ELEX is a new action RPG from the makers of the Gothic and Risen series, Piranha Bytes. And since the game uses Piranha Bytes’ in-house engine, we had a rough idea of what we could expect. But anyway, since the game releases today on the PC, it’s time to see how it performs on our platform.
For this PC Performance Analysis, we used an Intel i7 4930K (overclocked at 4.2Ghz) with 8GB RAM, AMD’s Radeon RX580, NVIDIA’s GTX980Ti and GTX690, Windows 10 64-bit and the latest version of the GeForce and Catalyst drivers. NVIDIA has not included any SLI profile for this title. As such, our GTX690 performed similarly to a GTX680.
Piranha Bytes has included a few graphics settings to tweak. PC gamers can adjust the quality of Anti-Aliasing, Anisotropic Filtering, Ambient Occlusion, Fog, Shadows, Textures, Vegetation, Shaders, Render Range and Environment Render Range. There are also options to enable/disable Field Depth, and there is also a resolution scale setting.
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Like its predecessor, ELEX does not require a high-end CPU. In order to find out how the game performs on a variety of CPUs, we simulated a dual-core and a quad-core CPU. For our CPU tests, we used an open-world scene with a large view distance and various characters on-screen. We also lowered our resolution to 720p and the render resolution to 50% (so we could avoid any possible GPU limitations) but kept using the Ultra settings. Also, it appears that there is a framerate lock at 123fps.
ELEX ran with constant 60fps even on our simulated dual-core system. And while at first the game appears to be using only one CPU core/thread, it does use additional cores when the main one is pushed to its limits. With Hyper Threading disabled, our simulated dual-core was able to run our test scene with 102fps. With Hyper Threading enabled, it run the same scene with 115fps. On the other hand, our six-core and our simulated quad-core systems ran the test scene with 123fps.
As such, ELEX can be described as a GPU-bound title. At 1080p and on Ultra settings, our GTX980Ti was able to run the first two chapters with an average of 81fps and a minimum of 70fps. The AMD Radeon RX580 was able to push an average of 61fps and a minimum of 57fps. And since the game runs at 30fps on consoles on lower settings, a GTX680 actually provides a better experience than the base PS4 and Xbox One.
Thankfully, the game’s settings can noticeably improve performance. For our graphics settings test, we used the following scene which was really demanding (due to the extra foliage and its openness).
On Ultra settings, our GTX980Ti offered the minimum framerate we’ve witnessed, 70fps. Performance increased to 95fps when we lowered our settings to High. Performance jumped to 112fps when we lowered our settings to Medium. And on Low settings, we hit the 123fps lock (with our GPU being used at 93%).
This basically means that ELEX is playable on a variety of PC systems. In today’s day and age that most titles suffer from performance/optimization issues, it’s quite refreshing witnessing one that runs fine. However, the biggest problem of ELEX is its presentation. Like all previous Piranha Bytes games, animations are stiff and unpolished. Characters look blocky, facial shaders are really old-gen-ish, and everything looks outdated. Thankfully, the environments look great and some textures are of high quality (though you will easily notice a lot of low-res textures here and there). And while the game certainly looks better than its 2016 version, it cannot come close to what other RPGs are currently offering in terms of visuals.
Actually, ELEX feels like Risen 3: Titan Lords. As we said back then, Risen 3: Titan Lords packed better visuals than its predecessor, but that’s irrelevant as it does not even come close to the standards set by other – and much older – similar titles. And the same can be said today about ELEX and its rivals. Yes, it looks better than any Piranha Bytes game. However, it’s not up to what you’d expect from a modern action RPG.
All in all, ELEX performs great on the PC, provided you have a mid-tier to high-tier GPU. The game does not require a high-end CPU and offers proper on-screen keyboard indicators (duh). We also did not notice any mouse acceleration issues. Unfortunately, though, the game already looks dated. Therefore, performance could have been better in our opinion. ELEX is basically what all Piranha Bytes fans were expecting. An action RPG that looks good, does not push the graphical boundaries, and is rough around the edges.
Enjoy!
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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The map is among the best i have seen in recent memory. Brings me back to the old days of the gothic series…unlike risen 2, that game was so bad i stopped playing.
Eat my poo poo
Late response but agreed. The visuals are hit or miss, inconsistent in general, however there are some stunning vistas,and the lighting at times is stunning. It’s hard to explain but the world design is fantastic – Multi-tiered, dense, layered and labyrinthine in nature without complicating exploration.
