak a setting called Speed via its text file. This is necessary because the game by default runs in sort of fast forward (it's still set to use the Xbox 360's processor), which of course affects everything including oversensitivity of vehicles, the Saints Row 2 Powertools adjusts the actual game/engine speed. I have my Speed set to .90 and cars handle fairly well though they're still somewhat jerky at lower speeds.

It's funny because Saints Row 2 was ported to PC by CD Projekt :P

I was being subtle but now I think Marcin's ears are burning. :D

Add to the list of DEP exceptions. First had the issue with SR3, then later SR2.
This sorted it for me quite well - still got occasional spikes so take the advice about settings too.

Shit GPU, shit port! :D

See my prior post!

Improving Saints Row 2's performance... good one! :P

But in all seriousness, do what everyone else has suggested and install the Gentlemen of the Row mod and limit the game's framerate to 30 FPS via NVIDIA Inspector or Radeon Pro. That may sound bad, but in my experience it makes it less jerky in the framerate department.

I managed to get slightly better performance by picking it up really cheap for the XBox 360. Still seemed a bit sluggish and juddery.

Still waiting for a complete edition for PC. Maybe they will remaster the damn thing?! (wishful thinking, i know).

cd projekt red really dropped the ball on this one

powertools and gentlemen of the row tend to be your best solution