Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG that elegantly straddles the line between the demanding combat of Soulslike games and the adventurous exploration of classic RPGs. However, the comparison to Soulslike games stops mostly at its shrines for revives. We would put this game closer to a God of War or Nioh style as It’s a linear action-adventure game with Boss Rush type of levels. Whether you’re seeking intense battles against creatures drawn from Chinese mythology or a more forgiving experience with equally engaging encounters, this game delivers a journey that resonates with a broad spectrum of players. Its stunning presentation and generous design philosophy truly set Black Myth: Wukong apart.

You’re not just playing a game; you’re embarking on a visually spectacular odyssey, where you wield a staff as a highly agile monkey, armed with a suite of powerful spells set on a polished and well-performing engine is also technically impressive and a great benchmark for current gamers. It’s been a long time since a game has left such an impression on me.

Black Myth: Wukong Review- An Action Adventure with Cinematic Brilliance

Based on the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West, the game places you in control of the “Destined One,” a reincarnation of Wukong, a legendary monkey who once rebelled against Heaven. Your mission? To remind the various Yaoguai (mythical creatures) that Wukong is back in the game, ready to reclaim the glory Wukong deserved. The gameplay is smooth and combat can often make you feel like you are in an anime, which is why I think it is resonating with many gamers. It has all the right elements of visceral combat, amazing art, wonder, and imagination that beg you to explore it. The polish is clear and minor details, like the flourishes the character does after combat or while in battle, show how much the developer Game Science cared for its presentation.

Black Myth: Wukong offers a captivating blend of cinematic moments and challenging gameplay. The game’s chapters are interspersed with interactive artworks that summarize the story’s progress, connecting back to the source material. There are even some wonky but cool music videos/aminations that help tell the story. A particular one with a white fox was incredible to watch.

While these story elements might be difficult to follow for those unfamiliar with the original tale, they add a layer of depth and authenticity that enriches the experience. The narrative can be somewhat opaque, however, as we have to suffer with a silent protagonist yet again.

We dislike this game design choice – especially after one of the best prologues in recent memory with a fantastic voice actor for the “original Wukong”. Why could we not have that throughout the game? Sure, the Destined One, the player that you control might not be able to have the same voice but anything would have been better than nothing. It feels like a huge missed opportunity and I hope we stop seeing this, especially since the rest of the game is so well-voiced. The sheer spectacle and dramatic encounters make the journey worthwhile for sure but it would have been nice to get some feedback from your character.

Gameplay

The level design itself is mostly linear and some parts of chapter 2 are not the best but it is a worthwhile journey throughout. As you progress, you also gain keys to areas you passed before so can travel back to even near the start of the game for some powerful unlocks. This is optional but it was great to go back and find those mysteries and unlock every secret piece of armor. There is a charge staff for example that builds directly into the smash stance and buffs your damage.

The enemy types you encounter here are also great. A big criticism of some recent games like Dragon’s Dogma 2 or The First Descendant is the sheer lack of different enemy types as you progress. Elden Ring, a masterpiece itself, repeats bosses and this is fine with us as long as they have varied mechanics or fight patterns. Black Myth: Wukong bosses are varied and incredible to play with and even the one huge-head boss that I found a repeat off was different enough and required a different strategy.

There were some frustrating moments for me with certain bosses like a certain crouching one near a temple but I was able to backtrack and get some upgrades to my staff and come back and learn from my previous mistakes. You could also take a different branching path to level up and complete that area or try to brute force your way. That is what makes gaming incredibly fun and rewarding and there is plenty of this here. The game features 90 unique bosses, each with distinct mechanics and designs.

This is not to say the game is perfect, the bosses certainly have some very bad “cheese” and can lead to some “wtf was that?” moments but aren’t the worst we have ever seen. The typical enemies are hiding behind corners or mobs jumping you randomly but it’s still a great deal of fun to combat this with the tools you are given. That being said, the majority of bosses we defeated in one or two tries with some of the more difficult bosses requiring multiple attempts – keep in mind we are mediocre at these types of games.

The combat in Black Myth: Wukong is fluid and dynamic, with an emphasis on stylish staff maneuvers and well-timed dodges. Combat involves combos of light and heavy attacks, different stances, and special abilities. The game offers some deep strategic challenges based on the encounters during its chapters. Players can upgrade their abilities through a skill tree using “Sparks” and customize their builds with equipment and relics, with the flexibility of free re-specs. There is no parry without using up mana with a spell that turns you into a rock, if you time this perfectly it can help stagger large bosses and turn the tide.

Alternatively, you can build into going invisible and leaving behind a clone so you can charge a 3-focus point heavy attack that causes massive damage. There is enough variety here to keep it fun but you still only be playing with a staff throughout the game.

Speaking of focus points, this is an important part of combat, you have to string together light attacks to gain a meter that provides focus points – these you can then spend during combos or a charged heavy attack to unleash a powerful hit.

***Spoiler warning, boss fight*** (also mediocre gameplay warning)

You will also fight mid-tier enemies that you can then capture and embody during battle (spirits), you can also eventually find full-body transformations that you can turn into for a set time during battle – this really helped me during some tougher fights. Defense-wise, Black Myth is rooted in the Soulslike tradition—dodging enemy attacks, managing stamina, and strategically using health-restoring Gourds (akin to flasks). There is no block, however, and as mentioned above instead you have a parry spell that is there if needed.

But unlike many Soulslike games, Black Myth: Wukong strikes a balance that makes it accessible to a wider audience. You do not lose all your progress or “souls” when you die but instead get resurrected at your last shrine to try the level again and again where you can craft spells, tweak armor, increase spirit level, brew power-ups, and so on. It is a great system that doesn’t rely on heavily punishing the player.

The game’s linear but richly detailed environments offer a more focused experience compared to the sprawling open worlds of games like Elden Ring. Thankfully though the world feels authentic and meticulously crafted, encouraging exploration without overwhelming the player.

There are a lot of nooks and crannies to visit for secrets or unlocks and its rewarding throughout and respects your time. Not once did I feel like I fought through a tough horde of enemies just to get some measly gold, even if it occurred in some chests it still felt great.

What did not feel great, however, was the camera. Elden Ring suffered from the same issues, a large enemy locks you in a corner and you cannot tell what you are doing sometimes and are spamming dodge to try to get to a better visual area. It was frustrating at times. For example, in a later chapter, you can drop down into a path with a chest at the end, and suddenly you are surrounded by a dozen or so enemies all hitting you at once while surrounded by walls that the camera is running into – we got through it but not without some gamer rage.

Performance and Benchmarks

Visually, Black Myth: Wukong is breathtaking. The attention to detail in the environments, from the intricate architecture to the atmospheric lighting, is simply awe-inspiring. The game’s world is a visual feast, with every corner offering something new to marvel at. While the game’s design includes some typical video game constraints, such as invisible walls, these are easily forgiven given the overall beauty and immersion. The game boasts high-quality visuals and designs inspired by Chinese mythology, although it occasionally experiences frame rate issues. Maybe about 1% of my time with it I did experience some frame drops or hitching but other than that it’s been incredible.

Black Myth: Wukong does feature path tracing:

The game includes Nvidia’s DLSS Frame Generation which is an AI-driven technology that enhances gaming performance by generating new frames, integrating low latency for responsiveness, and utilizing the advanced features of NVIDIA’s Ada Lovelace architecture. This technology, combined with NVIDIA Reflex, significantly boosts performance while maintaining high image quality. It also includes AMD’s FSR 3.0 for upscaling and frame gen.

In Black Myth: Wukong, advanced ray tracing techniques, including full-resolution multi-bounce indirect lighting, reflections, and caustics, are employed to create a visually stunning and immersive experience. These techniques enhance realism, particularly in lighting, reflections, and shadows, elevating the overall graphical fidelity of the game.

Team Green is taking the cake here, although we do wish we had an RX 7900 XTX to compare with the performance numbers show the optimization, DLSS, and frame gen are working wonders to make this game perform well. AMD is playable, however, with lower-end cards performing close to Nvidia’s lower-end offerings.

Unreal Engine 5 is doing well here to not require an enormous amount of RAM like Resident Evil 4 and many recent games.
Here are the minimum requirements:

Performance:
Black Myth: Wukong 1920×1080 (medium), RT OFF

Black Myth: Wukong 1920×1080 (Cinematic), RT Very High

Black Myth: Wukong 2560×1440 (Cinematic), RT Very High

Black Myth: Wukong 2560×1440 (Cinematic), DLSS Quality

Conclusion:

In summary, Black Myth: Wukong is a remarkable achievement—a game that not only meets but exceeds the lofty expectations set by its early trailers. Black Myth: Wukong has garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews and achieved the second-highest concurrent player count on Steam, praised for its engaging gameplay, polished experience, and absence of microtransactions.

Most gamers who play on 1920x1080p will be able to fully enjoy this game but max settings will require a much more powerful card. Our 4080 Super ran this game perfectly with Full settings on and it was a blast to play.

It’s a generous, beautifully crafted adventure that offers both challenge and spectacle, making it a must-play for fans of action RPGs. Game Science has truly announced itself as a major player in the genre, and Black Myth: Wukong is a clear statement that they are here to compete with the best.

Happy gaming!

This review key was provided by Nvidia, this was not in exchange for a positive review and does not change our review process or influence our scores. Thank you, Nvidia!

Overview: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a powerhouse graphics card, designed for high-end gaming and demanding creative applications. It excels in delivering top-notch performance, thanks to its advanced NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture.

The RTX 4080 SUPER sits above the RTX 4080 which did not have a great reception at launch due to its higher price point. Since launch, the price has come down but its still very high. The RTX 4080 SUPER is launching at an MSRP of $999 which makes it much more attractive – the only issue is if gamers can actually find it at this price at launch and we hope so. The RTX 4080 is being replaced by the SUPER variant in its current lineup. This is the 3rd and final refresh from Nvidia at $200 cheaper than its counterpart but the performance leap is surprisingly low here.

Key Features:

1. New Streaming Multiprocessors: Enhanced performance and power efficiency, delivering up to 2x improvements.
2. 4th Generation Tensor Cores and Optical Flow: Powers AI technologies like NVIDIA DLSS 3 for improved frame rates.
3. 3rd Generation RT Cores: Offers up to 2x ray tracing performance, creating highly detailed virtual environments.
4. Ada Memory Subsystem: Increased L2 cache for better performance, reduced memory traffic, and power efficiency.
5. Shader Execution Reordering (SER): Doubles the efficiency of ray tracing operations.
6. DLSS 3.5: AI-driven graphics enhancement for higher performance and ray tracing quality.
7. NVIDIA Studio: Optimal performance for 3D rendering, video editing, and live streaming.
8. AV1 Encoder: 8th generation encoder providing 40% more efficiency than H.264, benefiting streamers, broadcasters, and video callers.

Let’s unbox this card and discuss it further on the next page.

PROS

• Improved performance over Original RTX 4070 Ti, near RTX 4080 Performance
• Larger 16GB memory pool
• No price increase

CONS

• Pricing compared to AMDs offerings

Overview
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is a tour de force in the realm of gaming GPUs, boasting an impressive arsenal of AI-powered capabilities and ray tracing technology. Aimed squarely at PC gamers who seek the pinnacle of visual quality, this GPU offers a seamless experience in top-tier games like Alan Wake 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Resident Evil 4, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

We received the ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070 Ti SUPER from Nvidia a little later than we would like due to weather and shipping issues, hope everyone is safe out there! We had around 2 full days to test this card. However, we were able to put it through some great tests and its a fantastic addition to the lineup, replacing the existing RTX 4070 Ti and with the RTX 4080 SUPER coming shortly the lineup is stacked very well for Nvidia.

AI and Ray Tracing Performance
Central to its prowess is NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology, now in its third iteration, which allows for AI-generated pixels, enhancing ray tracing performance by up to four times while maintaining superior image quality. This is particularly evident in its ability to render seven out of eight pixels through hardware-accelerated AI.

Technical Innovations
Powered by the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER features new Streaming Multiprocessors that double performance and power efficiency. It also includes the latest generation of Tensor Cores and RT Cores, which significantly elevate ray tracing capabilities. The Ada Memory Subsystem and Shader Execution Reordering (SER) are other notable enhancements, boosting performance and efficiency.

Gaming and Studio Performance
The GPU shines in 1440p gaming, rendering games at high frame rates even at 4K resolution. Compared to its predecessors, it shows marked improvements – 1.6 times faster than the RTX 3070 Ti and 2.5 times with DLSS 3. NVIDIA Studio further enhances its appeal for creative professionals with unmatched performance in 3D rendering, video editing, and live streaming.

Specifications
Equipped with 8,448 CUDA Cores, 16GB of GDDR6X memory, and a 256-bit memory bus, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is designed to handle demanding games and applications. The inclusion of the 8th generation NVIDIA Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 support underscores its capability in streaming and broadcasting.

Unboxing:

Benching Methodology

Test Configuration – Hardware

• 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700K (Hyper-Threading/Turbo boost on; stock settings)
• ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard (Intel Z690 chipset, v.1008 BIOS)
• CORSAIR Vengeance RGB PRO 32GB DDR4 (2×16GB, dual-channel at 3600 MHz XMP)
• RTX 4070 SUPER FE, Stock Clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 4070 FE 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• ASUS TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 3080 FE 10GB, stock clocks
• RTX 3070 FE, stock clocks
• 1 x TeamGroup 1 TB NVMe M.2 SSD
• 2 x WD Blue 1TB SATA SSD
• Corsair RM850x, 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply unit
• ALIENWARE 34″ CURVED QD-OLED GAMING MONITOR – AW3423DWF

Test Configuration – Software

• NVIDIA GeForce 551.15 game-ready press drivers; ‘Prefer maximum performance’ (on a per-game profile basis); Shader Cache Size ‘Unlimited’ (globally); fixed refresh rate (globally).
• We enable Resizable BAR
• ‘V-Sync application controlled’ in the control panel; V-Sync off in-game.
• We note and specify the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings in the performance summary charts.
• Windows 11 64-bit Pro edition, latest updates v22H2, High-performance power plan, HAGS & Game Mode are enabled, Game DVR & Game Bar features off, Control Flow Guard (CFG) off on a per-game basis, Hypervisor and Virtualization-based security are disabled.
• We do not install ASUS tools.
• Latest DirectX
• All games are patched to their latest versions at the time of publication.
• 3DMark suite, the latest version
• RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS), the latest version
• FrameView, the latest version
• Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), the latest version; always uninstall drivers using DDU in safe mode, clean, and restart.
• ISLC (Purge Standby List) before each benchmark.

GeForce Driver Suite-related

• We use DCH Game Ready drivers.
• The display driver is installed.
• We install the latest version of PhysX.

Hybrid & Non-Synthetic Tests-related

• Single run per test.

Game Benchmarks-related

• We use the corresponding built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Frametimes Capture

• We use FrameView for capturing frame times and analyzing the relevant performance numbers obtained from each recorded built-in or custom benchmark sequence.
  
  
• Nvidia Control Panel settings
  Here are the global Nvidia Control Panel settings:

Benchmarks:
Here is the horizontal bar chart showing the 1080p gaming performance comparison across various GPU models:

1920×1080, 1080p

Here is the horizontal bar chart showing the 2560×1440 gaming performance comparison across various GPU models.
2560×1440 Benchmarks:

3840×2160 Benchmarks

Conclusion

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER stands as a formidable choice for gamers and creatives alike. Its blend of AI-powered graphics, ray tracing performance, and technological innovations make it a compelling upgrade for those seeking the very best in PC gaming and content creation.

Nvidia claimed a 10% increase of the previous model and we did achieve mostly that in our testing, with some slightly lower than quoted. Its obvious this card easily surpasses the original model at the same price and its really close to the original RTX 4080 performance point at significantly less than MSRP for the RTX 4080. This will change soon with the upcoming launch of the RTX 4080 SUPER at its lowered price point of $999.00.

The real decision for gamers, in our opinion, looking for a card at this level is looking for a used RTX 4080 or something at this similar price. If you are looking for a new card that can compete with the RTX 4080 for lower entry cost then this is a good choice.

The 7900XT is the obvious value king if you could find one. In response to the SUPER launch, AMD has dropped the 7900XT from $899 to $749. We do not have one of our own to test with but if you do not care about Ray Tracing these cards will be a great value alternative. If DLSS 3 is compelling for gamers who do not mind it, it really comes down to availability and your preference for this technology.

Our RTX 4070 SUPER review is here and that is a good sweet spot for 1440p gamers at a much more palatable price point at $599.

These have been great refreshes and really what we would have liked the original versions to be at launch. The SUPER releases continue next week with the RTX 4080. We look forward to reviewing this and see you soon!

Pros:

• Excellent 1440p performance
• Incorporates DLSS 3 technology
• Priced at $599, maintaining the cost of the previous model

Cons:

• Limited to 12GB of VRAM
• 12VHPWR Adapter

Our Review of the RTX 4070 last year was exciting but tepid because of hardware choices that caused a lot of controversy online in comparison to previous generations – specifically VRAM and cost were points of contention. I still believe the card would be in a great spot for $100 less since its incredible value with DLSS 3 makes it shine. Fast forward to now and Nvidia is releasing its RTX 4070 Super that took those lessons and is now the card we wanted at the same $599 price point.

Design and Hardware:
Externally, the RTX 4070 Super resembles the RTX 4070, with the most notable change being a darker alloy used for the card’s body. I still like the design and its sleek and looks beautiful in any case. Most board partners feature more extravagant designs but we really enjoy the FEs basic look. It features a die-cast aluminum body, dual axial fans, and an eight-layer PCB. The card includes three DisplayPort 1.4 ports and a single HDMI 2.1 port. It continues to use a single 12-pin PCIe 5 connector, with a 12VHPWR adapter cable included. Some may not like this cable due to its documented issues, there are some good fixed options out there but in reality if you use the Nvidia supplied cable there are rarely, if any, issues currently with the cable when seated properly.

