Returnal: PC Performance Benchmarks for Old Graphics Cards and Processors
BASIC INFORMATION ON THE GAME |
Testing older graphics cards in Returnal was done to determine performance on these devices. Some players may have older PCs or laptops that don't have new graphics cards and need to know how the game works on their systems. The test results can also be helpful in choosing the most appropriate graphics setting for these older graphics cards in order to achieve maximum performance and best image quality. Additionally, testing older graphics cards can help players understand what kind of upgrade is needed to improve the performance and experience of playing Returnal.
IRON IN TESTS |
With all possible support in expanding the test bench for this type of testing, GIGABYTE kindly helped us .
THE GRAFICAL PART |
In this subsection of our review, the main graphical aspects of this game are revealed. Particular attention is paid to the version of the graphics engine used, the version of the API used, graphics settings and the quality of the development of the main visual aspects.
SUPPORTED OC AND GRAPHICS API |
Returnal is supported by Windows 10/11. The priority and primary graphics API for Returnal is DX 12 .
GAME ENGINE |
Returnal is based on the Unreal Engine 4 game engine developed and maintained by Epic Games.
Thanks to his work, each playthrough of the game is unique and inimitable, which increases the replayability of the game. The first game created on the engine - Unreal - appeared in 1998. Since then, various versions of this game engine have been used in over a hundred games, including Deus Ex, Dishonored, Lineage II, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Postal 2, the Brothers in Arms series, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, as well as in the well-known game series Unreal and Unreal Tournament from Epic Games themselves. Being adapted primarily for first-person shooters, the engine was also used to create games of other genres.
Written in the high-level C++ language, Unreal Engine 4 allows you to create games for most operating systems and platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS and Mac OS X, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Wii, Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube. In December, Mark Rein demonstrated Unreal Engine 3 on the iPod Touch and iPhone 3GS. In March 2010, the engine was demonstrated on the Palm Pre communicator based on the webOS mobile platform.
To simplify porting, the engine uses a modular system of dependent components: supports various rendering systems (Direct3D, OpenGL, Pixomatic; previously supported Glide API, S3 Metal, PowerVR SGL), sound playback (EAX, OpenAL, DirectSound3D; previously supported A3D), voice playback tools text, speech recognition (only for Xbox360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Windows, also planned for Linux and Mac), modules for networking and support for various input devices.
For online play, Windows Live, Xbox Live, and GameSpy technologies are supported, including up to 64 players (clients) at the same time. Despite the fact that the development tools do not officially include support for a large number of clients on a single server, the engine has been used to create MMORPG games. One of the most famous representatives of the genre, Lineage II, uses the Unreal Engine.
QUALITY MODES |
Below we have provided screenshots of the game at various graphics settings, where our readers can see the difference between the minimum and maximum graphics quality settings.
The graphics settings in Returnal include options such as screen resolution, shadow quality, texture quality, effects quality, and more. Graphics quality settings affect the quality of visual effects as well as game performance.
Graphics settings "Low" provide lower quality visuals, but may improve game performance on less powerful systems. Graphics settings "Medium" provide a moderate quality of visuals and strike a balance between quality and performance of the game. Graphics settings "High" provide higher quality visuals, but may slow down game performance on less powerful systems.
Typically, graphics settings with higher quality visual effects consume more computer resources, which can lead to slower gaming performance, especially on older or less powerful computers. However, graphics quality settings depend on the player's personal preferences and on the configuration of his computer, so you should choose the settings that best combine visual quality and performance.
TEST PART |
Our video cards were tested at 1920x1080, 2560x1600 resolutions at low, medium and epic graphics quality settings.
In the test of video cards, the default resolution is 1920x1080, other resolutions are added and removed manually. You can also remove and add any positions of video cards. You can also select any of our test processors from the list in the drop-down menu, comparing its performance with the given video card tests (by default, the most productive solution is selected). The test is carried out on the most productive CPU in this game and is scaled to other processors, taking into account their testing on NVIDIA and AMD video cards.
You can choose and buy a video card model or one close to it by clicking on the link from any position of our modular charts from our partner Telemart .
Low
At a resolution of 1920x1080, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060 level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060 level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX 590 or GeForce GTX 1070 solutions .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the level Radeon RX 4700 or GeForce GTX 1060 . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060 level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX Vega 56 or GeForce GTX 1070 Ti FSR solutions .
