The Talos Principle: Reawakened - PC performance graphics benchmarks of Graphics Cards and Processors
We have tested the released The Talos Principle: Reawakened on maximum graphics settings with GeForce RTX and Radeon RX series video cards. We also evaluated the performance and quality of the game's graphics during our tests.
| THE GRAFICAL PART |
This subsection of our review highlights the main graphical aspects of this game. Particular attention is paid to the version of the graphics engine used, the version of the API used, graphic settings and the quality of development of the main visual aspects.
| Supported OS and Graphics API |
The Talos Principle: Reawakened — a continuation of the cult philosophical puzzle, designed for 64-bit systems Windows 10 (version 2004 or newer) and using DirectX 12. The game scales across a wide range of configurations, supporting modern graphics cards including the Intel Arc series. Below are the official system requirements, as well as a brief description of how the the minimum и maximum graphics quality settings without specifying specific FPS values.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened System Requirements
Minimum system requirements
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OS: Windows 10 (64-bit, version 2004 or later)
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Processor: 4-core CPU @ 2.5 GHz (AMD Ryzen 5, Intel Core i3/i5)
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Memory: 8 GB
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Video card:
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Radeon RX 470
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GeForce GTX 970
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Intel Arc A580 (4GB VRAM)
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DirectX: 12
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Disk space: 50 GB (SSD recommended)
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Extra charges: Integrated Intel graphics (non-Arc) are not supported
Recommended System Requirements
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OS: Windows 10 (64-bit, version 2004 or later)
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Processor: 6 or 8-core CPU @ 3.0 GHz (AMD Ryzen 7, Intel Core i5/i7)
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Memory: 16 GB
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Video card:
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Radeon RX 6800
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GeForce RTX 3070
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Intel Arc B580 (8+ GB VRAM)
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DirectX: 12
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Disk space: 50 GB (SSD recommended)
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Extra charges: Integrated Intel graphics (non-Arc) are not supported
| DEVELOPMENT HISTORY |
The Talos Principle: Reawakened is a full-fledged remake of the first-person philosophical puzzle game developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. The game was announced in early 2024, shortly after the release of The Talos Principle 2. The new version was built from scratch using the engine Unreal Engine 5, with the aim of rebuilding the 2014 original using modern graphics and technology solutions.
The Croteam team aimed to not only update the graphics, but also rethink the presentation of the material. The remake included not only the entire main campaign and the Road to Gehenna add-on, but also a new prologue called In the Beginning. This chapter deepens the philosophical component of the game and reveals the events before the launch of the simulation, including the role of Alexandra Drennan.
The game was developed with the help of original writer Jonas Kyratzes, who adapted old dialogues for a modern context and refined philosophical themes, including questions of AI, existence, and free will. Reawakened was released on April 10, 2025, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
| GRAPHICS |
Go to Unreal Engine 5 allowed Reawakened to reach a new level of visual expressiveness. The developers abandoned the original Serious Engine and used all available UE5 tools, including Nanite and Lumen. As a result, the quality of geometry, textures and lighting has been significantly improved.
The updated versions of the locations are now filled with realistic reflections, global illumination, dense atmosphere and advanced shaders. The environment has become richer: in the deserts there are now sand swirls and a change in time of day, and in the monastery gardens - fog, flowering and swaying leaves.
The lack of ray tracing is compensated for by the clever use of Lumen, which allows for realistic lighting and shadows. Support for resolutions up to 4K and stability on modern graphics cards ensure a smooth gaming experience. However, systems without DX12 support may experience performance issues.
| GAME ENGINE |
Game engine Unreal Engine 5 Reawakened takes full advantage of this. In addition to visual improvements, it gave developers the tools to create a more flexible level architecture and an expanded editor. Users were able to create their own puzzles and share them online, something that was not possible in the original.
All gameplay mechanics, such as working with lasers, jammers, reflectors and gravity platforms, have been transferred and reworked. Controls have been improved, the interface has become more convenient, especially on gamepads. New puzzles use the mechanics of switching layers of reality, adding variability to the passage.
The engine also provides fast scene loading, seamless transitions between zones, high-quality animations and reliable operation of the saving systems. Thanks to the use of Lumen, scenes adapt to lighting changes in real time, without baking. This allowed the developers to abandon static lighting solutions.
Thus, The Talos Principle: Reawakened is not just a visual update, but a full-fledged reconstruction using modern technical standards, preserving the philosophical essence of the original.
| QUALITY |
Minimum settings
The game features simplified textures and basic shaders, reducing the draw distance and additional effects (such as atmospheric fog, detailed reflections). Shadows and lighting appear less complex, and some visual elements (such as post-processing or high-detail models) can be disabled. Despite the reduced saturation of the image, the puzzles and mechanics remain in full.