This is still a controversial connector and if you do not want to risk it, other partners do have alternative solutions. If you are lucky to find this card at MSRP you will be very happy in our opinion, the 7800XT and 7900XT are also amazing choices but are becoming impossible to find at the standard MSRP.

Performance:
The RTX 4070 Super shows about a 17% performance increase at 1440p and 15% at 4K over the RTX 4070. It outperforms the RTX 3070 by approximately 50% in most 1440p games and is closely competitive with the RTX 4070 Ti. The card also surpasses AMD’s Radeon RX 7800 XT in 1440p tests and offers significant gains with DLSS 3 technology.
Lets go to our benchmarking setup:

We received the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT and XFX RX 7700 XT QICK 319 last week from AMD and have been comparing them in our test bench focusing on raw performance and comparing them directly with their competitors. We received an XFX RX 7700 XT QICK 319 that will cost $459.99 and it launches today. The $499 7800 XT also launches today – with both offering Starfield to make the deal even more compelling.

As you will see AMD is here to play and fiercely sets these GPUs at the top of gamer’s lists. With some significant leads in performance when compared to thier direct competitors. Both the 7700 XT and 7800 XT have many of the same software and hardware features that can often sway many purchasing decisions like FSR 3 and AV1 encoding, but they still struggle to compete in games that feature rasterization.

Features & Specifications

Nvidia’s offerings around this price point left gamers less than impressed with lower VRAM and higher pricing. Although we loved the features like DLSS 3 and rasterization performance, which may be deal breaker for some gamers who want to experience this.

However, pricing was high for raw performance received for non-rasterized games and AMD is on the right path to briging pricing in line. Only gamers can decide if price-to-performance gains here are worth the cost of entry.

AMD is also launching FSR 3 today, September 6th. Purists who do not like upscaling will brush this aside but the latest version of the AMD’s upscaling tech is competing directly with DLSS 3 as it also includes frame generation. As you recall, frame generation is the killer feature that lets us wholeheartedly recommend Nvidia’s offerings for the 40 series of GPUs.

AMD’s FSR 3 includes “Fluid Motion Frames” (frame generation) and “Native Anti-Aliasing,” an FSR mode to sharpen anti-alias games instead of upscaling. This is very exciting and a tech many raw performance enjoyers can fully employ without losing fidelity.

AMD’s FSR 3 will be available for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Forspoken, Cyberpunk 2077, Immortals of Aveum, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Frostpunk 2, Squad, Starship Troopers: Extermination, Black Myth: Wukong, Crimson Desert, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The feature does not launch with Starfield today which only features FSR 2 and this is a miss in our book, It would have been amazing to bundle these GPUs alongside the tech launch. We will be testing this feature post-launch alongside Nvidia’s offerings.

Alongside FSR 3, Hypr-RX is also launching. This is a toggle that can automatically turn on FSR, Radeon Anti-Lag, Radeon Boost, and other image processing techniques within AMD’s software for gamers.

Let’s take a look at performance and unboxing

For all the pre-launch chatter and years of build-up, we can rest easy! Starfield is downright incredible. Starfield is the best thing Bethesda has ever done – even besting my favorite entry in the series, New Vegas. I loved Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas, and especially Oblivion so I am a huge Bethesda RPG fan. This will be a mostly spoiler-free review, but we can say with confidence this is a stellar new franchise for Bethesda and a labor of love for the studio. The RPG elements are strong, the secrets are the most I have ever seen in a Bethesda game, and there is much to uncover even in the endgame. There is so much to do and fall deeply in love with.

Starfield will be released tomorrow September 1, 2023, in Starfield Early Access for players who have purchased the Starfield Premium Edition, Premium Edition Upgrade, or the Constellation Edition of Starfield.

For players who purchase the Starfield Standard Edition or subscribe to PC Game Pass, Starfield will be released on September 6, 2023.

That’s not to say that the game is without its flaws – combat can feel awkward, planet traversal is sorely lacking vehicles, and the occasional pop-in for conversations or weird interactions will be seen throughout your journey. The “Bethesda games are always buggy on release” mantra leading up to launch is flat-out wrong, however. I encountered bugs mostly with the conversations because I launched them quickly and my companion could not keep up. There were no game crashes or major bugs after more than 100 hours of playtime.

There are, however, some performance issues. Starfield is extremely CPU-heavy, and even with our RTX 4080, Ryzen 7800x3D build we saw some performance dips. Most egregious – there is no DLSS and this is another title that will exclusively feature AMD’s FSR and FSR2 technology. We will never agree with locking out alternative features, especially since I would have loved to have utilized DLSS 3 on my RTX 4080.

I can see why the game is locked at 30FPS for consoles. Even with 10 months of extra polish time on consoles, there are still some drops in performance. I had a few really hard FPS drops walking into some major cities on the Series S that felt bad, even if they were rare. Hopefully these can be fixed. With some patches, we are sure this will be better. I cannot wait for mods, my mind is racing with the possibilities!

Portable PCs, like the ALLY and Steam Deck
Bethesda explicitly noted not to use Asus’ ROG Ally or Steam Deck in our review as they are below recommended PC spec. I could not even get the ROG ALLY to launch the game due to some weirdness with the Xbox app on our Ally but Xbox/PC streaming worked flawlessly. I had to repair the download, and spam the launch button for it to work after about an hour of messing with updates and settings.

Once loaded, the ROG Ally did run the game decently on low to medium settings with FSR2 enabled while in 15W or 30W mode and it is 100% playable for those who have these portable PCs.

How much will Starfield cost?
Gaming only ever wants to get more expensive. The trend continues here, and if you want early access, you will need to pay $100 or the upgraded difference if you are a Game Pass subscriber. Microsoft has been raising the standard game price to $70 USD, Starfield included. Luckily, Starfield has been confirmed as a day-one addition to Game Pass, so most can experience it without any extra upfront cost.

Starfield is epic in scale – Some may not like this

Let me be clear: Starfield is a near-perfect Bethesda RPG with one of the best campaigns they have ever created. I was genuinely in awe in the latter half of the game, and with respect to Bethesda and your journey, we cannot discuss much that occurs in this portion. There is so much to explore but I did find myself mostly traveling within the major cities.

– 1,000 planets, with many that are mostly resource-gathering areas, but most have their main areas to explore and have fun in with hand crafted secret areas and wildlife to discover.
– Multiple faction quests.
– A plethora of side quests that keep spilling into your lap, begging you to explore and talk to as many NPCs as possible.
– A 40 to 50 hour main story quest.
– Excellent end-game activities to keep you busy including many things we cannot spoil. New Game + is also a warm welcome and a nice twist.

I often found myself drowning in activities (do not ignore these!) that became full-fledged amazing side quests, which I had ignored at first. My advice would be to slow down, and this is where Starfield may be an issue for some who have no patience. The game really and truly does not fully show off everything it has until way after 80-plus hours. I have to really emphasize that the scale is massive, and you will get to see so much more if you take your time and enjoy each individual planet first for all it has to offer.

But that’s the beauty of this game – your journey is going to be massively different from mine. For some, however, who want to unlock all the features or systems at once, they may not like having to invest 100 hours or more to get the game “going.”

Here are a few highlights in my journey while trying to be as spoiler-free as possible:
– I stole over 10 ships and immediately went to jail when I went into orbit near a patrolled planet, not realizing those spacers had contraband onboard
– Got a DJ’s new music back from an overzealous fan.
– Saved a planet from trees’ massive vibrations.
– Spared a man’s life after I learned he only stole a certain thing because he was recently fired and had no other choice.
– Found the source of an anomaly and uncovered the mystery of an artifact.
– Stole a tea recipe so a barista could compete with a megacorp (my companion did not like that).

Missions, side quests, and exploration

There is so much to explore on those far-off planets, so much beckoning that you to hurry to them, that inner child screaming with joy to rush to the end to “power up and unlock it all.” Slow down! Starfield has many, many wild layers to uncover and explore, but I often found myself spending hours on a planet, taking it all in, hours on side quests, and talking to those in a town I just discovered. Then you lift off, steal a ship, fight some space pirates, gather resources, build your outpost, and find a new planet with another hour-long side quest. It’s epic and breathtaking.

I will try to avoid spoilers, so skip to the next paragraph if you wish to avoid a very light spoiler. A perfect example of a favorite moment of mine was running into a derelict ship in orbit – which no one can seem to hail as soon as you pull into the orbit of Paradiso (a paradise Resort planet). The wild quest that unfolds for the secrets inside once you finally board the ship were great. Another was finding a miners simple quest that became a 10+ step mission that was extremely engrossing in Cydonia.

You can easily jump from planet to planet- more on that in a bit. Each feels like its own mini Bethesda game. Want to experience the desert? Head to Akila. Want a cyberpunk planet? Head to Neon. Want to experience something akin to Mass Effects massive cities? Head to New Atlantis. Missions here and the people you run into are varied and fully scripted. It’s so hard to write this review without screaming for you to go explore (spoiler) and fight the legendary (spoiler).

Planet jumping is where I found the most dissapointment. Launching away from a planet or onto once is mostly a menu system. The landing and orbit cutscenes are great but the game loses some of its charm and it would have been amazing to be able to manually take off from a planet if I wanted to.

I am over 100 hours in and have barely scratched the surface of shipbuilding, crafting, modding, and building outposts. Companions are varied and wonderful, and there are many paths for romance or companions to bring along that each have their own conversational style to match your preferred journey. I am not bored, ever. I keep wanting to play because there’s always a different loop I can take. Do I want to finish some side quests, gather resources, or explore new planets? I can easily choose any with the best fast-travel system I have seen. Everything is easily fast-traveled to – with slight limitations during quests – but you can hop from place to place in the blink of an eye. The Series S did have some longer loading screens for me so keep that in mind.

I am very saddened at the fact that there are no land vehicles or ways to easily traverse the planet. I am exploring a planet for a quest that needs to me to survey 100% of the planet in order to complete it. I have been stuck at 98% for over 3 hours with no end in sight moving from location to location to find the missing fauna and it did become frustrating – until I realized I could simply open the world and fast travel across the globe to different physical locations…d’oh!
However, I am still stuck at 98% simply because I got sidetracked with so much to do and the lack of interest in returning to find that missing 2%.

Shipbuilding and space flying are a highlight

Shipbuilding in Starfield is a delightful adventure! It takes a little time to dive into, but once you’re there, it becomes an exhilarating activity as you refine designs, add rooms, balance engines, weight, cargo, and ship systems. I have a fondness for massive spacecraft, not for their power, but because I enjoy wandering around all the rooms and exploring the technology that makes them tick. Although I haven’t delved much into outpost building, it is efficiently designed, allowing you to create attractive bases with relative ease. There are still the same power issues from Fallout 4 but some great options to build and even transport from planet to planet. It’s just not my cup of tea, and the game doesn’t hinge on it except for mass resource collection which I have yet to need.

In the endgame, there is a much greater need to worry about this, so I would say when you first start the game, don’t worry so much about your outposts until maybe 50 hours in, when you begin to start getting overwhelmed with companions.

Space battles are simply one of the best systems Bethesda has ever built. I became quickly addicted even though I knew my ship was severely outclassed. There is nothing I have experienced quite like taking on five spacers at once and barely winning because I was able to knock out all their engines. I kept losing this battle coming into orbit on a planet that I gave up and decided to explore elsewhere – only to see a giant ship land in the distance. I quickly ran over, defeated the owners, made it my new home ship, and instantly got an upgraded ship that was more than the spacers could handle. What a rush!

Starfield is ‘near’ perfect, but there are some minor issues

Bethesda has made some curious decisions and even their refined gunplay from the preview trailer still feels a little off. Some of the game feels like the systems and tech in the Fallout series forced change in Starfield. The need to differentiate between the two “futuristic” franchises is obvious. In Starfield, you get a “watch” that severely lacks the character of the classic Pip-Boy, and some of that classic Bethesda RPG danger feels really off unless you are fighting enemies that over leveled from you. I found myself missing V.A.T.S especially since a version of it exists on your spaceship and things like the menus and radio stations in Fallout. The AI feels set on a path and not as dynamic as I would have hoped but gun fights did feel quite responsive.

No one really tries to flank you or outsmart you and they often get stuck being target practice at their default locations while your are exploring. Most quests and other activities felt better, and there is a “fight to the death” area you can find that is particularly challenging even at high levels. It’s a strange feeling of easily dispatched mobs or “difficult to even pop your head up” fights.

As mentioned earlier, often you will fast travel to a mission marker, which launches a Grav Drive into a planet’s orbit. But the planet is suddenly surrounded by 6 pirate ships that severely outclass you, so you end up in a death loop unless you load a previous autosave. Be prepared anywhere you decide to fly off to. There may be missions or ships that hail you for trades. You never know what you might be traveling to.

Still, the gun diversity, some secrets, boost packs, and looting are extremely well done here. The guns feel incredible at times, but some feel unbalanced – dealing massive damage with a shotgun for example made me quite over powered for a long period of time. I tried switching to the P90 “Grendel” model in the game and it barely scratched the enemies I would shoot. Most of this can be fixed with balance passes.

Basic skills like stealth or pickpocketing require unlocking the core ability, meaning you can’t perform these activities at all until you invest a point in the skill tree. You don’t NEED the skills to perform the actions or get sneak attacks but without the core skill unlocked it feels bad to have something like pickpocketing locked off.

I specifically unlocked the ‘stealth’ trait because, without it, stealth felt very bad, and I did not like the lack of visual feedback. While leveling up to progress is understandable, the complete denial of access to core systems like this is strange and the cost to unlock could have maybe been a part of the quest instead. Leveling takes some time as well and there are so many worthy skill trees begging to be unlocked for you to progress that it feels bad when you have to spend that precious point in what was a default unlock for Bethesda RPGs.

Additionally, with crafting, you can only track entire recipes, not individual ingredients, making encumbrance a constant issue. There are so many heavy items in this game – especially ship parts – to weigh you down and keep track of. Thankfully, your companion can hold things for you, and you can sell or craft using the inventory that is on your ship’s cargo, so no need to hold it all at once or jettison the precious cargo.

Despite these minor hiccups, everything functions smoothly and feels stable. Although there are occasional frame rate stutters and minor glitches, nothing catastrophic has occurred for me. I hovered around 60 to 70 FPS stable on 3440×1440 with an RTX 4080. Thank you, Bethesda, for providing wide-screen support at launch.- a easily added feature so many ignore!

Starfield is visually stunning, with intricately detailed cities and diverse landscapes. One memorable moment involved exploring a moon-like planet or first landing in Neon. Your jaw will be on the floor even on the Series S where the graphics are toned down. I suggest immediately opening your menu and turning off the over-tuned film grain, however.

Starfield is one of the best games of this generation

For me, Starfield is Bethesda’s masterpiece, the hit Xbox needed, and possibly the game of the generation for the Series consoles. This is a system seller that is also available on PC via Steam or the Xbox app and included in Game Pass. I suggest you try it, you will be happy you did. Tears of the Kingdom brought me joy and wonder this year, but there was nothing for me quite like exploring all the wild amount of dialogue and fun to be had in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, or walking into New Vegas for the first time. That feeling is hard to capture and explain – you just have to see for yourself what Bethesda can create.

The worlds Bethesda builds feature dense, lively worlds where every direction offers something new. Walking into an Oblivion gate for the first time or traveling to a new planet – this is what makes gaming great.

I remember first beating Oblivion‘s main quest at over 120 hours and immediately starting another run. Starfield is on a whole other level, with much left to see even after completing the main story. It’s simply a joy to play, and I cannot recommend it more to every gamer.

The feeling of uncovering new things and the natural development in Starfield as you journey through it is unmatched, highlighting Bethesda’s quarter-century of experience and their authentic mastery as one of the best to ever do it. You will literally be overflowing with things to do – or not do- in a universe is teeming with new planets to explore. A definitive masterpiece.

Familiar elements and combat awkwardness exist, but Starfield is completely new, and there are months ahead for me to explore and enjoy. I cannot wait to see the mods and community reaction. Have a blast, and don’t rush!
Starfield gets a 10/10 from BTR. Thank you to Bethesda for providing a review copy.

Nvidia has been no stranger to controversy with their 40 series of Ada Lovelace GPUs. Gamer’s are hyper-focused on a lack of VRAM and pricing structures for the new offering. With that in mind, we recently received an ASUS RTX 4060 DUAL model from Nvidia and we have been testing it for the past week. There is no Founders Edition per Nvidia, and the RTX 4060 will be available from partners at an MSRP of $299 starting tomorrow. While a lower price would have provided some market disruption, the RTX 4060 with its current feature set and architecture is a perfect upgrade for users that may still own a RTX 2060 or a GTX 1060.

According to recent Steam Hardware Surveys, around 77% of users still play on 1080p and older cards so this market will always be huge for both Nvidia and AMD. MSRP is the same as previous entries like the RTX 2060 but it may be hard to reach in the current market. There are still some RTX 2060 series entries at $279. Price is everything and we would have loved a lower price point by at least $30-50 which likely would have made this one of the most popular releases in recent memory for gamers that want access to AV1 encoding, Frame Generation and DLSS 3, and a much better RT experience.

While pricing feels high, especially for 8GB, The RTX 4060 is a welcome upgrade to older cards as it arrives with multiple new features, including DLSS 3, which brings an incredible performance uplift. The RTX 4060 comes with Nvidia’s newest RT and Tensor Cores that are more powerful than previous generation GPUs and support new features including Shader Execution Reordering (SER) and Nvidia DLSS 3 technology, all while using less power than the RTX 2060.

Generationally this is a massive jump at a much lower power consumption rate as the ASUS DUAL RTX 4060 uses just 115 watts. The new NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU Architecture also features a new SM design that runs at dramatically higher clock speeds and significantly increases the capacity of the L2 cache on the RTX 4060 to a whopping 24MB. Nvidia frequently mentioned this cache as a powerful tool to help the 8GB of VRAM run more efficiently and powerful. We review just how much later in our benches, but regardless more VRAM would have been welcome.

