Bethesda has released on PC the latest first-person shooter from Arkane Studios, Deathloop. Powered by the Void Engine, it’s time now to benchmark its non-ray-traced version and see how it performs on the PC platform.
For this PC Performance Analysis, we used an Intel i9 9900K with 16GB of DDR4 at 3600Mhz, AMD’s Radeon RX580, RX Vega 64, RX 6900XT, NVIDIA’s GTX980Ti, RTX 2080Ti and RTX 3080. We also used Windows 10 64-bit, the GeForce 471.96 and the Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.9.1 drivers.
Arkane has added numerous graphics settings to tweak. PC gamers can adjust the quality of Textures, Models, Shadows, Water, Terrain, Decals, Ambient Occlusion and Camera Motion Blur. There are also settings for Bloom, Depth of Field, Lens Flares and Light Shafts. Not only that, but the game supports both Ray Tracing and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution. There is also a TXAA Sharpness option (more games should start offering this), a Field of View setting, and support for NVIDIA’s Reflect tech. Lastly, the game offers a Frame Limiter, and can only go up to 120fps.
Deathloop does not feature any built-in benchmark tool. As such, we’ve decided to benchmark this scene. This area appeared to be one of the most demanding ones that we could find in the game’s opening chapter. Do also note that we’ll be focusing on the game’s rasterized version as we have a separate article for the Ray Tracing and AMD FSR benchmarks.
In order to find out how the game scales on multiple CPU threads, we simulated a dual-core, a quad-core and a hexa-core CPU. Now there are some good and some bad news. The good news is that the game can run with more than 100fps at 1080p/Ultra even on a modern-day dual-core CPU. However, we experienced numerous stuttering issues when Hyper-Threading was disabled. Thankfully, these specific stuttering issues were resolved the moment we enabled Hyper-Threading.
For gaming at 1080p/Ultra, you’ll need a high-end GPU. Our NVIDIA GTX980Ti was nowhere close to a 60fps experience. Additionally, our AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 was frequently dropping below 60fps.
At 1440p/Ultra settings, our top three GPUs were able to run the game with more than 60fps. However, and since the game suffers from camera stuttering issues, only the RTX3080 and the RX 6900XT felt smooth. As for 4K, the only GPU that was able to offer a constant 60fps experience was the RX 6900XT. For those wondering, the RX 6900XT was around 16% faster than the RTX3080. On the other hand, the RTX3080 was 11-14% faster than the RTX2080Ti.
Sadly, the game’s scalability (via its graphical presets) is not that good. The difference between Ultra and High settings is only 4fps. Yes, you read that right. 4fps. In order to get a noticeable performance boost, you’ll have to drop your settings to Medium. By using Medium Settings, we were able to get a 20fps performance improvement on our RX 6900XT. We were then able to get an additional 10fps increase on Low settings.
Graphics-wise, Deathloop looks very good. The game features a great LOD (so you won’t see objects changing right in front of view). Arkane has used a lot of high-resolution textures, and the Ray Tracing effects can improve the visuals (especially the RT Ambient Occlusion in shadowy areas). All characters are also quite detailed. Generally speaking, Deathloop looks good. However, and since this is a next-gen game, it’s a bit underwhelming. This is what we were expecting to see from a current-gen game, so I don’t see why there isn’t a PS4 version. So, as a current-gen game, Deathloop looks fine. As a next-gen title, though, it’s a bit disappointing.
All in all, Deathloop suffers from some optimization issues on PC. While the game does not require a high-end CPU, it does require a powerful GPU. Its graphical presets also do not significantly improve performance (unless you drop them to Medium). And, for a game looking like this, Deathloop should be running faster. I mean, we’ve seen other first-person shooters that look and run better than it. Not only that, but its “stuttery camera movement” issue is truly unacceptable. As a result of this, PC gamers must either lock their framerate at 60fps or 120fps. Framerates between 60fps and 120fps feel weird and stuttery when the camera is moving.
Lastly, I should note that Arkane has released a hotfix that addresses the mouse jittering issues. This hotfix does not fix the camera stuttering issues though that occur when the framerate fluctuates between 60-120fps.
(The following screenshots are captured in 4K/Ultra without Ray Tracing using an NVIDIA RTX3080)
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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Off-topic but I just wanted to say…
Sir Clive Sinclair, RIP.
also norm macdonald
screenshots here look good, is that the ray tracing?
4K/Ultra without Ray Tracing.
