Half-Life 2 RTX shrinks from 80 GB to 50 GB in RTX Remix 1.5

The memory supply crisis is driving up SSD prices, leaving many gamers reluctant to upgrade storage. Even older titles can swell with files when refreshed with path-traced lighting, but the RTX Remix 1.5 update may help ease that burden. RTX Remix is Nvidia's open-source modding platform for updating dated visuals using generative AI tools, neural rendering and ray tracing.

All that added tech can increase the size of a two-decade-old game, and the 1.5 release specifically tackles that file-size creep. Nvidia says its RTX IO storage tech has cut several game sizes: Portal with RTX fell from 25 GB to 17 GB, and Half-Life 2 RTX shrank from 80 GB to 50 GB.

That compression is now part of the RTX Remix packaging workflow, and RTX IO also reduces CPU overhead and speeds up load times. The update adds other refinements such as smooth normals for lower-poly geometry and easier viewport light controls.

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