As mentioned, the RTX 4060 supports AV1 encoding which in and of itself is a good enough reason to upgrade from older generations of cards if you are a broadcaster, the quality leap of your content will dramatically increase. 

The RTX 4060 Feature set

The elephant in the room for most any will be being bound by the RTX 4060 8GB of VRAM capacity and the $299 price point. “Modern Gaming” might be pushing games out on PC in poor states, but mostly games like Forza 5 and Doom run amazing and proves these cards can run these games well. Nvidia cannot wave a wand to fix a bad PC port, but for $299 gamers on a budget may balk at the lack of future proofing. We suggest waiting for the RTX 4060 Ti’s 16GB benchmarks to arrive if you are at all on the fence, however if you are a 1080p gamer and the feature set is at all enticing to you, this is a great upgrade if you are still on a RTX 2060 or lower if you can find one at MSRP.

Nvidia’s leap in games with DLSS 3 is undeniably incredible and there is enough of an incremental upgrade for those on older generations to think twice. Now we have over 50 games announced with DLSS 3 and more on the way.

Comparing generation-to-generation there is a giant leap thanks to TGP/power improvements. We also have to consider AMD’s offerings at this price point even though at the moment, FSR 2.0 is well behind DLSS 3 in performance. The value proposition in comparison to the rest of the rather expensive 40 series is obvious, but the RTX 4060 may not offer the raw GPU power upgrade many want to see especially for the high asking price, even if it matches previous generations. You can still get a RX 3060 with 12GB of GDDR6 for $289, for most gamers who do not care about the current feature set the RTX 4060 begins to feel like it should be in the xx50 class.

However, we do have to note one key innovation that’s been added to the memory subsystem in Ada GPU’s is its larger L2 cache. This new memory subsystem is a dramatic improvement over the previous generation.

When compared to a 128-bit Ampere GPU, the Ada L2 cache architecture delivers a 16x increase in capacity. In addition, the L2 cache bandwidth in Ada GPUs has been significantly increased versus prior GPUs. This allows more data to be transferred between the cores and the L2 cache as quickly as possible.
Ada’s larger L2 cache results in significantly more L2 cache hits, while also reducing traffic across the memory bus.

This change, per Nvidia, resulted in the performance of the 24MB L2 cache reducing memory bus traffic from 40% to 60% over the performance of a 2MB L2 cache. This translates to massive increases in effective performance. An Ada GPU with 288 GB/sec of peak memory bandwidth is the equivalent of an Ampere GPU that needed 554 GB/Sec.

Couple this improvement with DLSS 3, which has the fastest adoption of any of Nvidia’s technologies to date and you will notice why we do encourage you to take a look at your options if you are on older hardware as this is fantastic upgrade, especially from a 20 series.

The ASUS DUAL RTX 4060 Board

The GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card incorporates many of the new design elements that are also found on NVIDIA’s RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4080, and RTX 4090 Founders Edition boards. The ASUS DUAL RTX 4060 card features a dual bios, dual fan design that looks great and compact compared to its big brothers.

Our Plan

Nvidia is in an interesting spot with the RTX 4060, it decided to release the 8GB for the RTX 4060 Ti model first so let’s see how well it performs in comparison.

For this review, we are planning to benchmark the RTX 4080, RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4070, RTX 4060 Ti, RTX 3070, and RTX 3080 within our test build at 1440p and 1080p.

The NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU Architecture also features a new SM design that runs at dramatically higher clock speeds and significantly increases the capacity of the L2 cache on the RTX 4060 to 24MB versus the 3MB L2 cache that was available on the RTX 3060. Increasing the size of the L2 cache improves performance, reduces latency, and increases power efficiency, as data accesses can remain on-chip rather than having to go out across the GPU’s memory interface to external graphics memory

We want to test if it really can hold up with 8GB of VRAM to deliver a potential amazing value proposition compared to the RTX 3060.

Features & Specifications

The RTX 4060 technological innovations include:

• New Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) – The new SM delivers up to 2x performance and power efficiency
• 4th Generation Tensor Cores and Optical Flow – Enable and accelerate transformative AI
  technologies, including the new frame rate multiplying Nvidia DLSS 3
• 3rd Generation RT Cores – Up to 2x ray tracing performance, delivering incredibly detailed
  virtual worlds like never before
• Shader Execution Reordering (SER) – SER improves ray tracing operations by 2x, boosting FPS up to 44% in Cyberpunk with RT: Overdrive Mode
• DLSS 3 – A revolutionary breakthrough in AI-powered graphics that massively boosts
  performance using AI to generate additional high-quality frames
• Nvidia Studio – Unmatched performance in 3D rendering, video editing, and live streaming
• AV1 Encoders – The 8th generation Nvidia Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 is 40% more efficient than H.264, enabling new possibilities for streamers, broadcasters, and video callers

Key Features from Nvidia

• Dedicated 3rd generation ray tracing cores (46)
• Dedicated 4th generation Tensor cores (184)
• Nvidia DLSS 3 support
• Game Ready and Nvidia Studio drivers
• Nvidia GeForce Experience
• Nvidia Broadcast
• Nvidia G-Sync
• Nvidia GPU Boost
• PCI Express Gen 4
• Microsoft DirectX 12 Ultimate support
• Support for Vulkan RT APIs, Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6
• HDCP 2.3 support
• DisplayPort 1.4 support: up to 4K at 240Hz or 8K at 60Hz with DSC, HDR
• HDMI 2.1 support: up to 4K 240Hz, Gaming VRR, HDR

Specifications

Nvidia’s MSRP price for RTX 4060 Ti GPU is $399, a GPU made for 1080p.

Here is the RTX 4060 in GPU-Z:

According to GPU-Z, the RTX 4060 has the default GPU clock of 1830 compared to the RTX 4060 Ti’s 2310 MHz with a boost of 2505MHz vs 2525MHz for the Ti.

Below is the advanced general information on the RTX 4060 as reported by the GPU-Z tool.

As you can see from the GPU-Z screenshots, you can even increase both power and temperature limits to some degree, and while there is little room for overclocking, but there is some additional potential performance for gamers looking to get more from their builds but gains might be nominal at best.

A Closer Look at the ASUS DUAL RTX 4060

Packaging

The box cover highlights a sleek approach to the packaging. I am a huge fan of the presentation Nvidia has been providing for its FE line so while this is not as flashy its still a classic GPU unboxing experience.

Accessories

As we open the box, it folds out beautifully displaying the brand new RTX 4060. Beneath the card is not much, this GPU does not feature a (12VHPWR) PCIe connector and instead uses the classic PCI-E connector. There is minimal documentation included with most of the important packaging centered around the GPU itself.

The Card

The RTX 4060 is a small dual-fan graphics card with classic RTX aesthetics that are still refined and look great. There is no RGB on the RTX 4060.

The IO panel connectors are 3 DisplayPorts and 1 HDMI connection.

Inside the case

The RTX 4060 looks subtle and classic inside a case. I would personally love to build an SFF PC using this card. It is the perfect size offering a powerful small gaming rig at a reasonable price compared to the sky-high prices we have seen these last few years. We like that it is small and discrete but some may not like the unlit logo
Next is our testing configuration, methodology, and more.

Our Benchmarking PC

We benchmark using FrameView on a recent install of Windows 11 Pro Edition 22H2, at 3440×1440 using an AMD Ryzen 7800x3d with stock clocks and 32GB of DDR5 G.Skill Trident Z 6000MHz memory on an Asrock X670E Pro RS motherboard. All games and benchmarks are the latest versions, and we use the latest GeForce 536.20 press drivers for our testing. The games tested, display driver, settings, and hardware are identical except for the GPUs we compare.

Let’s unbox and take a closer look at this graphics card.

Test Configuration

Benching Methodology

Test Configuration – Hardware

• AMD Ryzen 7800x3d (stock settings)
• Asrock X670E PRO RS motherboard (AMD AM5 chipset, v 1.07 BIOS)
• G.Skill Trident Z 32GB DDR5 (2×16GB, dual-channel at 6000 MHz XMP)
• RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 4070 FE 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• ASUS TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 3080 FE 10GB, stock clocks
• RTX 3070 FE, stock clocks
• 1 x TeamGroup 1 TB NVMe M.2 SSD
• 2 x WD Blue 1TB SATA SSD
• Corsair RM850x, 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply unit
• ALIENWARE 34″ CURVED QD-OLED GAMING MONITOR – AW3423DWF

Test Configuration – Software

• NVIDIA GeForce 536.20 game-ready press drivers; ‘Prefer maximum performance’ (on a per-game profile basis); Shader Cache Size ‘Unlimited’ (globally); fixed refresh rate (globally).
• We enable Resizable BAR
• ‘V-Sync application controlled’ in the control panel; V-Sync off in-game.
• We note and specify the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings in the performance summary charts.
• Windows 11 64-bit Pro edition, latest updates v22H2, High-performance power plan, HAGS & Game Mode are enabled, Game DVR & Game Bar features off, Control Flow Guard (CFG) off on a per-game basis, Hypervisor and Virtualization-based security are disabled.
• We do not install Asrock tools.
• Latest DirectX
• All games are patched to their latest versions at the time of publication.
• 3DMark suite, the latest version
• RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS), the latest version
• FrameView, the latest version
• Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), the latest version; always uninstall drivers using DDU in safe mode, clean, and restart.
• ISLC (Purge Standby List) before each benchmark.

GeForce Driver Suite-related

• We use DCH Game Ready drivers.
• The display driver is installed.
• We install the latest version of PhysX.

Hybrid & Non-Synthetic Tests-related

• Single run per test.

Game Benchmarks-related

• We use the corresponding built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Frametimes Capture

• We use FrameView for capturing frame times and analyzing the relevant performance numbers obtained from each recorded built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Benchmark Suite:

PC Games

DX11 Games

• Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)

DX12 Games

• Chernoblyte (DX12)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (DX12)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12)
• F1 2022 (DX12)
• Far Cry 6 (DX12)
• Resident Evil 4 (DX12)
• Red Dead Redemption 2(DX12)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)
• Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DX12)
• Dirt 5 (DX 12)

Vulkan Games

• DOOM Eternal (VK)

Hybrid Tests (3DMark)

• DLSS Feature Test
• Fire Strike Ultra
• Time Spy

Nvidia Control Panel settings

Here are the global Nvidia Control Panel settings:

Noise, Temperatures, and Power Consumption

Unfortunately, we did not have time to check out the overclocking potential, but temperatures were controlled and the RTX 4060 runs very cool. We never heard the fans come on and they stayed extremely quiet throughout our test runs

The RTX 4060 is quiet, and its fans never spin up at idle, even under a heavy or full load to be irritating or noticeable. When gaming it spins up to full often under very heavy loads – like Resident Evil 4 with all features turned on. It is as silent as the RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 Ti we tested previously.

Nvidia Performance Graphs and information

The biggest selling point for the RTX 4060 at $299 has to be DLSS 3, and AV1 encoding. If you care at all about VRAM, then there are still some great offerings available around this price point and there is a lot going for keeping older generations of card until we see a massive raw performance uplift.

However, we do have that uplift with DLSS as a whole, better RT performance, and less power consumption in the 40 series. This is the gigantic upgrade is some games- even if some purists may not like frame generation – the performance increase and quality retention is simply stunning. On our QD-OLED display, we could barely see any image quality differences but performance increased dramatically and beat older generation cards easily. The price just needs to come down to match the current climate.

Let’s head to the performance charts to compare the graphics performance of the RTX 4060.

Gaming Performance Charts

The NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU Architecture also features a new SM design that
runs at dramatically higher clock speeds and significantly increases the capacity of the L2 cache on the RTX 4060 to
24MB versus the 3MB L2 cache that was available on the RTX 3060. Increasing the size of the L2 cache improves
performance, reduces latency, and increases power efficiency, as data accesses can remain on-chip rather than
having to go out across the GPU’s memory interface to external graphics memory

The NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU Architecture also features a new SM design that
runs at dramatically higher clock speeds and significantly increases the capacity of the L2 cache on the RTX 4060 to
24MB versus the 3MB L2 cache that was available on the RTX 3060. Increasing the size of the L2 cache improves
performance, reduces latency, and increases power efficiency, as data accesses can remain on-chip rather than
having to go out across the GPU’s memory interface to external graphics memory

The NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU Architecture also features a new SM design that
runs at dramatically higher clock speeds and significantly increases the capacity of the L2 cache on the RTX 4060 to
24MB versus the 3MB L2 cache that was available on the RTX 3060. Increasing the size of the L2 cache improves
performance, reduces latency, and increases power efficiency, as data accesses can remain on-chip rather than
having to go out across the GPU’s memory interface to external graphics memory

The NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU Architecture also features a new SM design that
runs at dramatically higher clock speeds and significantly increases the capacity of the L2 cache on the RTX 4060 to
24MB versus the 3MB L2 cache that was available on the RTX 3060. Increasing the size of the L2 cache improves
performance, reduces latency, and increases power efficiency, as data accesses can remain on-chip rather than
having to go out across the GPU’s memory interface to external graphics memory

Main Performance Gaming Summary Charts

Here are BTR’s summary charts of games, six hybrid, and three non-synthetic tests. We note and specify the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings on the performance summary charts below. The benches were run at 2560×1440 and 1920×1080.

FireStrike Graphics Score:
3060: 29501
3070: 17807
4060: 25884
4060 Ti: 32678
4070: 42120
Timespy Graphics Score – DX12 1440p:
3060: 8102
3070: 13432
4060: 10908
4060 Ti: 13285
4070: 17881
4070Ti: 22467
Averaged Framerates & Relative GPU Performance

The RTX 4060 is a clear improvement but at a significantly higher buy-in price for not much raw horsepower gain compared to the previous generation. In comparison to the rest of the 40 series lineup, the RTX 4070’s performance is unmatched for budget/value gamers but the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 sit in limbo while we wait for the 16GB version and its non-Ti counterpart.

Average Frames
The RTX 4060 is not going to be a 4k or 1440p capable card but with some tweaks as mentioned and lower settings it might be *just* fine, but it mostly shines at 1080p. This downgrade sits solely with the VRAM. It is not really outclassing its older generations by the expected margins if we leave our DLSS 3.

Final Thoughts & Verdict

This has been an enjoyable exploration evaluating the new RTX 4060. Overall, it is the best 40 series value for your money currently available but only if you are completely new to PC gaming and want to build a great 1080p machine right now. This is only if you want to enjoy the software offerings of Nvidia, with DLSS 3 and AV1 included in the 40 series, then its obvious that is biggest story here. Pricing is off and Nvidia is relying on its software to entice gamers, and it will for many. However, it truly depends on the games you play. If you are playing games that do not take advantage of DLSS then we suggest waiting or using your budget on an 30 series card with higher amounts of VRAM.

The price – has – to come down in order for to outright recommend this to anyone brand new to PC gaming, or current owners of the previous generation. It is easy, at 1080p, to suggest an upgrade for 10 and 20(60) series owners if you need to upgrade at this time.

Nvidia’s technology is incredibly exciting but in 4-5 years this card may not hold up to more modern demands if you expect more than it what it was designed for in games that do not support its most impressive features. More VRAM is just around the corner with the 16GB model so you have to discuss whether that price increase is worth the wait.

Games like RE 4 and MW2 were always either too close for comfort or much beyond the VRAM limit at max graphics and we had to lower some settings to get it to run a simple benchmark. We had some struggles at 1440p. The RTX 3060 Ti is significantly better at 1440p as well as the AMD RTX 6700XT. 8GB of VRAM 100% is enough for games today – but the way the industry is headed currently that may not stand the test of time.

However, when Nvidia is involved and DLSS 2/3 makes the RTX 4060 steadily pull ahead of previous generations and even makes some games playable at 1440p. This is amazing technology and it shows its worth immediately whenever enabled. The RTX 4060 is a fairly capable GPU that is going to struggle with its current price point in the market.

We do implore you to look at our upcoming DLSS 3 comparison of the current generation. This technology is finally allowing Nvidia to realize the dream that has been ray tracing. We can now maintain great performance while having the full suite of RTX features on an mid-level card. Safe to say, we like the RTX 4060 for multi-generational upgrades. When this card comes down in price in the future it is going to be a fantastic offering. The RTX 4060 will be available from partners at an MSRP of $299 starting tomorrow

–Happy gaming!

We recently received an RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition from Nvidia and we have been testing it for the past week by using 11 PC games plus hybrid benchmarks. The Founders Edition will be available at $399 starting tomorrow. Just like, Nvidia launch the RTX 4070 as the GPU to be a great upgrade to the seven-year-old 10 series cards the same is being done here for the RTX 2060 family of cards. While it is true the DLSS 3 and Ada lovelace architecture are incredible, some will find 8GB of VRAM is a really hard pill to swallow.

Thankfully, this is not really an issue for most gamer’s and in reality a fault of bad modern PC ports. According to recent Steam Hardware Surveys, around 77% of users still play on 1080p and older cards so this market will always be huge for both Nvidia and AMD. The thing is – they have to compete with themselves and often we found that if you just look at raw power the 4060Ti is nominally faster than its older siblings when we remove DLSS comparisons.

Our first knock on the new 4060 family is the pricing feels oddly high, especially for 8GB. The RTX 4060 Ti is a welcome upgrade to older cards as it arrives with multiple new features, including DLSS 3, which brings an incredible performance uplift. For this reason alone, this new entry in the 40 series is extremely exciting. This will surely move the needle for most to upgrade if they play the games that support these features. The raw performance uplift is likely much larger in the 16GB version of this same card which is yet to release.

The RTX 4060 Ti comes with Nvidia’s newest RT and Tensor Cores that are more powerful than previous generation GPUs and support new features including Shader Execution Reordering (SER) and Nvidia DLSS 3 technology, all while using less power than the RTX 3060 Ti. The new NVIDIA Ada Lovelace GPU Architecture also features a new SM design that runs at dramatically higher clock speeds and significantly increases the capacity of the L2 cache on the RTX 4060 Ti to a whopping 32MB versus the 4MB L2 cache that was available previously on the RTX 3060 Ti. Nvidia frequently mentioned this cache as a powerful tool to help the 8GB of VRAM run more efficiently and powerful.