Maximum settings
Textures and models have a higher resolution, shadows and lighting work with improved shaders, reflections and post-processing (depth of field, volumetric light) create realistic scenes. The drawing distance increases, which makes the environment seem much more detailed and alive. This level of graphics requires more computing power, but gives the game a cinematic look and an improved atmosphere.
| TEST PART |
Below you will find a table of equipment that was kindly provided by our sponsors: GIGABYTE, ASUS, Kingston и Deep Cool. It reflects the list of motherboards, video cards, memory modules and cooling systems used in the tests, and also indicates the current configuration of the operating system and drivers.
| Test configuration | |
| GIGABYTE | |
| motherboards | |
| ASUS | |
| motherboards | |
| Video Cards |
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC |
| KINGSTON | |
| RAM |
16 GB DDR4 4600 CL19 Kingston FURY Renegade 32 GB DDR4 3600 CL16 Kingston FURY Renegade 32 GB DDR4 4000 CL18 Kingston FURY Renegade 32 GB DDR5 5600 CL40 Kingston Fury Beast 32 GB DDR5 6000 CL30 Kingston FURY Renegade 32 GB DDR5 7200 CL36 Kingston FURY Renegade |
| Storage devices |
Kingston FURY Renegade PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD |
| Deep Cool | |
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Cases and cooling |
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| Software configuration |
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| Operating system | Windows 11 24H2 |
| Graphics driver |
Nvidia GeForce/ION Driver Release 572.83 WHQL AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 25.3.2 |
| Monitoring programs | MSI Afterburner 4.6.6 Beta 5 Build 16555 |
All video cards were tested at maximum graphics quality using MSI Afterburner. The purpose of the test is to determine how video cards from different manufacturers behave under the same conditions. Below is a video of a test segment from the game:
Our video cards were tested at different screen sizes 1920x1080, 2560x1440 и 3840x2160 with maximum graphics quality settings without upscales.
| TEST GPU |
In the video card test, 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 powerful CPU in this game and is scaled to other processors, taking into account their testing on NVIDIA and AMD video cards.
- Max
When resolved 1920x1080:
- Average FPS (25 frames): Reached on video cards of the level of Radeon RX 6700 XT or GeForce RTX 3060.
- Minimum FPS (25 frames): Provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 6700 XT or GeForce RTX 3060 level.
- Comfortable average FPS (60 frames): Possible with video cards of the Radeon RX 7800 XT or GeForce RTX 4070 level.
When resolved 2560x1440:
- Average FPS (25 frames): Reached on video cards of the level of Radeon RX 6700 XT or GeForce RTX 2080 Ti.
- Minimum FPS (25 frames): Provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 6800 or GeForce RTX 4060 Ti level.
- Comfortable average FPS (60 frames): Possible with graphics cards like Radeon RX 9070 or GeForce RTX 4070 Ti S.
When resolved 3840x2160:
- Average FPS (25 frames): Reached on video cards of the level of Radeon RX 6800 XT or GeForce RTX 4070.
- Minimum FPS (25 frames): Provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 7900 or GeForce RTX 4070 S level.
- Comfortable average FPS (60 frames): Possible with video cards of the GeForce RTX 5090 level.
| VIDEO MEMORY CONSUMPTION |
Testing of video memory consumed by the game was carried out by the program MSI Afterburner. The indicator was based on the results on video cards from AMD and NVIDIA with separate screen sizes 1920x1080, 2560x1440 and 3840x2160 with various anti-aliasing settings. By default, the graph displays the most current solutions. Other video cards are added and removed from the chart at the request of the reader.
- Max
GameGPU
Resolution 1920x1080:
- Video cards with 12 GB of video memory: consume 8 GB
- Video cards with 16 GB of video memory: consume 9 GB
- Video cards with 24 GB of video memory: consume 9 GB
- Video cards with 32 GB of video memory: consume 9 GB
Resolution 2560x1440:
- Video cards with 12 GB of video memory: consume 9 GB
- Video cards with 16 GB of video memory: consume 9 GB
- Video cards with 24 GB of video memory: consume 9 GB
- Video cards with 32 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB
Resolution 3840x2160:
- Video cards with 12 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB
- Video cards with 16 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB
- Video cards with 24 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB
- Video cards with 32 GB of video memory: consume 11 GB
| CPU TEST |
Testing was carried out at a resolution of 1920x1080. In the processor test, you can remove or add any processor positions. You can also select any tested video card from the list in the drop-down menu, comparing its performance with the given processor test results (by default, the most productive solution from NVIDIA is selected). Testing takes place on the most powerful NVIDIA and AMD video cards and scales to low-end models.
- Max
When using NVIDIA video cards:
- Processors for acceptable FPS (not lower than 25 frames per second):
- AMD Ryzen 3 3100
- Intel Core i3-10100
- Processors for comfortable FPS (at least 60 frames per second):
- AMD Ryzen 3 3300
- Intel Core i3-10100
When using AMD video cards:
- Processors for acceptable FPS (not lower than 25 frames per second):
- AMD Ryzen 3 3100
- Intel Core i3-10100
- Processors for comfortable FPS (at least 60 frames per second):
- AMD Ryzen 3 3300
- Intel Core i3-10100
- Max
Loading and using streams:
- Maximum load: The game can load up to 16 streams.
- Optimal loading: Uses up to 12 threads as efficiently as possible.
| RAM TEST |
The test was carried out on the basic configuration of Core i 9 13900K with 32 GB DDR5 6400 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 launching third-party applications (browsers, etc.). In the graphics, you can add and remove any resolutions and video cards as desired.
- Max
GameGPU
Resolution 1920x1080:
- Video cards with 12 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
- Video cards with 16 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
- Video cards with 24 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
- Video cards with 32 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
Resolution 2560x1440:
- Video cards with 12 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
- Video cards with 16 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
- Video cards with 24 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
- Video cards with 32 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
Resolution 3840x2160:
- Video cards with 12 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
- Video cards with 16 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
- Video cards with 24 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
- Video cards with 32 GB of video memory: consume 10 GB of RAM
| SPONSORS TESTS |
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