Yep even though this guy sits around pixel peeping every new game and does performance reviews, he wouldn’t know anything about graphics looking good. We all know console versions are a great metric to judge PC graphic quality too. “” = sarcasm
I have already checked out the digital foundry the game does look good, albeit quite demanding hopefully they have DLSS support in the pipeline and another HOTFIX for the mouse. I will purchase it with one or the other if it doesn’t end up on gamepass before then.
they are, consoles are highly optimized and the graphics are pushed to their limits, mind the level reached by first party studios with sony games ps4 regardless the quality of the gameplay….but days gone is a great game for example…
Definitely won’t be buying Deathpoop anytime soon. Let them fix this properly first and I’ll see, but by that time FarCry 6 will be out.
Never support games with Denuvo. Once they drop it, maybe.
Not even then
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJpCYSzhfXI
John, please add a 1080ti to your pc performance analyses. It’s just weird how you jump 2 generations from 980ti to 2080ti. A lot of gamers have 1080ti and we don’t know how games would run on our graphic card.
i believe they don’t have the card for test.
We don’t have a 1080Ti (and we can’t find a brand new to purchase here in Greece). Same thing with the 5700XT.
No No the 980ti is great, roughly equivalent to my 90w 2060m or 1660 super desktop. It’s not hard for others to go into notebookcheck and get a rough equivalent to their card or 3dm TS.
I’ll buy as soon as they drop DENUVO.
I’ll buy at the nearest port.
John, you may want to fix the chart images. They are almost all showing 1080p in the header.
I’d say it looks good enough tbh. I get your point and agree though, calling this next gen in the marketing is just lying like so many new games. The mechanics/story/political programming would be the concern to me. Looks very cringe. Many of us still like playing old games that are dated graphically etc like original dead space series, besides 3’s cringey love triangle, bloated cash in story and other EA sjw garbage.
This article does not apply to all PC specs. I am having a PC with core i5, 24 GB ram, rx480 8gb (12 GB shared vram) and the game runs, at 60 frames 1080p all ultra setting and no stuttering at all. I am surprised that you need high end pc like the author says. Do not believe the reviews check it for yourself. It runs like dooom eternal with no stuttering at all
The stutters aren’t there at a locked 60 or 120 fps apparently, but anytime it drops somewhere between those two figures is where stuttering happens. Can confirm it doesn’t feel so smooth even at 80 fps on my 3090.
Gotta love shill review scores… ohhh so trustworthy.
10/10 most major paid/sponsored game reviewers.
7/10 (69%) of 4000+ reviews on steam
How to trust? LMAO
LOL. Have problems reading? Cause you know Steam reviews usually have text description?
Never mind I read couple dozens of negative reviews for you and in summary they describe: poor optimization, Denuvo, bugs/technical issues, problems with AI, etc.
Yup, almost all negative reviews are basically tech issues that can be fixed, some of these reviews even state that game itself is great. So it seems critics and gamers are aligned here that the game is good, but it was released in poor technical state on PC with Denuvo on top of it that caused outcry by around 1/3 of buyers.
So you live in dream land rather than reality like the rest of us? What could be don’t always happen and a game should be reviewed in its current state or it not a review but rather a prediction what it could become someday – You seem like many journos… live in dream land where all bugs magically are gone and the games are the best ever – Enjoy! Hope you get paid to trust a prediction over a real review or it quite telling….
Ok, I get it, you are mentally challenged.
Let me explain it to you further. You called reviewers “shills” and made fun of their “trustworthiness”. I made analysis of Steam reviews and came to conclusion that most of them are related to poor performance and Denuvo. Reviewers do not use old and outdated PCs for reviews, usually they have a high-end devices or even use PS5 console, so they had no major issues with performance. Moreover reviewers don’t care about Denuvo and crusade against it that Steam users have initiated.
In conclusion, if we exclude performance/Denuvo dislikes from Steam, then game will have 85%+ satisfaction from gamers which matches with critics reviews, therefore your statement on “shill” reviewers and their “trustworthiness” is false.
So you live in dream land rather than reality like the rest of us? What could be don’t always happen and a game should be reviewed in its current state or it not a review but rather a prediction what it could become someday – You seem like many journos… live in dream land where all bugs magically are gone and the games are the best ever – Enjoy! Hope you get paid to trust a prediction over a real review or it quite telling….
This is plain f*king not true by direct experience with the game, you have hatred towards the industry if any of these fired companies fired or rejected you, its understandable…its frustrating…otherwise you are spilling poison only
if it’s (((brown))), flush it down