The RTX 4060 Ti supports AV1 encoding which in and of itself is a good enough reason to upgrade from older generations of cards. 

The RTX 4060 Ti Feature set

The elephant in the room for most any will be being bound by the RTX 4060 Ti’s 8GB of VRAM capacity as modern games skyrocket in their usage. Nvidia cannot wave a wand to fix a bad PC port, but for $399 gamers on a budget may scoff at the lack of future proofing. We suggest waiting for the RTX 4060 Ti’s 16GB benchmarks to arrive if you are at all on the fence.

However, we can confidently say Nvidia has made a leap in games with DLSS 3 that is undeniably incredible and there is enough of an incremental upgrade for those on older generations to think twice. Now we have over 50 games announced with DLSS 3, including the upcoming Diablo IV.

Comparing generation-to-generation there is a giant leap thanks to TGP/power improvements. There is also no price category competition from AMD right at this moment but we know there are rumors of a card coming soon in this range. At the moment, FSR 2.0 is well behind DLSS 3 in performance so the value proposition in comparison to the rest of the rather expensive 40 series is obvious, but the RTX 4060 Ti may not offer the raw GPU power upgrade many want to see in benchmarks.

One key innovation that’s been added to the memory subsystem in Ada GPU’s is its larger L2 cache. This new memory subsystem is a dramatic improvement over the previous generation.

When compared to a 128-bit Ampere GPU, the Ada L2 cache architecture delivers a 16x increase in capacity. In addition, the L2 cache bandwidth in Ada GPUs has been significantly increased versus prior GPUs. This allows more data to be transferred between the cores and the L2 cache as quickly as possible.
Ada’s larger L2 cache results in significantly more L2 cache hits, while also reducing traffic across the memory bus.

This change, per Nvidia, resulted in the performance of the 32MB L2 cache reducing memory bus traffic from 40% to 60% over the performance of a 2MB L2 cache. This translates to massive increases in effective performance. An Ada GPU with 288 GB/sec of peak memory bandwidth is the equivalent of an Ampere GPU that needed 554 GB/Sec.

Couple this improvement with DLSS 3, which has the fastest adoption of any of Nvidia’s technologies to date and you will notice why we do encourage you to take a look at your options if you are on older hardware as this is fantastic upgrade, especially from a 20 series.

GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition Board

The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition graphics card incorporates many of the new design elements that are also found on NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4080, and RTX 4090 Founders Edition boards. The RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition board is crafted with premium materials and components including a die-cast aluminum body and dual axial fans. It looks compact and sleek in our PC case and is perfect for smaller cases.

Our Plan

Nvidia is in an interesting spot with the RTX 4060 Ti, it decided to release the 8GB model first so let’s see how well it performs.

For this review, we are planning to benchmark the RTX 4080, RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4070, RTX 3070, and RTX 3080 within our test build at 1440p and 1080p.

We think comparing the RTX 4060 Ti’s performance against current family and iconic cards from Nvidia’s previous RTX generation of GPUs may be worth it for Turing or Ampere users considering an upgrade to Ada Lovelace.

The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti is based on the AD106 GPU and equipped with 4,352 CUDA Cores providing 22 FP32 Shader-TFLOPS of power for rendering traditional rasterized graphics, 136 Fourth Generation Tensor Cores offering 353 FP8 Tensor-TFLOPS (with Sparsity) for AI processing and DLSS, 34 Third Generation Ada RT Cores capable of 51 RT-TFLOPS for powering next generation raytraced graphics, 8GB of GDDR6 memory, and 32MB of L2 cache. Like all GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs, the RTX 4060 Ti is packed with Ada innovations including Shader Execution Reordering (SER), the new RT core engines, and DLSS 3.

We want to test if it really can hold up with 8GB of VRAM to deliver a potential amazing value proposition compared to the RTX 3060.

Features & Specifications

The RTX 4060 Ti technological innovations include:

• New Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) – The new SM delivers up to 2x performance and power efficiency
• 4th Generation Tensor Cores and Optical Flow – Enable and accelerate transformative AI
  technologies, including the new frame rate multiplying Nvidia DLSS 3
• 3rd Generation RT Cores – Up to 2x ray tracing performance, delivering incredibly detailed
  virtual worlds like never before
• Shader Execution Reordering (SER) – SER improves ray tracing operations by 2x, boosting FPS up to 44% in Cyberpunk with RT: Overdrive Mode
• DLSS 3 – A revolutionary breakthrough in AI-powered graphics that massively boosts
  performance using AI to generate additional high-quality frames
• Nvidia Studio – Unmatched performance in 3D rendering, video editing, and live streaming
• AV1 Encoders – The 8th generation Nvidia Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 is 40% more efficient than H.264, enabling new possibilities for streamers, broadcasters, and video callers

Key Features from Nvidia

• Dedicated 3rd generation ray tracing cores (46)
• Dedicated 4th generation Tensor cores (184)
• Nvidia DLSS 3 support
• Game Ready and Nvidia Studio drivers
• Nvidia GeForce Experience
• Nvidia Broadcast
• Nvidia G-Sync
• Nvidia GPU Boost
• PCI Express Gen 4
• Microsoft DirectX 12 Ultimate support
• Support for Vulkan RT APIs, Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6
• HDCP 2.3 support
• DisplayPort 1.4 support: up to 4K at 240Hz or 8K at 60Hz with DSC, HDR
• HDMI 2.1 support: up to 4K 240Hz, Gaming VRR, HDR

Specifications

Nvidia’s MSRP price for RTX 4060 Ti GPU is $399, a GPU made for 1080p.

Here is the RTX 4060 Ti in GPU-Z:

According to GPU-Z, the RTX 4060 Ti has the default GPU clock of 2310 MHz with a boost of 2525MHz.

Below is the advanced general information on the RTX 4070 FE as reported by the GPU-Z tool.

As you can see from the GPU-Z screenshots, you can even increase both power and temperature limits to some degree, and while there is little room for overclocking, there is some additional potential performance for gamers looking to get more from their builds. RTX 4060 Ti partner boards should be interesting to see based on their cooling methods and pricing.

A Closer Look at the RTX 4060 Ti Founder’s Edition

Packaging

The box cover highlights a sleek approach to the packaging. I am a huge fan of the presentation Nvidia has been providing for its FE line. It offers a very premium unboxing experience. The graphics card image for the recent RTX cards is iconic and that shape is also shown on the box.

Accessories

As we open the box, it folds out beautifully displaying the brand new RTX 4060 Ti FE. Beneath the card are the new standard 16 PIN (12VHPWR) PCIe connector and an installation guide with a QR code to visit Nvidia’s website for more guides and information if needed.

The Card

The RTX 4060 Ti FE is a small dual-fan graphics card with classic RTX aesthetics that are still refined and look great. There is no RGB on the RTX 4060 Ti FE.

The IO panel connectors are 3 DisplayPorts and 1 HDMI connection.

Inside the case

The RTX 4060 Ti looks subtle and classic inside a case. I would personally love to build an SFF PC using this card. It is the perfect size offering a powerful small gaming rig at a reasonable price compared to the sky-high prices we have seen these last few years. We like that it is small and discrete but some may not like the unlit logo

Next is our testing configuration, methodology, and more.

Our Benchmarking PC

We benchmark using FrameView on a recent install of Windows 11 Pro Edition 22H2, at 3440×1440 using an AMD Ryzen 7800x3d with stock clocks and 32GB of DDR5 G.Skill Trident Z 6000MHz memory on an Asrock X670E Pro RS motherboard. All games and benchmarks are the latest versions, and we use the latest GeForce 531.93 press drivers for our testing. The games tested, display driver, settings, and hardware are identical except for the GPUs we compare.

Let’s unbox and take a closer look at this graphics card.

Test Configuration

Benching Methodology

Test Configuration – Hardware

• AMD Ryzen 7800x3d (stock settings)
• Asrock X670E PRO RS motherboard (AMD AM5 chipset, v 1.07 BIOS)
• G.Skill Trident Z 32GB DDR5 (2×16GB, dual-channel at 6000 MHz XMP)
• RTX 4060 Ti 6GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 4070 FE 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• ASUS TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 3080 FE 10GB, stock clocks
• RTX 3070 FE, stock clocks
• 1 x TeamGroup 1 TB NVMe M.2 SSD
• 2 x WD Blue 1TB SATA SSD
• Corsair RM850x, 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply unit
• ALIENWARE 34″ CURVED QD-OLED GAMING MONITOR – AW3423DWF

Test Configuration – Software

• NVIDIA GeForce 531.94 game-ready press drivers; ‘Prefer maximum performance’ (on a per-game profile basis); Shader Cache Size ‘Unlimited’ (globally); fixed refresh rate (globally).
• We enable Resizable BAR
• ‘V-Sync application controlled’ in the control panel; V-Sync off in-game.
• We note and specify the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings in the performance summary charts.
• Windows 11 64-bit Pro edition, latest updates v22H2, High-performance power plan, HAGS & Game Mode are enabled, Game DVR & Game Bar features off, Control Flow Guard (CFG) off on a per-game basis, Hypervisor and Virtualization-based security are disabled.
• We do not install Asrock tools.
• Latest DirectX
• All games are patched to their latest versions at the time of publication.
• 3DMark suite, the latest version
• RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS), the latest version
• FrameView, the latest version
• Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), the latest version; always uninstall drivers using DDU in safe mode, clean, and restart.
• ISLC (Purge Standby List) before each benchmark.

GeForce Driver Suite-related

• We use DCH Game Ready drivers.
• The display driver is installed.
• We install the latest version of PhysX.

Hybrid & Non-Synthetic Tests-related

• Single run per test.

Game Benchmarks-related

• We use the corresponding built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Frametimes Capture

• We use FrameView for capturing frame times and analyzing the relevant performance numbers obtained from each recorded built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Benchmark Suite:

PC Games

DX11 Games

• Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)

DX12 Games

• Chernoblyte (DX12)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (DX12)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12)
• F1 2022 (DX12)
• Far Cry 6 (DX12)
• Resident Evil 4 (DX12)
• Red Dead Redemption 2(DX12)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)
• Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DX12)
• Dirt 5 (DX 12)

Vulkan Games

• DOOM Eternal (VK)

Hybrid Tests (3DMark)

• DLSS Feature Test
• Fire Strike Extreme
• Fire Strike Ultra
• Time Spy
• Time Spy Extreme

Nvidia Control Panel settings

Here are the global Nvidia Control Panel settings:

Noise, Temperatures, and Power Consumption

Unfortunately, we did not have time to check out the overclocking potential, but temperatures were controlled and the RTX 4060 Ti runs very cool.

The RTX 4060 Ti is quiet, and its fans never spin up at idle, even under a heavy or full load to be irritating or noticeable. When gaming it spins up to full often under very heavy loads – like Metro Exodus with all features turned on. It is as silent as the RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 Ti we tested previously.

Nvidia Performance Graphs and information

The biggest selling point for the RTX 4060 Ti FE at $399 has to be DLSS 3. There is a lot going for keeping older generations of card until we see a massive raw performance uplift but we have it as long as you like DLSS as a whole.
This is the gigantic upgrade – while some purists may not like frame generation – the performance increase and quality retention is simply stunning. On our QD-OLED display, we could barely see any image quality differences but performance increased dramatically and beat older generation cards easily.

In our testing, the RTX 4060 Ti FE with DLSS 3 is almost 2.6 times faster than the RTX 2060 Super and it nearly doubles the performance of the RTX 3060 Ti while using less power.

Let’s head to the performance charts to compare the graphics performance of the RTX 4070 FE.

Gaming Performance Charts

Main Performance Gaming Summary Charts

Here are BTR’s summary charts of games, six hybrid, and three non-synthetic tests. We note and specify the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings on the performance summary charts below. The benches were run at 2560×1440 and 1920×1080.

FireStrike Graphics Score:
3060: 29501
3070: 17807
4060 Ti: 32678
4070: 42120
Timespy Graphics Score – DX12 1440p:
3060: 8102
3070: 13432
4060 Ti: 13285
4070: 17881
4070Ti: 22467
Timespy Extreme Graphics Score
3060: 3102
4060 Ti: 6345
4070: 8531
Averaged Framerates & Relative GPU Performance

The RTX 4060 Ti is a clear improvement but at a significantly higher buy-in price for not much raw horsepower gain compared to the previous generation. In comparison to the rest of the 40 series lineup, the RTX 4070’s performance is unmatched for budget/value gamers but the RTX 4060 Ti sits in limbo while we wait for the 16GB version and its non-Ti counterpart.

Average Frames
The RTX 4060 Ti is going to be a 1440p capable card but with some tweaks as mentioned, but it mostly shines at 1080p. It is not really outclassing its older generations and loses outright to the RTX 3070. It is around 10% faster than the RTX 3060 Ti and about that much slower than the RTX 3070 in most cases.

Final Thoughts & Verdict

This has been an enjoyable exploration evaluating the new RTX 4060 Ti. Overall, it is the best 40 series value for your money currently available but only if you are completely new to PC gaming and want to build a great 1080p machine right now. Otherwise, we suggest waiting.

Still, we have to remember the RTX 3060 Ti was great for 1440p gaming but the VRAM issues of modern games are likely not going away so it is a major concern that have just 8GB even with the improved L2 cache and DLSS 3 availability.

Nvidia’s technology is incredibly exciting but in 4-5 years this card may not hold up to more modern demands if you expect more than it what it was designed for in games that do not support its most impressive features. More VRAM is just around the corner with the 16GB model so you have to discuss whether that price increase is worth the wait.

Games like RE 4 and MW2 were always either too close for comfort or much beyond the VRAM limit at max graphics and we had to lower some settings to get it to run a simple benchmark. This may have been a driver issue but we are unsure at the moment.

Thankfully, RTX 4060 Ti is compact and amazingly efficient compared to the RTX 30 series and its 40 series brothers. The idle fan stop is huge for us, and support for AV1 encoding is stellar for a lot of streamers at this price.

Not everyone cares about DLSS and its effect on an image. For this, the RTX 4060 Ti performed above the RTX 3060 Ti in most cases but barely at around 10% faster at 1080p. It was also well above the RTX 2060 but loses in almost every game to the RTX 3070 at 1440p.

However, the RTX 4060 Ti user base will see enough significant performance gains on 20 and 10 series cards to be able to make this a worthwhile consideration.

The gap widened significantly with frame generation/DLSS 3 – So much so that this is a no-brainer if titles with that technology available are what you mostly play.

However, this is not a “wow” with the raster performance jump over the previous generation. Instead, the RTX 4060 Ti is more efficient, more compact, and has much better features especially if you are still on a 10-series card. This is a worthy point in time with a card that is finally available at a reasonable price as a poster child for the generational leaps Nvidia is making with its technology and DLSS 3.

For a hundred dollars more you could buy an RTX 4060 Ti 16GB when it releases or a current AMD offering – for now but the rumor mill is swirling with a pending release. This would have been a slam dunk if there was no 8gb version and instead we had a $300-400 RTX 4060 Ti at launch. The lineup of cards would have been perfect and much more appealing to nearly every gamer.

We do implore you to look at our upcoming DLSS 3 comparison of the current generation. This technology is finally allowing Nvidia to realize the dream that has been ray tracing. We can now maintain great performance while having the full suite of RTX features on an mid-level card. Safe to say, we like the RTX 4060 Ti for multi-generational upgrades but we suggest waiting for its own competition and what AMD may offer in this price range. The RTX 4060 Ti 16gb should be very nice and the normal RTX 4060 in July should be interesting to compare!

–Happy gaming!

Vampires are a horror genre staple so it’s quite shocking we haven’t really had an amazing game release featuring them as the central villain in quite some time. So when Arkane, the makers of amazing games like Prey and Dishonored, announced Redfall in June of 2021, it captured my bloodlust. Xbox’s current weak place in the market is begging for a great release which puts a ton of extra pressure for Redfall to exceed expectations.

The excitement for Redfall’s hero-based looter-shooter gameplay centering around vampires has such a high ceiling because of this atmosphere. Microsoft needs a win. It’s Arkane, so we know they have a history of hitting it out of the park with combat, stealth, and a great story. But after delays, the announcement that consoles would be locked to 30fps at launch, and after a quiet launch week, some concern set in.

The press embargo was set right before tomorrow’s release at 8:01 PM ET today. A red flag went up instantly. This is a review-in-progress as we were provided a key close to release and have not had time to complete the entire story but have completed the majority of its major missions. In fact, a 69.4GB patch dropped this morning adding DLC.

After playing, I understand the fear of reviewers about gameplay spoiling major elements of the latter half of the game. For FPS fans, Redfall provides some great gameplay elements to sink your teeth and time into, but it also lacks direction and its vision is muddied with formulaic systems and some glaring issues. Let’s take a deeper look at Redfall in our review of the PC version for Steam. Thank you to Nvidia and to Arkane for providing a review copy for our coverage!

Characters

Redfall has you choose one of four main characters which is one of the biggest draws for me upon release. Going in with friends to experience a 4-player massacre of vampires and their minions could be a real blast. Central to Redfall is its first person and hero shooter design. The four playable characters at launch are cryptozoologist inventor, Devinder Crousley; telekinetic student, Layla Ellison; combat engineer, Remi de la Rosa; and special forces sniper, veteran Jacob Boyer. Redfall has more character releases planned later.

Each character has a trio of upgradable special powers, two are useable for limited times, and an “ultimate” that recharges more slowly over time. Each power has its own unique spin on combat and abilities to play with. Vampires invade the area known as Redfall, and after some opening events, there is no physical way to escape from the area. You and the town’s citizens are fish trapped in a bucket being saved for feeding time.