Medium
At a resolution of 1920x1080, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060 level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060 level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX 5700 or GeForce GTX 1080 solutions .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060 level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the level Radeon RX 570 or GeForce GTX 1660 . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX 5700 FSR solutions .
High
At a resolution of 1920x1080, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060 level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060 level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX 5700 FSR solutions or GeForce GTX 1080 FSR .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the level Radeon RX 570 or GeForce GTX 1660 Ti . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the level Radeon RX 590 or GeForce GTX 1070 . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX 5700 XT FSR solutions .
VIDEO MEMORY CONSUMPTION |
Testing of the video memory consumed by the game was carried out by the MSI Afterburner program. The results on video cards from AMD and NVIDIA at resolutions of 1920x1080, 2560x1440 and 3840x2160 with various anti-aliasing settings were taken as the indicator. By default, the graph displays the most up-to-date solutions. Other graphics cards are added and removed from the chart at the reader's request.
GameGPU
Low
At a resolution of 1920x1080, video memory consumption for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 6 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 8 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, video memory consumption for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 6 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 8 gigabytes .
Medium
At a resolution of 1920x1080, video memory consumption for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 6 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 8 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, video memory consumption for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 6 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 8 gigabytes .
High
At a resolution of 1920x1080, video memory consumption for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 6 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 8 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, video memory consumption for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 6 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 8 gigabytes .
CPU TEST |
Testing was carried out at a resolution of 1920x1080. In the processor test, you can remove and add any positions of the processors. You can also select any tested video card from the list in the drop-down menu, comparing its performance with the results of processor tests (by default, the most productive solution from NVIDIA is selected). Testing takes place on the most productive NVIDIA and AMD video cards and scales up to lower models.
You can choose and buy a processor model or one close to it by clicking on the link from any position of our modular charts from our partner Telemart .
Low
When using NVIDIA video cards , Ryzen 3 1200 or Core i 3 2100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and Ryzen 5 1600 level solutions can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
When using AM D video cards, Ryzen 3 1200 or Core i 3 2100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and Ryzen 5 1400 or Core i 7 2600 solutions can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
Medium
When using NVIDIA video cards , Ryzen 3 1200 or Core i 3 2100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and Ryzen 5 1600 level solutions can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
When using AM D video cards, Ryzen 3 1200 or Core i 3 2100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and Ryzen 5 1600 or Core i 7 2600 solutions can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
High
When using NVIDIA video cards , an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second was shown by Ryzen 5 1400 or Core i 5 2500 processors .
When using AMD video cards, an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second was shown by Ryzen 3 1400 or Core i 5 2500 processors .
GameGPU
The game can download up to 12 threads. The game uses 8 threads as efficiently as possible.
RAM TEST |
The test was conducted on the base configuration Core i 7 5960X with 16GB DDR4 3200 MHz pre-installed memory. All used RAM was taken as an indicator. The RAM test on the entire system was carried out on various video cards without running extraneous applications (browsers, etc.). In the graphics, you can add and remove any resolutions and video cards as desired.
GameGPU
Low
At a resolution of 1920x1080, the consumption of RAM for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 13 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 12 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440 , the consumption of RAM for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 13 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 12 gigabytes .
Medium
At a resolution of 1920x1080, the consumption of RAM for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 13 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 12 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440 , the consumption of RAM for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 13 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 12 gigabytes .
High
At a resolution of 1920x1080, the consumption of RAM for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 13 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 12 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440 , the consumption of RAM for video cards with 6 gigabytes will be 15 gigabytes , with 8 gigabytes it will be 12 gigabytes .
CONCLUSION |
We can say that older video cards may have problems with the game Returnal on high graphics settings. However, at lower graphics settings, older graphics cards can handle the game quite well.
Using FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology can give you a significant advantage when playing Returnal on older graphics cards. For example, in testing on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card using FSR settings, the frame rate increased to over 42 FPS at high graphics settings, compared to 35 FPS without FSR. At the same time, the loss in image quality was minimal.
Thus, using FidelityFX Super Resolution can be useful for those who want to run Returnal on older graphics cards and get a higher frame rate with minimal loss in image quality.
In general, if you have an older graphics card and want to play Returnal, then you may need to lower your graphics settings to get a smooth experience.
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