A sequel was approved before ELEX 1 even released so I’m hoping that PB will have a better budget, a larger dev. team (they’re only around 30 devs, adding another 10-15 devs to the team could do the trick considering what they’re able to achieve with a small team) and if nothing else, 4-6 more months addt. development time longer than they had for ELEX 1 – I feel if they had a few more months of production some of ELEX’s shortcomings could have been fixed.
Animation is suck
is suck animation?
yes is suck
Suck is animation?
Big if true
Animation is big time suck.
Cool, I am glad it runs so well. I have it already bought at GOG and can’t wait to play it, even with it’s flaws.
No 2560x1440p benchmarks? Is this a console peasant site or what?
1440p? psshhh. wheres the 4k bench? xb1-ps4 can do 4k now even! (remembers how terrible console “4k” is;and laughs)
You must be laughing remembering consoles can barely hit 4K, and when they do it’s 30 fps with drops to the 20’s. It’s hilarious.
yeah, 30fps and stuck at 60hz on consoles, also of PC games prefer the higher frame-rates, even if it’s at 1080p.
Yeah it’s kind of… oh wait it’s not. The PS4 Pro often dips below 60 FPS. When I say 1440p on PC I’m talking about framerates over 60, I personally run 144 fps locked on a 144hz monitor with G-Sync. My PC rig is above and beyond what you’ve ever experienced, with my Occulus VR coming in this week, eh, no more time to talk to you peasant. Enjoy your 60 FPS dream 😉
No one cares about your bragging, don’t like it, go somewhere else.
You care, your name must be ‘no one’.
Considering you’re backing the cheapest, most power hungry and inefficent brands (AMD) YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE A CONSOLE PEASANT!
I just want to punch your ugly face each time I see it lmao. So much ugliness!
I’ll carry you like a baby bro don’t worry.
Couldn’t you just’ve edited your first comment instead of making two? Ahahaha
Three four five ahahahabababa
“bababa” is that how they laugh in slavic countries? At least learn to laugh like an American now since you live there. (Yeah I know shít about you)
You keep commenting as if I’ll be devistated that you don’t find me attractive. So not only are you an idiot, you might be a raging f@g with one foot out the closet too. Now give me a kiss!
Your face, it’s like that of a rats or something, can’t put my finger on what mammal it is though, definitely not homosapiens.
I’ve been trying to decide between a 1440p or 4K display (still at 1080p). It sounds like for monitors 1440p is a much better resolution. 4K is just too teeny tiny for actually working on your PC. Better to just get a TV if you want that.
Get 1440p, best middle ground, best performance.
Everything below 2160p is like your d*ck, tiny.
My duck is huge
Might buy this, looking for a Risen/Gothic style like game to play. I might have to try and get around to finishing Risen 3 as this reminds me about it.
Man, risen 3 shouldnt even be a example on how to improve a game ofcourse it will be better than risen 3.
At least it’s better than Risen 2 lol, people struggling with the knack of Risen 3’s combat that’s why, their games have always been about timing, not button mashing.and easy Batmn Arkham style combat.
I’ll wait for a sale…..still need to finish Divinity Original Sin 2(amazing so far) but it looks enjoyable…..quirks and all!
The “Pro” in PS4 Pro must be sarcasm.
Triggered!
They improve with each release, no real innovation is happening currently in any genre so you can’t ask for much. Best to just accept what they offer and enjoy it for what it is.
If it hasn’t been mentioned already, turn fog quality down to low for a 15fps boost at 1440p with no quality loss. Kinda weird.
As in, the fog still looks good but you receive the performance boost regardless? Interesting. I’ll have to check it out, thanks.
The Ultra fog setting primarily increases fog resolution, it is an odd setting, at times I can notice a difference while most of the time it does look the same, however, what is notifiable is the crazy GPU usage spike in between each fog quality preset averaging around 8-10% GPU usage increase
You have a mediocre brain bro.
Well regarding the game itself, specialized sites are calling Elex ‘a return to form from Piranha Bytes’ (RPG Codex, World of Elex forum). People are saying it captures the Gothic 1/2 feel! And the mainstream lolmedia is s*itting on the game, so it must be true.
Isn’t it strange that gpu load is at 80% in main menu and 98-99% in game regardless of settings? I wonder what’s the reason for that, because the only thing I know can cause this is rendering too many frames in advance. The game does run smoothly though.
Cannot stand when games have poor optimization in menus. There’s no reason a game should be using high GPU % while pausing the game or messing around in the menu.