The opening sequence is pretty great and sets the tone well. The massive cascade of frozen water serves as an ominous foreshadowing of the immense power our enemies hold. Our characters had previous run-ins with the main antagonists that provided them with their abilities.

I really disliked that Bungie made us go to their website to read “grimoire” cards to understand the lore. The same thing is done here with Redfall – most of the backstory ends up by being briefly told in side conversations, and if you want more, you need to read one of the many, many notes strewn across the world or by gathering 100 items that provide more exposition from a central character. It is hard to describe how grandiose the game can be and yet so small at the same time before you actually jump in to play.

Disappointingly, Redfall at times can feel paper thin, and I believe it could have been truly great with more time in the coffin until it was ready to withstand the heat of the sun and its place in the current landscape. Gamers will notice.

We want the deep world-building and narrative that Arkane is known for, and if more time was needed for a sophisticated presentation, I would have begged for it. Without going into later story spoilers, Redfall’s premise is that a biotech corporation known as Aevum was working with a scientist seeking immortality, an experiment went wrong and the vampire hoard was unleashed. Almost immediately, many of the town’s residents became cultists who wanted this same immortality and began to worship and defend the vampires with the promise that once they die they would be reincarnated as all-powerful beings.

A once idyllic island town is now the center for survivors, and you are someone luckily granted special powers that you have right off the bat. Conceptually, its a great setting for this game and it was very interesting to explore. With vampire nests to destroy, bosses to defeat, safehouses to set free, and so much loot to gather for upgrades – the base systems are there for a great time.

But while Redfall’s premise does an amazing job of setting up some great missions, the presentation feels extremely dated. So much so I am not sure that most players will stay long enough to experience the latter half of the game which begins to feel incredible at times.

Let’s take a deeper look at the gameplay.

Gameplay

After the opening sequence, your first mission is to approach a surrounded firehouse with survivors inside. Cultists are standing outside, literally, not banging on the walls or trying to break in – they are standing there in groups just waiting to pick survivors off. This is the same immersion-breaking feeling most of the encounters have in the game. Something feels like it was missed or changed in development.

Most gamers won’t care about small details as they may just care about the overall story and the gunplay. Well, after first picking off the cultists, you meet your first set of survivors for your new home base. There is little to no backstory for the characters without reading interactable letters, and they sort of just fall into place as expert base builders with a doctor, a gun expert, a clergywoman, and more. Redfall is shockingly light on explanations and barebones in so many other similar places that lowered our expectations for the rest of the game.

This base is never attacked and is literally just a place you come back to get supplies, make occasional small talk, and interact with a missions table to get photo cutscenes between your custom character and the survivors. I believe the reason for this is because of only having four characters and it may have been easier to just replace their skin for the cutscenes. I understand that the visuals needed to be presented, but with such barebones characters it would have made me care more about them if they actually talked to you.

Between missions, they will talk to each other and then later you get in-game conversations with dynamic character movements and interactions that I really enjoyed especially near the end of the first half of the game. If this was more fleshed out, I would have cared much more about these characters and saving them.

However, none of it matters as once a major defeat occurs, in order to progress the story you have to leave the main island and can never return. I’d prefer to go back and experience those levels again when I want to and have fun in the sandbox that was created, but its completely shut off.

The second area feels more like the real main game in almost every way. Characters are more vocal, the area feels more dense and packed with hidden items and more enemies to fight. The story is finally fleshed out and its vast world is begging to be explored. Only in the second half is where Redfall shines and becomes extremely fun.

Gunplay

We suggest not playing the healer characters during single-player as they won’t offer much utility. Some of the abilities become extremely powerful with later unlocks like Jacob’s raven damaging anyone in its path. However, the AI needs some serious work and I often found myself ignoring gun perks and upgrades as a necessity to improve my experience.

None of it is truly fundamental to the experience and most hero’s abilities would help multiplayer sessions. However, story progression is not shared due to the nature of the game’s design but the loot and levels you gain are.

Flawed AI is one of the biggest issues we ran into. It’s bad. I mean really bad especially for the poor cultists who get the short straw. They funnel in the same path, get stuck on rocks, have clunky animations, and have no real cognition or ability to flank and outsmart you while at the same time having god-aim. It’s a bad combo especially when being sniped at from a distance.

I am not sure any patches can address this, but with Jacob at launch, AI is broken and basically stuck in easy mode. Even on higher difficulties and with later invisibility unlocks, I could cycle between walking directly into a large group of enemies, grabbing the quest item, and then going invisible again, and they would just go on their way. The same could be said about shooting from a specific area – the AI just funnels directly to you and poses no real challenge ala Deathloop.

Other characters have similar “cheese” but I would recommend increasing the difficulty of the game for a better challenge. The shooting experience is still fantastic – from sniper rifles to UV lasers that petrify the enemy vampires – it is a blast to play.

In some well-designed areas like the vampire nests, it reminded us of entering the Elder Scroll’s Oblivion Gates. These moments however are few and far between if you love to fully explore the world. Some missions are surprisingly good but getting there is such a slog that some may never progress to experience them. The moment-to-moment gameplay constantly clashes badly with each other. It is tiring especially when combined with performance issues.

Speaking of vampire nests, these are some of the best gameplay areas in Redfall. They pack strong vampires in large numbers that can overwhelm you quickly even with Jacob’s invisibility and it requires careful planning. Conversely, there is little punishment for dying as progress does not reset and there are typically no timers, so if you can go in gun blazing.

Vampire nests reached another level that let me see the vision for Redfall which makes it hurt to see it ignored for the rest of the gameplay. The tone, the atmosphere, and with your back against the wall fighting off vampire hoards is such an amazing concept!

In one mission, you go to investigate a boat and as soon as the quest item is picked up it triggers an angry mob that immediately surrounds your only exits with deadly red mist, a mini-boss, and a mob of bloodthirsty vampires. You can see this all unfold beneath you from the boat’s windows. Your only option is to bite back and fight your way out. The game is filled with these bursts of incredible and stunning moments with fantastic and engaging gunplay that is then mixed with poor performance, bad lip-syncing, and horrible AI.

I am really reminded of Destiny 1’s live service launch which was obviously a victim of a large form of rewrite and rebuild. Perhaps Redfall had a similar fate but we will never know. Arkane has promised gamers that this will be their most supported game yet and we really hope so. The core gameplay is incredible but it reminds us of Cyberpunk 2077’s promise of a better future when all we need now is the vampire killing fun we have been salivating for.

The loot, the loot, the loot, the loot, the loot

Let’s talk loot. Vampire bosses keep repeating “the blood, the blood, the blood, the blood” but all I care about is if they will give me fun weapons to kill them with. Loot and gameplay can keep a game alive for a long time especially if there are fun quests or some great special weapons or “exotics” to chase. A community can grow quickly when secrets are found or the best load-outs to defeat bosses are found.

Redfall’s weapons scale with your level and just pump out higher numbers of damage. Pistols, shotguns, automatic rifles, UV lasers, stake launchers, snipers, and flare guns round out a fun and worthwhile experience. Unfortunately, as the game fleshes out you see how exploration is broken by other reward types. So build-crafting with the right perks and skill point selections doesn’t make much of a difference now.

Pistols are often one-shot minions, flare guns burn and stun lock vampires, and stake launchers massively chunk any boss or special vampire. It’s all amazing fun and the combo load-outs you run can really allow for great gameplay loops. Although the cultists are really bad enemies, they serve little to no threat until much later when their level just means their incredible accuracy can health-chunk you within a second or two if you get careless. I died a lot early being overrun in confined space by the fast vampire attacks as they surrounded me. Some enemy abilities can also one-shot you. This would not be much of an issue in multiplayer but it felt bad in single-player mode.

That said, you don’t have to worry about dying in a mission because no progress is lost and you have so much junk loot currency that you will likely never spend. You do not lose any progress from dying, any damage or defeated enemies stay dead, and your mission status is retained. Most of the world’s junk loot like bleach, toilet paper, water bottles, etc. that you pick up gets converted into a currency for purchases back at the home base.

Things like med kits, better guns, and lock picks can be purchased with converted drop currency. However, most of the rewire/hack kits just lead to more junk loot or heals, which enemies drop, and are strewn literally everywhere. Most of the lock picks do the same.

There was no master sword moment or a huge loot drop that I was super excited for. This is because they aren’t necessary because vampire nests and a later world event granted me the best loot in the game. Most of your old loot is junked as you move on to the next mission anyway.

The combos are fun though as you need to either stake, petrify, or burn vampires. You can mix using a UV gun to petrify groups of vampires and then shotgun them one by one to dispatch a large group easily. If you take too long as Jacob, you can just go invisible with no real danger. I did this for the first big boss and didn’t even lose 50% health because a large power weapon pumps out such large chunks of damage the boss gets health gated and frozen before they can even react. I broke the game rather easily. Balancing needs to occur and much more AI work is needed. There was a huge patch today that hopefully addresses some of these woes.

PC Performance

I am beginning to call DLSS 3 a godsend but it should not be necessary just to enjoy a major release. The industry has lately given PC gamers the short end of the stick, but that is a topic for another day. We started our playthrough with our Ryzen 7800x3D build with an RTX 4070 Ti and 32 GB of DDR5-6000mhz RAM on our TeamGroup 2TB NVMe drive. Ours is far beyond a typical system, but from the onset we had massive crashes, stuttering, bugs, and large frame dips. Microstutters and texture problems also occurred.

The latest Nvidia driver helped and DLSS 3 almost doubled our performance. This still did not address some areas of town where we would dip into the low teens. Entering the menu could often cause the game to crash. Glitches like this ruined some major moments of our playthrough but with patches this may be resolved soon.

DLSS looks incredible and is a must-have feature. It nearly doubled performance on the RTX 4090 which was already performing great except for the 1% lows. The same could be said for our RTX 4080 and 4070 Ti. The newly released RTX 4070 also performs well but the game really needs some serious performance improvements.

There was a large 69.4GB patch today so we redid our benchmarks. Here are our numbers using maxed/Epic settings:

Testbed 1:

Intel 13900KF/RTX 4090 FE/2x16GB DDR5 6400/Win 11 – 3840 x 2160

TAA high/No DLSS – 124.3 av /  42.1 1% low

Quality DLSS 3 – 178.0 av / 72.7 1% low

DLSS 3 in particular allows for stunning gameplay and steady framerates with comparable image quality to native. Unfortunately, Redfall is sadly locked at 30FPS for the console launch with 60 FPS mode coming soon but now we can understand why: It just needs more time in development.

Testbed 2:
Post-Day 1 Patch with AMD Ryzen 7800x3D, 2x16GB DDR6 6000, TeamGroup 2TB NVMe, Win 11.
3840×2160, Epic Preset DLSS comparison:

Conclusion – try if you have Game Pass

We can not recommend Redfall at launch. I was very excited for Arcane Austin’s Redfall, despite the console war chatter, the state of Xbox, and red flags coming out from the game development cycle. I still loved my time with it, and in many moments I was having a good deal of fun, but most of the time the world proved to be empty or uninteresting.

I would not have continued as far as I progressed if I did not enjoy some of the big set pieces so much. I believe anyone with Game Pass should play it, even at 30fps on console. However, it’s a messy mix of RPG, looter shooter, and a multiplayer game that lacks a cohesive and consistent presentation. Couple this with terrible AI and a plethora of bugs and there are very high highs and very, very low lows. 

Redfall can technically be played solo, but we recommend the experience with friends as it is much better. It is also not going to be the major release to start the Xbox renaissance that we so desperately need. This review score is going to be low, but I am still rooting for it. There is something there at the core that is clawing at the surface to come out and be enjoyed. It is your choice if you want to power through the mud to get to the meat of it.

If you can withstand some glitches, read the story in text form with barebones character development, and have friends to play with then you will have a decent time. That said, the world is already so empty that traversing its many roads with no vehicles or large enemy population it can feel lonely walking large swaths of areas as a solo player. At times, I grew so frustrated with the experience I found myself begging for a story, begging for those cool moments, and I often felt unrewarded and angry.

Redfall releases later today on Xbox Series consoles, PC, Game Pass, and is Steam Deck verified.

We recently received an RTX 4070 Founders Edition from Nvidia and we have been testing it for the past week by using 11 PC games plus hybrid benchmarks. The Founders Edition will be available at $599 starting tomorrow. Nvidia is touting this GPU as a great upgrade to the seven-year-old 10 series cards – and while it is true that its value proposition is undeniable – you will have to decide if it is worth the price of admission.

Thankfully, Nvidia has kept pricing sane as the RTX 4070 arrives with multiple new features, including DLSS 3, which brings an incredible performance uplift. For this reason alone, this new entry in the 40 series is extremely exciting. The higher-priced RTX 3080 is hard to find new in stock so we will compare them to find the best value.

The RTX 4070 further cements its new value role as it supports impressive new features including Displaced Micro-Meshes and Nvidia DLSS 3 technology, all while using less power than the RTX 3070 Ti. Additionally, for broadcasters, the RTX 4070 supports AV1 encoding which in and of itself is a good enough reason to upgrade from older generations of cards. 

The RTX 4070 Feature set

Right out of the gate, many will be concerned about being bound by the RTX 4070’s 12GB VRAM capacity as modern games skyrocket in their usage. While it may not age the best in 5-6 years, its VRAM is more than enough for current needs. Compared with buying a used RTX 3080, the RTX 4070 is a new card with a warranty, and it includes the latest leaps in DLSS/AI technology.

Comparing generation-to-generation there is a giant leap thanks to TGP/power improvements. There is also no price category competition from AMD, and FSR 2.0 is well behind DLSS 3 in performance. Again, the value proposition in comparison to the rest of the rather expensive 40 series is obvious, but the RTX 4070 may not offer the raw GPU power upgrade that those with RTX 3080s are looking for at this price range.

Today, there are over 400 games and applications that have RTX support which includes over 50 announced titles with DLSS 3. According to Nvidia, DLSS 3 has the fastest adoption of any of their technologies to date, with DLSS 3 being adopted 7x faster than DLSS 2. DLSS 3 is featured in some of the hottest current and upcoming titles including Forza Horizon 5, Diablo IV, Redfall, and The Finals. This value alone may be enough to move the needle for potential buyers.

GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition Board

The GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition graphics card incorporates many of the new design elements that are also found on NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4080, and RTX 4090 Founders Edition boards. The RTX 4070 Founders Edition board is crafted with premium materials and components including a die-cast aluminum body and dual axial fans. It looks fantastic in our PC and especially for ITX enthusiasts, this may be a go-to card with its perfect compact size.

The RTX 4070’s new design also provides about a 20% increase improvement in airflow compared to the RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition.

Our Plan

Nvidia is in an interesting spot with the RTX 4070 delivering outstandingly efficient performance. For this review, we are planning to benchmark the RTX 4080, RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4070, RTX 3070, and RTX 3080 within an average build that most gamers today would be able to complete on a reasonable budget.

We think comparing the RTX 4070 performance against current family and iconic cards from Nvidia’s previous RTX generation of GPUs may be worth it for Turing or Ampere users considering an upgrade to Ada Lovelace.

The GeForce RTX 4070 is based on the AD104 GPU and equipped with 5,888 CUDA Cores providing 29 FP32 Shader-TFLOPS of power for rendering traditional rasterized graphics. It also boasts 184 Fourth Generation Tensor Cores offering 466 Tensor-TFLOPS (with Sparsity) for AI processing and DLSS, 46 Third Generation Ada RT Cores capable of 67 RT-TFLOPS for powering next-generation ray-traced graphics, and 12GB of GDDR6X memory.

We want to test if it really can hold up with 12GB of VRAM to deliver a potential amazing value proposition compared to the RTX 3080 launched at $699 two years ago and the RTX 2080 Ti which launched at $99 MSRP four years ago. We want to especially compare the $599 RTX 4070 with the $849 ASUS Tuff Gaming 4070 Ti OC to determine its place in the current lineup.

Features & Specifications

The RTX 4070 technological innovations include:

• New Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) – The new SM delivers up to 2x performance and power efficiency
• 4th Generation Tensor Cores and Optical Flow – Enable and accelerate transformative AI
  technologies, including the new frame rate multiplying Nvidia DLSS 3
• 3rd Generation RT Cores – Up to 2x ray tracing performance, delivering incredibly detailed
  virtual worlds like never before
• Shader Execution Reordering (SER) – SER improves ray tracing operations by 2x, boosting FPS up to 44% in Cyberpunk with RT: Overdrive Mode
• DLSS 3 – A revolutionary breakthrough in AI-powered graphics that massively boosts
  performance using AI to generate additional high-quality frames
• Nvidia Studio – Unmatched performance in 3D rendering, video editing, and live streaming
• AV1 Encoders – The 8th generation Nvidia Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 is 40% more efficient than H.264, enabling new possibilities for streamers, broadcasters, and video callers

Key Features from ASUS

• Dedicated 3rd generation ray tracing cores (46)
• Dedicated 4th generation Tensor cores (184)
• Nvidia DLSS 3 support
• Game Ready and Nvidia Studio drivers
• Nvidia GeForce Experience
• Nvidia Broadcast
• Nvidia G-Sync
• Nvidia GPU Boost
• PCI Express Gen 4
• Microsoft DirectX 12 Ultimate support
• Support for Vulkan RT APIs, Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6
• HDCP 2.3 support
• DisplayPort 1.4 support: up to 4K at 240Hz or 8K at 60Hz with DSC, HDR
• HDMI 2.1 support: up to 4K 240Hz, Gaming VRR, HDR

Specifications

Nvidia’s MSRP price for RTX 4070 Ti GPUs is $799, and ASUS’s price for the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC Edition is $849.99. So it’s exciting to get back down to Nvidia’s MSRP for the RTX 4070 FE at just $599.

Here is the RTX 4070 in GPU-Z:

According to GPU-Z, the RTX 4070 has the default GPU clock of 1920Mhz compared to the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC’s 2310MHz, about an 18.4% difference, and a boost GPU clock of 2475Mhz compared to the RTX 4070 Ti TUF GAMING OC’s 2730MHz which is around a 10% difference. So for $350 less, you will have a very competitive performance with the latest 40 series feature set.

Below is the advanced general information on the RTX 4070 FE as reported by the GPU-Z tool.

As you can see from the GPU-Z screenshots, you can even increase both power and temperature limits to some degree, and while there is little room for overclocking, there is some additional potential performance for gamers looking to get more from their builds. RTX 4070 partner boards should be interesting to see based on their cooling methods and pricing.

Our Benchmarking PC

We benchmark using FrameView on a recent install of Windows 11 Pro Edition 22H2, at 3440×1440 using an Intel Core i7-12700K with stock clocks and 32GB of DDR4 Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 3600MHz memory on an ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard. All games and benchmarks are the latest versions, and we use the latest GeForce 531.42 press drivers for our testing. The games tested, display driver, settings, and hardware are identical except for the GPUs we compare.

Fair warning – We lost our RTX 4080 during benchmarking due to a faulty power cable and PSU when swapping out video cards, so this is why the card is missing from some tests. We are in the process of getting them replaced.

Let’s unbox and take a closer look at this graphics card.

A Closer Look at the RTX 4070 Founder’s Edition

Packaging

The box cover highlights a sleek approach to the packaging. I am a huge fan of the presentation Nvidia has been providing for its FE line. It offers a very premium unboxing experience. The graphics card image for the recent RTX cards is iconic and that shape is also shown on the box.

Accessories

As we open the box, it folds out beautifully displaying the brand new RTX 4070 FE. Beneath the card are the new standard 16 PIN (12VHPWR) PCIe connector and an installation guide with a QR code to visit Nvidia’s website for more guides and information if needed.

The Card

The RTX 4070 FE is a small dual-fan graphics card with classic RTX aesthetics that are still refined and look great. The logo sadly does not light up on the RTX 4070 FE so that is one downside of its lower price range.

For comparison here are some photos of our 4070 Ti:

The IO panel connectors are 3 DisplayPorts and 1 HDMI connection.

Inside the case

The RTX 4070 FE looks subtle and classic inside a case. I would personally love to build an SFF PC using this card. It is the perfect size offering a powerful small gaming rig at a reasonable price compared to the sky-high prices we have seen these last few years. We like that it is small and discrete but some may not like the unlit logo

Next is our testing configuration, methodology, and more.

Test Configuration

Benching Methodology

Test Configuration – Hardware

• 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700K (Hyper-Threading/Turbo boost on; stock settings)
• ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4 motherboard (Intel Z690 chipset, v.1008 BIOS)
• CORSAIR Vengeance RGB PRO 32GB DDR4 (2×16GB, dual-channel at 3600 MHz XMP)
• RTX 4070 FE 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• ASUS TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC Edition 12GB, stock clocks; supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 3080 FE 10GB, stock clocks
• RTX 3070 FE, stock clocks
• 1 x TeamGroup 1 TB NVMe M.2 SSD
• 2 x WD Blue 1TB SATA SSD
• Corsair RM850x, 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply unit
• ALIENWARE 34″ CURVED QD-OLED GAMING MONITOR – AW3423DWF

Test Configuration – Software

• NVIDIA GeForce 531.42 game-ready press drivers; ‘Prefer maximum performance’ (on a per-game profile basis); Shader Cache Size ‘Unlimited’ (globally); fixed refresh rate (globally).
• We enable Resizable BAR
• ‘V-Sync application controlled’ in the control panel; V-Sync off in-game.
• We note and specify the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings in the performance summary charts.
• Windows 11 64-bit Pro edition, latest updates v22H2, High-performance power plan, HAGS & Game Mode are enabled, Game DVR & Game Bar features off, Control Flow Guard (CFG) off on a per-game basis, Hypervisor and Virtualization-based security are disabled.
• We do not install ASUS tools.
• Latest DirectX
• All games are patched to their latest versions at the time of publication.
• 3DMark suite, the latest version
• RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS), the latest version
• FrameView, the latest version
• Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), the latest version; always uninstall drivers using DDU in safe mode, clean, and restart.
• ISLC (Purge Standby List) before each benchmark.

GeForce Driver Suite-related

• We use DCH Game Ready drivers.
• The display driver is installed.
• We install the latest version of PhysX.

Hybrid & Non-Synthetic Tests-related

• Single run per test.

Game Benchmarks-related

• We use the corresponding built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Frametimes Capture

• We use FrameView for capturing frame times and analyzing the relevant performance numbers obtained from each recorded built-in or custom benchmark sequence.

Benchmark Suite:

PC Games

DX11 Games

• Total War: Warhammer III (DX11)

DX12 Games

• Chernoblyte (DX12)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (DX12)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12)
• F1 2022 (DX12)
• Far Cry 6 (DX12)
• Resident Evil 4 (DX12)
• Red Dead Redemption 2(DX12)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (DX12)
• Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition (DX12)
• Dirt 5 (DX 12)

Vulkan Games

• DOOM Eternal (VK)

Hybrid Tests (3DMark)

• DLSS Feature Test
• Fire Strike Extreme
• Fire Strike Ultra
• Time Spy
• Time Spy Extreme

Nvidia Control Panel settings

Here are the global Nvidia Control Panel settings:

Noise, Temperatures, and Power Consumption

Unfortunately, we did not have time to check out the overclocking potential, but temperatures were controlled and the RTX 4070 runs very cool.

The RTX 4070 FE is quiet, and its fans never spin up at idle, even under a heavy or full load to be irritating or noticeable. When gaming it spins up to full often under very heavy loads – like Metro Exodus with all features turned on. It is as silent as the RTX 4070 Ti we tested previously.

Below is our thermal and approximate power consumption analysis on idle (Windows desktop, no user interactions.

Idle conditions

We ran into issues testing under load (our PSU died during near the end of our testing) but throughout our testing overall, the GPU was very efficient and in-line with our expectations. There is no heater meme to be found here.

Nvidia Performance Graphs and information

The biggest selling point for the RTX 4070 FE at $599 has to be DLSS 3. This is a gigantic leap – while some purists may not like frame generation – the performance increase and quality retention is simply stunning. On our QD-OLED display, we could barely see any image quality differences but performance increased dramatically. BTR plans on doing a full DLSS 3 gaming suite test in the near future.

In our testing, the RTX 4070 FE with DLSS 3 is almost 3 times faster than the RTX 2070 Super and it nearly doubles the performance of the RTX 3070 Ti while using less power.

Let’s head to the performance charts to compare the graphics performance of the RTX 4070 FE.

Gaming Performance Charts

Main Performance Gaming Summary Charts

Here are BTR’s summary charts of 19 games, six hybrid, and three non-synthetic tests. We note and specify the main in-game display, graphics, AA, and scaling settings on the performance summary charts below. The benches were run at 3440×1440.

FireStrike Graphics Score:
3070: 16807
4070: 21121
Timespy Graphics Score:
3070: 6611
4070: 17881
4070Ti: 22467
Averaged Framerates & Relative GPU Performance

Averaged Game Framerates

We averaged the aggregated FPS of all games and testing scenarios, and we represented the total game average FPS for each tested graphics card by the following chart:

On average, the RTX 4070 is faster than the RTX 3080 at 3340×1440. However, owners of this card can likely hold off on an upgrade unless they want lower power consumption, DLSS 3, and better ray tracing performance at a reasonable price. DLSS 3 is a game-changer for the games that have it. For games that do not and that are on DLSS 2 the RTX 3080 loses narrowly or wins in some older games in rare cases.

The 4070 Ti is a clear improvement but at a significantly higher buy-in price. In comparison to the rest of the 40 series lineup, the RTX 4070’s performance is unmatched for budget/value gamers.

Final Thoughts & Verdict

This has been an enjoyable exploration evaluating the new RTX 4070 FE. Overall, it is the best 40 series value for your money if the current adoption rate of DLSS and DLSS 3 continues. The performance gain is stunning. Without this technology, we can compare the RTX 4070 to the RTX 3080 from the previous generation with very distinct differences. Nvidia has improved performance with supplemental tech like DLSS 3, the architecture, cooling, and most of all, the pricing.

The RTX 4070 is compact and amazingly efficient compared to the RTX 30 series and its 40 series brothers. The idle fan stop is huge for us, and support for AV1 encoding is stellar for a lot of streamers at this price.

The RTX 4070 performed above the RTX 3080 in most cases and well above the RTX RTX 3070. The gap widened significantly with frame generation/DLSS 3 – So much so that this is a no-brainer. However, this is not a “wow” with the raster performance jump over the previous generation. Instead, the RTX 4070 is more efficient, more compact, and has much better features especially if you are still on a 10-series card. This is a worthy point in time with a card that is finally available at a reasonable price as a poster child for the generational leaps Nvidia is making with its technology and DLSS 3.

There is no early adopter woe here as there are many AAA titles to enjoy – right now – with DLSS 3 enabled, unlike with ray tracing at its launch. However, If DLSS 3 means little to you, we would hesitate to recommend upgrading from an RTX 3080 to an RTX 4070. However, the RTX 3070 user base will see enough significant performance gains to be able to make this a worthwhile consideration.

For a couple hundred dollars more you could buy an RTX 4070 Ti or a current AMD offering – but there is no card currently in this class and price that comes close to competing. The value of your dollar here will make any gamer happy. Especially at 1080p and 1440p, this card is a beast ready to serve your needs.

We do implore you to look at our upcoming DLSS 3 comparison of the current generation. This technology is finally allowing Nvidia to realize the dream that has been ray tracing. We can now maintain great performance while having the full suite of RTX features on an mid-level card. Safe to say, we give the RTX 4070 Founders Edition our Editor’s Choice award.

–Happy gaming! Per Audacia Ad Astra. Rest in Peace to Lance Reddick – our Commander Zavala.

If you had a video game mixer and mashed Duke Nukem, Far Cry, and Bioshock together you would end up with Atomic Heart. This amalgamation results in a game filled with wondrous future tech and human augmentation coupled with gritty fun combat mixed with crass humor.

Beyond being Sci-Fi first-person shooters, these games depict their own versions of alternate universes or worlds in which technology meant to create a utopia goes sour. That is a tall order to fill and Atomic Heart does it very well – It’s fast-paced, fun to play and well-optimized. Atomic Heart is one of the weirdest and most fun games we have played so far this year and it wears its inspirations well.

Atomic Heart, is Mundfish’s debut title which started development 5 years ago. It places KGB agent “P-3” into an alternate future in which the Soviet Union has mastered robotics to defeat Nazi Germany and end to World War 2. Its singular focus is on the setting – a post-war Soviet retro-futuristic world where Russia has created augmentation and has made significant scientific leaps for “all mankind.”

Russian scientists have decided to share their creations for a better world where AI bots do things like bring you a soda, deliver packages, and take your group photos on a tour. They are primarily concerned with how the world views them while maintaining an aura of perfection. Their next advancement plans to combine human brain power and knowledge instantly while maintaining ones own personal experiences and memories. Their goal is to integrate all human collective intelligence into one so our advancements will skyrocket.

These Russian scientists have augmented humans’ entire life with these AI bots. However, a traitor makes the AI believe that every human is an invader and should be treated as a threat. A security hole in the software leads the AI to turn on humans and thus begins our journey.

Political concerns aside, when you play the game you quickly learn it ridicules the Soviet Union although it remains heavy on propaganda. This is barely distracting. This Bioshock-like Soviet shooter, Atomic Heart, is well worth your time and the positive hype is real. The 20+ hour campaign and 15+ hours of side quests are filled with memorable moments and great action set pieces using the backdrop of super-tech and beautiful graphics.

Gameplay -An Inspired False Utopia

A game that takes such obvious inspiration from other major franchises may have been bland and boring. Yet Mundfish hits the ball out of the park for most gamers. Atomic Heart is content to be a single-player experience filled to the brim with some of the most unique design elements of the last two decades.

The intricate detail in Atomic Heart is astounding although some environmental touches could have used more work. Gamers generally want to see fire hydrants fly violently across the room after shooting them or hitting them. Details like this are missing and environmental destruction is minimal at best. Your main weapon is an ax at the start of the game – you will want to whack everything but nothing happens most of the time.

Instead, the astounding visual and audio design was the obvious focus. A game can rest on its gameplay loop quite easily, but a game like Atomic Heart shines in its enemy and environmental design. The enemy robots that have suddenly turned on us vary from mustachioed robots to towering iron giants and giant destroyer Drioideka-like ball enemies that are terrifying to face. Combating them requires using Polymer which is the main source of Russian innovation and also P-3’s power. This substance allows you to use Doom-like future weaponry in your right hand while having Char-Les your buddy AI and augmentation on your left. Your left hand acquires additional powers that you can add like an electric shock, freezing enemies, or covering them in polymer to make them susceptible to the elements.

Mix in some stealth, great movement, and upgrade paths and the game is a blast to play. The issues come in with some of the acting and generic American leads. The game features 9 voice-overs and 13 subs with around 1.5 hours of cinematics. Contrary to recent rumors, there is no 6 hour robot sex scene. The game set in old Soviet Russia has the iconic look and feel of the time but it quickly turns into cookie-cutter territory after you hear the main character’s voice.

We needed an English voice over for obvious reasons, but the audio tracks sometimes feel like they weren’t being spoken live by our character, and an audio track was just played in our ear. Many voices feel this way but our main character, P-3 is often making Duke Nukem-like jokes while robots offer sexual innuendos or funny responses. At times the moments were great and at other times the voice acting took away from the game’s unique settings and turned it into a generic comedy.

A game that borrows from others but is a master of none describes Atomic Heart. The story often feels bigger than what the game can deliver. It had the potential to do a lot more with the environment or platforming but instead, it felt lacking the deep complexities of the greatest games preceding it. Some of the puzzles and boss fights are memorable while others are easily forgotten as mere blockades to the story’s advancement.

It’s possible to look perfect yet still need work.

2023 already delivered us a Game of the Year contender in Hogwarts Legacy, and while Atomic Heart does so many things well, its many limitations hold the game back. Atomic Heart has one of the best openings in recent memory that is as breathtaking as the descent into Rapture in Bioshock.

This backdrop is so strangely good it baffled our mind by its poor scripting at times. We will probably see review scores varying from nearly perfect to low because of the writing and poor English voice acting. The classic games we know stay in our minds forever because of their extreme attention to details demonstrating that small things matter. Doom, Halo, and Deus-Ex, all immerse you into their world and make you want to live there and feel a part of it. Unfortunately, Atomic Heart lacks that deep immersion despite its ambitious design and great ideas. Without spoilers, it is difficult to explain but its mix of great beauty combined with bad writing and poor voice acting may become cumbersome during its 20 hours campaign.

Agent P-3 is the epitome of toxic masculinity in an awesome background, much like inserting Duke Nukem into Bioshock’s Rapture. Skills, crafting, upgrades, and the combat formula work so well together that it becomes frustrating to have to deal with cumbersome looting. A sleazy kiosk that offers sexual advances will either be hilarious to you or make the game fall flat. Atomic Heart has sexy robots, visceral combat, plus unique and massive bosses, but they can feel like bullet sponge hell with endless enemies and overlong sections.

There is so much junk in every room that you require for crafting that Mundfish built in a single key press function to suck all the junk out of every drawer. If this feature did not exist and we had to check each drawer on its own, our review score would plummet. This open world can often feel like it isn’t open. Bioshock’s Rapture worked because it was one large setting filled with excitement around every corner. Facility 3826 is similar as it felt amazing to discover what was happening inside, but the issues arise when you travel outside to new locations offering little discoverability in between quest-gathering. We also had many many crashes and bugs in our playthrough, with most of them coming while interacting with the upgrade bot or during combat. Most of this may be fixed with future patches, but for gameplay’s sake, we suggest running the Russian voiceover with English subtitles.

The Atomic Heart open-world segments are best to run past. There are no immersive sim elements. Instead, you just zap or freeze NPCs and engage in combat with large enemy groups. The problem is that this open world is littered with endlessly respawning enemies that make it oppressive and not fun to engage. You can waste all your ammo for no reward. Camera systems that have worked in previous games to alert enemies of your presence could have been used to create cool set pieces and memorable intense battles.

In game, the enemy density is so high that stealth is rarely an option, and if you destroy a camera or enemy – no matter if it took you seven or more bullets to destroy – a repair drone is dispatched to bring it right back to life. The only way to stop this is to find the security system which will only temporarily disable it. The game is best enjoyed driving or running past most of the open world to the next objective. This means that the open world simply does not work. Couple this with awkward writing and poor voice acting, along with endless juvenile interactions and Atomic Heart never realizes its game-of-the-year potential. I am not sure this can be patched and it stops me from scoring it higher.

Steam Deck with FSR / DLSS 3 Shines Bright

So how does it run? Amazingly well and something I am ecstatic to experience after the recent rash of stutter-ridden and clunkly PC ports. Atomic Heart takes advantage of Nvidia DLSS 3 which is the next revolution in graphics that are only available in the 40xx series of RTX cards. By using “Frame Generation,” DLSS 3 increases performance while maintaining almost perfect image quality. This salvaged our framerates at Hogwarts Legacy and DLSS is also proving it is worth the price of admission for Atomic Heart.

The best way to enjoy the game is by enabling DLSS 3, which gives you comparable image quality to native while supercharging performance. Enabling Nvidia Reflex also gives you the lowest latency. Each technology can be enabled or disabled separately, but the best way to play Atomic Heart is with both of them working simultaneously.

Reflex is automatically applied when DLSS 3 is enabled to make sure latency is minimized, and in many cases, latency is lower than native with DLSS 3. They work together very well. At 3440×1440 and 165hz, I had a well-polished graphical experience that ran smoothly with only some occasional crashes with environmental bugs or by trying to access menus. The game runs nearly double its performance at all Ultra settings averaging 80~FPS with DLSS 3 off and about ~144 with DLSS 3 on.

3440×1440 Gaming Performance with Atomic Preset
Test bed: Intel i7-12700K and 32 GB DDR4-3200mhz on Windows 11 using the latest Nvidia Drivers 528.49

Here are Nvidia’s test results featuring a wider range of cards:

Steam Deck users can also rejoice. This is another well-optimized game that runs at a steady locked 30fps or can run in the medium to high 50s steady and even higher with unlocked FPS plus FSR. However, some menu systems are unreadable when everything is set to low with FSR on. There is an image sharpening setting that should be increased to at least 2 if you plan to playing with low settings.

We do not recommend playing on low – the FPS gains are not worth it. You can freely enjoy the graphics and combat at medium settings with a very playable performance at 30 FPS. But the High preset was a struggle with dips well below 30 FPS. I was able to run everything using the Medium preset with Fidelity FX super-resolution set to quality with 30 FPS locked with only rare dips. I play at this level to increase battery life, but if you are plugged in – uncap your FPS and enjoy a well-polished experience for your Steam Deck. The PS5 and Xbox Series X can run this game at 4K/60 FPS with dynamic resolution so that should be a delightful experience as well.

One of the most egregious omissions is a lack of a FOV slider. This is common on consoles but it’s sorely missing here I often felt the default FOV was way too narrow for my liking and my wife felt motion sickness and vertigo while watching me play. A simple slider would have been great. This is, however, a PC port that runs amazingly well, and doesn’t even need FSR or DLSS 3. This is something that should be celebrated in a world where PC ports are often seen as afterthoughts with little care compared with their console brethren.

Atomic Heart sadly does not have ray tracing on any platform at launch. This is strange as Nvidia and Mundfish heavily advertised ray tracing and it looked amazing when it was shown. Our only hope is that its last minute removal was due to a bug that can be easily fixed and not because it would cause crippling performance on older cards. There’s no way to turn raytracing on in the settings on PC, PS5, or Xbox Series X|S so we will have to wait and see.

Final Thoughts:

The dark undertones of Atomic Heart exist and are a setting I was extremely excited to visit. It’s truly wonderful experiencing some gaming moments on modern technology. Some scripted introduction scenes felt exactly like that – the grand introduction to this game in particular lets intense moments sink in and it’s extremely beautiful. If anything I would recommend trying this game out just for those sequences alone.

There are many things that work well for Atomic Heart that are completely worth the price of admission. Anyone with GamePass should try it for themselves and enjoy a potentially great game. After some patches and desperately needed repair bot and enemy density balancing, this could be a real gem. Despite a promising setting and inspiration, its writing may be off-putting especially if one is easily offended. Tightening up these sequences and fixing some audio issues will make this game infinitely better.

Did I have fun? Hell yes! Will I recommend Atomic Heart as a GOTY contender for 2023? No. Those looking for an interesting game that wears its heart on its sleeve will be heavily rewarded. It is an odd and enjoyable retro blast precisely because it was reminiscent of some of the great classic games of our past. Atomic Heart continues to grow on you even if it’s not an entirely cohesive or balanced experience.

Atomic Heart releases tomorrow, Feb 21st, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S February 21, 2023. Nvidia provided this review copy for BTR.

We score Atomic Heart at a solid 6.5/10.

The $999 Hellhound RX 7900 XTX arrived at BTR for evaluation last week from PowerColor. We have been comparing it against Nvidia’s new $1199 RTX 4080 Founders Edition (FE) and $1599 RTX 4090 FE plus five additional top cards. We focus on raw performance by benchmarking 42 PC and 10 VR games, GPGPU, workstation, SPEC, and synthetic benchmarks.

We will also compare the performance of these three new competing cards with the RX 6900 XT and RX 6800 XT reference editions and their competitors, the RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3080 FE.

Features & Specifications

Although launched at reference $999 XTX pricing, the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX has its factory Game Clock set 30MHz higher than the reference version’s 2300MHz. According to PowerColor specifications, the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX can boost its Game Clock to 2330MHz (2270MHz Silent) with the OC BIOS. The Game Clock is the expected GPU clock while running average high-load gaming scenarios with a regular non-overclocked total graphics usage situation. However, the GPU Boost Clock can reach as high as 2525MHz – 25MHz higher than reference – by using the OC BIOS and we will test this.

Here are the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX features.

Additional Information from PowerColor

• The Hellhound has 2 modes, OC and Silent with a BIOS switch on the side of the card. Even on performance mode it’s said to be considerably quieter than reference board and the silent mode is indeed very quiet.
• The 14 layer high TG PCB board has 12+3+2+2+1 Phase VRM design. Hellhounds are over-spec’d in order to deliver the best stability and overclocking headroom. By having high quality VRMs, it will run cooler and last longer.
• DrMos and high-polymer Caps are used without compromise.
• The cooler features three 9-blade ball bearing fans with 8 heat pipes (8X6?) across a high density heatsink with a copper base. The PCB is shorter than the cooler.
• It uses mute fan technology and the fans stop under 60C.
• The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX includes card stands for supporting it so as to not put extra strain on the PCIe slot.

The RX 7900 XTX is AMD’s brand new RDNA 3 flagship card, and the Hellhound represents one of the best choices for a mildly factory overclocked $999 card by virtue of its high-quality components and carefully selected GPUs coupled with good support and great warranty service.

The Test Bed

We benchmark using FCAT VR and FrameView on Windows 11 Pro Edition 2H22 with Intel’s Core i9-13900KF, and 32GB of T-Force Delta RGB 6400MHz CL40 DDR5 2x16GB memory on an ASUS Prime-A Wi-Fi Z790 motherboard with fast SSD storage. All games and benchmarks are patched to their latest versions, and we use recent drivers.

First, let’s take a closer look at the new PowerColor Hellhound RX 7900 XTX.

A Closer Look at the PowerColor Hellhound RX 7900 XTX

Although the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX advertises itself as a premium 24GB card which features ray tracing, Radeon Boost, and Anti-Lag, the cover of the box uses almost no text in favor of stylized imagery.

The back of the box touts key features which include ray tracing, Anti-Lag, DisplayPort 2.1, RDNA 3, FidelityFX, Infinity Cache, streaming aids, and Boost, as well as states its 800W power and system requirements. There is no mention of VR Ready Premium. Also highlighted are PowerColor’s custom cooling solution, Dual-BIOSes, fan improvements, and output LEDs. The default LED color is an eye-pleasing amethyst.

We open the box and note there are parts for a card stand.

The complete package contents except for the anti-static bag are pictured above together with the card holder parts. Above the stand is fully assembled. Although the Hellhound is relatively heavy, it is not 4090-heavy, and we didn’t feel a need for it.

The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX is a large tri-fan card in a three slot design which is quite handsome with PowerColor’s neutral colors and even more striking with the LED on.

Turning it over we see a sturdy backplate featuring the Hellhound logo which also lights up with amethyst being the default color.

Looking at either long edge, we see the entire PCB is covered by heatpipes and heatsink fins. Additional power is provided by the PSU’s 2 x 8-pin Molex cables to the card connectors. There is also a switch to choose between the default overclock (OC) BIOS and the Silent BIOS. We didn’t bother using the Silent BIOS as the card is really quiet anyway, but it is good to have in case a flash goes bad.

The card should perhaps be locked down with two thumbscrews instead of one because it is heavy or the stand can be used.

The Hellhound’s IO panel connectors include 3 DisplayPorts and 1 HDMI connection.

Below is the other end which is very plain.

The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX looks great inside a case.

The specifications look good and the card itself looks solid. Now let’s check out its performance after we look over our test configuration and more on the next page.

Test Configuration

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-13900KF (HyperThreading and Turbo boost at stock settings)
• ASUS Prime-A Z790 LGA1700 motherboard (Intel Z790 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 5.0, DDR5)
• T-Force Delta RGB PC5-51200 6400MHz DDR5 CL40 2x16GB kit, supplied by TeamGroup
• Valve Index, 90Hz / 100% SteamVR Render Resolution
• Hellhound RX 7900 XTX, 24GB, factory clocks, supplied by PowerColor
• RTX 4080 16GB Founders Edition, stock clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 4090 24 GB Founders Edition, stock clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• Gigabyte RX 6900 XT GAMING OC, 16GB, factory clocks
• RX 6800 XT Reference 16GB, factory clocks, supplied by AMD
• RTX 3080 Ti 12GB Founders Edition, stock clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• RTX 3080 10 GB Founders Edition, stock clocks, supplied by Nvidia
• 2 x 2TB T-Force Cardea Ceramic C440 (5,000/4,400MB/s) PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSDs (one for AMD/one for Nvidia)
• T-Force M200 4TB USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C external SSD (2,000x2000B/s), supplied by TeamGroup
• Super Flower LedEx, 1200W Platinum 80+ power supply unit
• MSI MAG Series CORELIQUID 360R (AIO) 360mm liquid CPU cooler
• Corsair 5000D ATX mid-tower (plus 1 x 140mm fan & 2 x 120mm Noctua fans)
• BenQ EW3270U 32? 4K HDR 60Hz
• LG C1 48″ 4K OLED HDR 120Hz display

Test Configuration – Software

• GeForce 526.98 drivers for the RTX 4090/4080 and 527.27 for the RTX 3080/3080 Ti. Adrenalin 22.11.2 for the RX 6800 XT and 6900 XT, and press drivers for the RTX 7900 XTX.
• High Quality, prefer maximum performance, single display, set in the Nvidia control panel.
• High Quality textures, all optimizations off in the Adrenalin control panel
• VSync is off in the control panel and disabled for each game
• AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are Ultra Preset or highest with 16xAF always applied – no upscaling is used
• Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games
• All games have been patched to their latest versions
• VR charts use frametimes in ms where lower is better, but we also compare “unconstrained framerates” which shows what a video card could deliver (headroom; higher is better)
• Windows 11 Pro edition; 22H2 recent clean install for GeForce and Radeon cards using separate but identical NVMe SSDs.
• Latest DirectX
• SteamVR latest beta

Games

Vulkan

• Sniper Elite
• DOOM Eternal
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• World War Z
• Strange Brigade
• Rainbow Six: Siege

DX12

• A Plague Tale: Requiem
• Spiderman: Remastered
• F1 2022
• Ghostwire: Tokyo
• Elden Ring
• God of War
• Dying Light 2
• Forza Horizon 5
• Call of Duty: Vanguard
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Far Cry 6
• DEATHLOOP
• Chernobylite
• Resident Evil Village
• Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
• Hitman 3
• Godfall
• DiRT 5
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Watch Dogs: Legions
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Death Stranding
• Borderlands 3
• Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
• Civilization VI – Gathering Storm Expansion
• Battlefield V
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider

DX11

• Overwatch 2
• Total War: Warhammer III
• Days Gone
• Crysis Remastered
• Destiny 2 Shadowkeep
• Total War: Three Kingdoms
• Grand Theft Auto V

VR Games

• Assetto Corsa: Competizione
• Elite Dangerous
• F1 2022
• Kayak Mirage
• Moss: Book II
• No Man’s Sky
• Project CARS 2
• Skyrim
• Sniper Elite
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Synthetic

• Time Spy & Time Spy Extreme (DX12)
• 3DMark FireStrike – Ultra & Extreme
• Superposition
• VRMark Blue Room
• AIDA64 GPGPU benchmarks
• Blender 3.3.0 benchmark
• Geekbench
• Sandra 2020 GPGPU Benchmarks
• SPECworkstation3
• SPECviewperfect 2020
• FCAT VR benching tool
• OpenVR Benchmark tool

Adrenalin Control Panel settings

Here are the Adrenalin Control Panel settings.

NVIDIA Control Panel settings

Here are the NVIDIA Control Panel settings.

Overclocking, temperatures and noise

We spent little time overclocking the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX for this review as we encountered some unexpected results that require further investigation. The card is very quiet and its fans never spin up even under a heavy load so as to be irritating or even noticeable. It’s quieter than the Gigabyte 6900 XT or the RTX 3080 Ti.

The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX is factory clocked 30MHz higher than the reference version at 2330MHz using the OC BIOS. According to its specifications, the Hellhound boost can clock up to 2565MHz out of the box. From our benching, we generally see it boosting even higher and it generally settles in above 2750MHz with peaks above 2780MHz.

The Hellhound temperatures stay in the low to mid-60s C with the fans quietly running well below 50% even using the OC BIOS under a full gaming load. It is an exceptionally well-cooled and quiet card.

Let’s head to the performance charts to compare the performance of the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX with six other cards.

The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX vs. the RTX 4080 FE and 5 other cards benchmarked with 42 games

Here are the performance results of 42 games and 3 synthetic tests. The highest settings are used and are listed on the charts. The benches were run at 2560×1440 and 3840×2160. Click on each chart to open in a pop-up for best viewing. Gaming results show average framerates in bold text, and higher is better. Minimum framerates are next to the averages in italics and in a slightly smaller font which represent a game’s average 1% lows (99th percentiles).

The first set of charts show the seven main competing cards. Column two represents the $999 Hellhound RX 7900 XTX performance in between the $1599 RTX 4090 FE in column one and the RTX 4080 FE, its $1199 primary competitor, in the third column. The RTX 3080 Ti results are in the fourth column next to Gigabyte RX 6900 XT OC version performance results in the fifth column, followed up by the RTX 3080 in the sixth and the RX 6800 XT in the seventh column.

“Wins” between the RX 7900 XTX and the RTX 4080 are denoted by yellow text. If there is a tie, both values are in yellow.

Playing with the RX 7900 XTX, Elden Ring locked up the PC even after verifying files and reinstalling Adrenaline drivers and it appears a driver issue prevented ray traced Guardians of the Galaxy running on the RX 6800 XT.

The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX and the RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 are cards that are primarily suited for 4K and high-FPS 1440P gaming and they stand out from the other four cards. The RX 7900 XTX trades blows with the RTX 4080 in rasterized games – they are equivalent cards if ray tracing is not considered.

Although RX 7900 XTX ray tracing has greatly improved over the RX 6900 XT and RX 6800 XT, it now appears to perform similarly to the RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti but far behind the RTX 4080. FSR 2.0, although still not on the same image quality level as Nvidia’s DLSS 2, will almost double framerates for a very minor IQ hit and will make most of the games quite playable at Ultra/4K in this 52 game benching suite. Gamers who are not so impressed with ray tracing or who are not picky about image quality perfection may well prefer to save $200 on a $1000 Hellhound RX 7900 XTX over buying a $1200 RTX 4080.

Let’s look at synthetic benches.

Synthetic benches

We hold synthetic benches to be meaningless for predicting real world gaming performance versus competing cards with different architectures although they have other practical uses like overclocking and ranking. The RX 7900 XTX performs better in the synthetic tests than in gaming.

Let’s see how the Hellhound performs in ten popular VR (Virtual Reality) games next.

10 VR Games

For this review, we benchmarked the Valve Index using FCAT VR and set the SteamVR render resolution to 100% (2016×2240) which uses a factor of 1.4X (the native resolution is 1440×1600) to compensate for lens distortion and to increase clarity. We are going to compare the performance of the RX 7900 XTX with the RX 4080 and versus the RX 4090 at each game’s Ultra/Highest settings.

Unfortunately, FCAT VR still doesn’t work with MS Flight Simulator 2020 or with Star Wars Squadrons. Here are the ten VR games we tested.

VR Games

• Assetto Corsa: Competizione
• Elite Dangerous
• F1 2022
• Kayak Mirage
• Moss: Book II
• No Man’s Sky
• Project CARS 2
• Skyrim
• Sniper Elite
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Synthetic

• Time Spy & Time Spy Extreme (DX12)
• 3DMark FireStrike – Ultra & Extreme
• Superposition
• VRMark Blue Room

IMPORTANT: BTR’s charts use frametimes in ms where lower is better, but we also compare “unconstrained framerates” which shows what a video card could deliver (headroom) if it wasn’t locked to either 90 FPS or to 45 FPS by the HMD. In the case of unconstrained FPS, measuring just one important performance metric, faster is better.

Let’s individually look at our 10 sim-heavy VR games’ performance using FCAT VR.

First up, Assetto Corsa: Competizione.

Assetto Corsa: Competizione (ACC)

BTR’s sim/racing editor, Sean Kaldahl created the replay benchmark run that we use for both the pancake game and the VR game. It is run at night with 20 cars, lots of geometry, and the lighting effects of the headlights, tail lights, and everything around the track looks spectacular.

Just like with Project CARS, you can save a replay after a race. Fortunately, the CPU usage is the same between a race and its replay so it is a reasonably accurate benchmark using the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. iRacing may be more accurate or realistic, but Assetto Corsa: Competizione has some appeal because it feels more real than many other racing sims. It delivers the sensation of handling a highly-tuned racing machine driven to its edge.

Here are the ACC FCAT VR frametimes using VR Ultra using the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX, the RTX 4080 FE, and the RTX 4090 FE.

Here are the details are reported by FCAT-VR:

The RX 7900 XTX managed 85.77 unconstrained FPS with 6339 (50%) synthesized frames with no dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 delivered 118.42 unconstrained FPS with 207 (2%) synthesized frames with 1 dropped frame and 1 Warp miss.

The RTX 4090 achieved 164.03 unconstrained FPS together with 1 synthetic frame but with no dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The ACC racing experience is best with the RTX 4090 although the RTX 4080 delivers a nearly constant 90 FPS on the Epic VR preset unlike the RX 7900 XTX which requires one-half of its frames to be synthesized.

Next, we check out Elite Dangerous.

Elite Dangerous (ED)

Elite Dangerous is a popular space sim built using the COBRA engine. It is hard to find a repeatable benchmark outside of the training missions.

A player will probably spend a lot of time piloting his space cruiser while completing a multitude of tasks as well as visiting space stations and orbiting a multitude of different planets. Elite Dangerous is also co-op and multiplayer with a dedicated following of players.

We picked the Ultra Preset and we set the Field of View to its maximum.

Here are the frametimes.

Here are the details as reported by FCAT-VR:

The RX 7900 XTX managed 185.21 unconstrained FPS with no synthesized frames with no dropped frames or Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 delivered 230.98 unconstrained FPS with 1 synthesized frame and 1 dropped frame and 1 Warp miss.

The RTX 4090 brings 296.16 unconstrained FPS together with 2 synthetic frames but with 2 dropped frames and 2 Warp misses.

Although the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX has the lowest performance, the experience playing Elite Dangerous at Ultra settings is not perceptibly different on any tested video card. However, the RTX 4090 has a lot more performance headroom to increase the render resolution or to use a higher resolution headset like the Reverb G2 or the Vive Pro 2.

Let’s look at our newest VR sim, F1 2022.

F1 2022

Codemasters has captured the entire Formula 1 2021 season racing in F1 2022, and the VR immersion is good. The graphics are customizeable and solid, handling and physics are good, the AI is acceptable, the scenery is outstanding, and the experience ticks many of the necessary boxes for a racing sim.

Here is the frametime plot for F1 2022.

Here are the details as reported by FCAT-VR.

The RX 7900 XTX delivered 156.57 unconstrained FPS with 6 synthesized but no dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 achieved 200.24 unconstrained FPS with no synthesized or dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4090 delivered 254.72 unconstrained FPS together with 3 synthetic frames plus with 3 dropped frames and 3 Warp misses.

The experience playing F1 2022 using the Ultra preset is not very different on any of these video cards but the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 have considerably more performance headroom than the RX 7900 XTX to use 120Hz/144Hz or to use a higher resolution headset.

Kayak VR: Mirage

The outstanding near-photorealistic visual fidelity really sets Kayak VR: Mirage apart from other simulators. It boasts a wide range of locales with day/night/sunset options offering tropical, icy, desert, and even stormy scenarios with trips to Costa Rica, Antarctica, Norway, and Australia and occasional interactions with wildlife. It can be played as a relaxing sim or as a strenuous workout with competitive time trials which offer asynchronous multiplayer and ranking on global leaderboards.

We benchmark at 100% resolution with the highest “Cinematic” in-game settings but do not use DLSS or FSR.

Here is the frametime plot for Kayak VR: Mirage.

Here are the FCAT-VR details.

The RX 7900 XTX delivered 198.98 unconstrained FPS with no synthesized frames or dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 delivered 257.16 unconstrained FPS with 1 synthesized and 1 dropped frame and 1 Warp miss.

The RTX 4090 got 329.35 unconstrained FPS together with 1 synthetic frame and 1 dropped frame plus 1 Warp miss.

Kayak VR: Mirage looks fantastic at 100% resolution with maximum settings and would be well-suited for play on the Reverb G2 with any of our test cards.

Next, we look at Moss: Book II.

Moss: Book II

Moss: Book II is an amazing VR experience with much better graphics than the original game. It’s a 3rd person puzzle adventure game played seated that offers a direct physical interaction between you (the Reader) and your avatar, Quill, a mouse that bring real depth to the story. Extreme attention has been paid to the tiniest details with overall great art composition and outstanding lighting that make this game a must-play for gamers of all ages.

Moss II boasts very good visuals and we use the in-game highest settings.

Here are the frametimes plots of our four cards.

Here are the details are reported by FCAT-VR:

The RX 7900 XTX delivered 189.29 unconstrained FPS with no synthesized or dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 delivered 308.44 unconstrained FPS with 1 synthetic and 1 dropped frame and 1 Warp miss.

The RTX 4090 achieved 436.34 unconstrained FPS no synthesized or dropped frames nor Warp misses.

Unfortunately, the experience playing Moss II on the Valve Index using the RX 7900 XTX is marred by visual issues including artifacting and shimmering.

Next, we will check out another demanding VR game, No Man’s Sky.

No Man’s Sky (NMS)

No Man’s Sky is an action-adventure survival single and multiplayer game that emphasizes survival, exploration, fighting, and trading. It is set in a procedurally generated deterministic open universe, which includes over 18 quintillion unique planets using its own custom game engine.

The player takes the role of a Traveller in an uncharted universe by starting on a random planet with a damaged spacecraft equipped with only a jetpack-equipped exosuit and a versatile multi-tool that can also be used for defense. The player is encouraged to find resources to repair his spacecraft allowing for intra- and inter-planetary travel, and to interact with other players.

Here is the No Man’s Sky frametime plot. We set the settings to Maximum which is a step over Ultra including setting the anisotropic filtering to 16X and upgrading to FXAA. We did not use any upscaling method.

Here are the FCAT-VR details of our comparative runs.

The RX 7900 XTX brought 108.17 unconstrained FPS with 3536 (50%) synthesized frames but no dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 delivered 159.10 unconstrained FPS with 2 synthesized frames but with no dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4090 achieved 201.96 unconstrained FPS together with 17 synthetic frames but with no dropped frames nor Warp misses.

RX 7900 XTX gamers may want to lower some individual settings to remain above 90 FPS. The RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 have enough performance headroom to increase the refresh rate, render resolution, or to perhaps use a higher resolution headset.

Let’s continue with another VR game, Project CARS 2, that we still like better than its successor even though it is no longer available for online play.

Project CARS 2 (PC2)

There is still a sense of immersion that comes from playing Project CARS 2 in VR using a wheel and pedals. It uses its in-house Madness engine, and the physics implementation is outstanding.

Project CARS 2 offers many performance options and settings.

We used maximum settings including for Motion Blur but picked SMAA Ultra instead of MSAA.

Here is the frametime plot.

Here are the FCAT-VR details.

The RX 7900 XTX delivered 194.77 unconstrained FPS with no synthesized nor dropped frames or Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 got 200.88 unconstrained FPS with no synthesized frames nor dropped frames and no Warp misses.

The RTX 4090 achieved 253.50 unconstrained FPS together with 3 synthetic frames plus 2 dropped frames and 2 Warp misses.

The experience playing Project CARS 2 using maximum settings is similar for all three video cards.

Next we will check out a classic VR game, Skyrim VR.

Skyrim VR

Skyrim VR is an older game that is no longer supported by Bethesda, but fortunately the modding community has adopted it. It is not as demanding as many of the newer VR ports so its performance is still very good on maxed-out settings using its Creation engine.

We benchmarked vanilla Skyrim using its highest settings plus we increased the in-game Supersample option to maximum.

Here are the frametime results.

Here are the details of our comparative runs as reported by FCAT-VR.

The RX 7900 XTX provided 218.2 unconstrained FPS with no synthesized or dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 achieved 239.08 unconstrained FPS with 2 synthetic frames plus 2 dropped frames and 1 Warp miss.

The RTX 4090 delivered 337.76 unconstrained FPS together with 2 synthetic frame and with 2 dropped frames plus 1 Warp miss.

All cards deliver an identical vanilla Skyrim VR experience with a ton of extra performance headroom to add mods and, in addition, to raise the render resolution using the two faster cards.

Next we check out Sniper Elite VR.

Sniper Elite VR

Sniper Elite VR’s visuals are decent with good texture work that is well-realized. The building architecture and panoramas look good, explosions are convincing and the weapons convey a sense of weight, although not achieving realism. It is primarily an arcade style sniping game featuring its signature X-Ray kill cam, but it offers multiple ways to achieve goals including with explosives and by using three other main weapon choices besides your rifle.

We benchmarked using the Highest settings.

Here is the frametime plot.

Here are the details:

The RX 6900 XT delivered 197.98 unconstrained FPS with no synthesized or dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 delivered 223.33 unconstrained FPS with no synthesized or dropped frames nor Warp misses.

The RTX 4090 brought 318.03 unconstrained FPS together with 1 synthetic and 1 dropped frames and 1 Warp miss.

All three cards deliver a similar playing experience on High with the RTX cards offering more performance headroom. We recommend that any performance headroom be used for increasing the SteamVR render resolution.

Last up, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinner is the last of BTR’s 10 VR game benching suite. It is a first person survival horror adventure RPG with a strong emphasis on crafting. Its visuals using the Unreal 4 engine are very good and it makes good use of physics for interactions.

We benchmarked Saints and Sinners using its High preset and we left the Pixel Density at 100%. Here is the frametime chart.

Here are the details as reported by FCAT-VR.

The RX 7900 XTX delivered 198.93 unconstrained FPS with no synthetic nor dropped frames or Warp misses.

The RTX 4080 got 260.94 unconstrained FPS with 1 synthetic frames and 1 dropped frames and 1 Warp miss.

The RTX 4090 achieved 366.41 unconstrained FPS together with 6 synthetic frames and with 4 dropped frames and 4 Warp misses.

The RX 7900 XTX experience was marred by artifacting and shimmering.

Let’s check out synthetic VR tests and unconstrained framerates.

Unconstrained Framerates & Synthetic VR Benchmarks

The following chart summarizes the overall Unconstrained Framerates (the performance headroom) of our three cards using our 10 VR test games. In addition, we added recent RTX 3080 Ti and 6900 XT results for comparison. The preset is listed on the chart and higher is better. In addition, we present three synthetic VR benchmarks.

Although synthetic VR benches (except for OpenVR benchmark) predicted good VR performance, we were disappointed with our 7900 XTX VR experience, unlike with pancake games. In at least two games, we experienced distracting visual artifacting and texture shimmering. The 7900 series may benefit from some attention to VR from the Radeon driver team as in many cases it even falls behind the RX 6900 XT.

At AMD’s press event in Las Vegas, the presenters noted that AMD drivers continue to improve for the entire life of the architecture – generally with an up to 10% performance gain – often compared to “fine wine” aging well. However, for VR enthusiasts today, the RX 7900 XTX is disappointing and it performs well behind the RTX 4080 not logging a single performance win.

We next look at creative, pro, GPGPU, and workstation apps.

Creative, Pro & Workstation Apps

Let’s look at non-gaming applications next to see if the RX 7900 XTX is a good upgrade from the other video cards that we tested starting with Blender.

Blender 3.3.0 Benchmark

Blender is a very popular open source 3D content creation suite. It supports every aspect of 3D development with a complete range of tools for professional 3D creation.

We benchmarked three Blender 3.3.0 benchmarks which measure GPU performance by timing how long it takes to render production files. We tested seven of our comparison cards using CUDA, Optix, and OpenCL.

For the following chart, higher is better as the benchmark renders a scene multiple times and gives the results in samples per minute.

The RX 7900 XTX sits well ahead of the RX 6800 XT and 6900 XT but well behind the GeForce cards.

Next, we move on to AIDA64 GPGPU benchmarks.

AIDA64 v6.80

AIDA64 is an important industry tool for benchmarkers. Its GPGPU benchmarks measure performance and give scores to compare against other popular video cards.

AIDA64’s benchmark code methods are written in Assembly language, and they are well-optimized for every popular AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and VIA processor by utilizing the appropriate instruction set extensions. We use the Engineer’s full version of AIDA64 courtesy of FinalWire. AIDA64 is free to to try and use for 30 days. CPU results are also shown for comparison with both the RTX 3070 and GTX 2080 Ti GPGPU benchmarks.

Here are the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX AIDA64 GPGPU results compared with an overclocked i9-13900KF.

Here is the chart summary of the AIDA64 GPGPU benchmarks with seven of our competing cards side-by-side.

The RX 7900 XTX is a fast GPGPU card and it compares favorably with the competing cards being weaker in some areas and stronger in others. So let’s look at Sandra 2020 next.

SiSoft Sandra 2020

To see where the CPU, GPU, and motherboard performance results differ, there is no better tool than SiSoft’s Sandra 2020. SiSoftware SANDRA (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is a excellent information & diagnostic utility in a complete package. It is able to provide all the information about your hardware, software, and other devices for diagnosis and for benchmarking.

There are several versions of Sandra, including a free version of Sandra Lite that anyone can download and use. Sandra 2020 R10 is the latest version, and we are using the full engineer suite courtesy of SiSoft. Sandra 2020 features continuous multiple monthly incremental improvements over earlier versions of Sandra. It will benchmark and analyze all of the important PC subsystems and even rank your PC while giving recommendations for improvement.

We ran Sandra’s intensive GPGPU benchmarks and charted the results summarizing them.

In Sandra GPGPU benchmarks, since the architectures are different, each card exhibits different characteristics with different strengths and weaknesses. However, we see some very solid solid improvement of the RX 7900 XTX over the RX 6900 XT and the RX 6800 XT.

SPECworkstation3 (3.0.4) Benchmarks

All the SPECworkstation3 benchmarks are based on professional applications, most of which are in the CAD/CAM or media and entertainment fields. All of these benchmarks are free except for vendors of computer-related products and/or services.

The most comprehensive workstation benchmark is SPECworkstation3. It’s a free-standing benchmark which does not require ancillary software. It measures GPU, CPU, storage and all other major aspects of workstation performance based on actual applications and representative workloads. We only tested the GPU-related workstation performance as checked in the image above.

Here are our SPECworkstation 3.0.4 raw scores for the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX. RTX 4080 raw scores are displayed below the XTX results for a detailed performance comparison.

Here are our RTX 4080 SPECworkstation 3.1 raw scores:

Here are the Hellhound XTX SPECworkstation3 results summarized in a chart along with six competing cards. Higher is better.

Using SPEC benchmarks, since the architectures are different, the cards each exhibit different characteristics with different strengths and weaknesses.

SPECviewperf 2020 GPU Benches

The SPEC Graphics Performance Characterization Group (SPECgpc) has released a new 2020 version of its SPECviewperf benchmark recently that features updated viewsets, new models, support for both 2K and 4K display resolutions, and improved set-up and results management.

We benchmarked at 4K and here are the summary results for the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX.

Here are SPECviewperf 2020 Hellhound RX 7900 XTX benchmarks summarized in a chart together with six other cards.

Again we see different architectures with different strengths and weaknesses. After seeing these benches, some creative users may upgrade their existing systems with a new card based on the performance increases and the associated increases in productivity that they require.

The question to buy a new video card should be based on the workflow and requirements of each user as well as their budget. Time is money depending on how these apps are used. However, the target demographic for the reference and Hellhound RX 7900 XTXs are primarily gaming for gamers.

Let’s head to our conclusion.

The Conclusion

The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX improves significantly over the last generation RX 6900 XT, easily exceeds RX 6800 XT performance, and it trades blows with the $200 more expensive RTX 4080 FE in rasterized games although overall it is slightly slower using our 42-game benching suite. The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX beats all of the last generation cards including the RTX 3080 Ti although it still struggles with ray traced games compared with RTX cards.

For Radeon gamers, the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX is a good alternative to GeForce Ada Lovelace cards for the vast majority of modern PC games that use rasterization. The RX 7900 XTX offers 24GB of GDDR6 to the 16GB of GDDR6X that the RTX 4080s are equipped with, but that 8GB of vRAM shouldn’t make any practical difference to game performance in the near future.

At its suggested price of $999, the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX costs about $200 less than the RTX 4080 FE and offers a good value for Radeon gamers. Unlike with the RTX 4080 which increased from $700 for the RTX 3080 to $1200, the RX 7900 XTX is priced the same $999 as AMD’s last generation RX 6900 XT. For Radeon buyers, what makes the Hellhound XTX particularly attractive is that there is no price premium for this mildly overclocked PowerColor card.

The only real issue that we see with Radeon 7000 series cards is that AMD’s FSR solution is still inferior to Nvidia’s DLSS AI upscaling that delivers similar performance but with better image quality. On the flip side, there are still relatively few ray traced games released every year in comparison to thousands of rasterized games where the RTX 7900 XTX trades blows with the much more expensive RTX 4080.

One major issue although affecting relatively few gamers is poor VR RX 7900 XTX performance compared with the RTX 4080. It’s going to need some attention from AMD’s driver team before we can recommend the RX 7900 XTX for the best VR gaming.

We recommend the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX as a great choice out of multiple good choices, especially for any AMD PC gamer looking for good looks with LED lighting, an exceptional cooler, great performance for 2560×1440 or 4K, PowerColor’s excellent support, and overall better value compared with the slower RX 7900 XTX reference version.

Let’s sum it up:

Hellhound RX 7900 XTX Pros

• The PowerColor Hellhound RX 7900 XTX is much faster than the last generation RX 6900 XT by virtue of new RDNA 3 architecture. It trades blows in the majority of rasterized games with the RTX 4080 FE for significantly less money ($200 less)
• The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX has excellent cooling with very little noise and has a very good power delivery and a 3-fan custom cooling design that is very quiet when overclocked even using the OC mode
• Dual-BIOS give the user a choice of quiet with less overclocking, or a bit louder with more power-unlimited and higher overclocks
• FidelityFX 2.0 allows for upscaling and improved sharpness with almost no performance penalty, and there is a low latency mode for competitive gamers
• LED lighting and a neutral color allow the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX to fit into any color scheme
• 24GB vRAM compared with 16GB for the RTX 4080

Hellhound XTX Cons

• Cost. It’s still very expensive at $999
• VR performance is subpar
• Weaker ray tracing performance than the RTX 4080

The Hellhound RX 7900 XTX is a good Radeon card choice for those who game at 2560×1440 or at 4K and want the best that AMD has to offer. It represents a good gaming alternative to the RTX 4080 albeit with weaker ray tracing performance. It is offered especially for those who prefer AMD cards and FreeSync2 enabled displays which are generally less expensive than Gsync displays. And if a gamer is looking for something extra above the reference version, the PowerColor Hellhound RX 7900 XTX is a very well-made and good-looking card that will overclock better.

We are giving the Hellhound RX 7900 XTX BTR’s Recommended Award.

The Verdict:

• PowerColor’s Hellhound RX 7900 XTX is a solidly-built handsome card with higher clocks out of the box than the same-priced reference version. It trades blows with the RTX 4080 in rasterized games. I t is a kick ass RX 7900 XTX.

Stay tuned, there is much more coming from BTR. We will soon return to VR with a mega performance evaluation to test the role of the CPU for VR performance. And we’ll retest the RX 7900 XTX using higher resolution headsets after AMD’s driver team has a chance to address it’s VR issues. We also plan to test Intel ARC video cards in VR.

Happy Gaming!