Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the first-party PS4 games that Sony decided to bring on the PC. Powered by the Decima Engine, the game uses the DirectX 12 API and comes with a number of AMD PC features. As such, it’s time now to benchmark it 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 and RX Vega 64, NVIDIA’s RTX 2080Ti and GTX980Ti. We also used Windows 10 64-bit, the GeForce driver 451.67 and the Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.8.1 drivers. Now the reason we did not test our GTX690 is simple. Horizon Zero Dawn requires at least 3GB of VRAM, and Guerrilla has listed the GTX780 as the minimum required GPU. Thus, the game cannot run – at least properly – on the GTX680 and the GTX690.
The team responsible for the PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn was Virtuos (who worked closely with Guerrilla Games). As we can see below, the teams have added a respectable amount of graphics settings. PC gamers can adjust the quality of Textures, Models, Anisotropic Filtering, Shadows, Reflections, Clouds and Ambient Occlusion. There are also options for Motion Blur and Anti-aliasing, as well as a FOV slider, Render Scaler and FPS limiter.
Now before continuing, do note that the game’s Original/Medium settings are similar to those of the PS4 version. In other words, these are the High settings we usually find in other multi-platform triple-A games. Also, the in-game Anisotropic Filtering setting is not working so we suggest forcing it via your AMD/NVIDIA Control Panel. Furthermore, CPU usage/utilization hits 100% during the initial Shader Compilation, therefore you may experience some crashes if you have an unstable CPU overclock.
While the game comes with a built-in benchmark, we’ve decided to benchmark the following in-game scene. This scene is one of the most demanding areas we could find in the first two hours, and we always prefer testing the most demanding scenes in our benchmarks. We also lowered our settings to Original/PS4 (and our resolution to 800×600) in order to avoid any possible GPU bottleneck.
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. As said, Horizon Zero Dawn uses DX12 and as we can see, it can scale on all 16 threads of our Intel i9 9900K. Furthermore, and to my surprise, the game was actually playable on a dual-core system. Without Hyper Threading, our simulated dual-core system pushed a minimum of 27fps and an average of 38fps. Not only that, but we did not experience any major stutters. When we enabled Hyper Threading, our minimum and average framerates increased to 45fps and 53fps, respectively.
What’s also interesting here is that the game performs smoothly on older-generation CPUs. Our Intel i7 4930K had no trouble at all running the game with 60fps at 1080p/Ultimate settings. Yes, this particular CPU was holding back the RTX2080Ti at 1080p. However, we could still get a constant 60fps experience. Needless to say that at 1440p and 4K we were limited mostly by our GPU and not by our older-gen Intel CPU.
Now while Horizon Zero Dawn can run comfortably on a wide range of CPUs, it does require a powerful GPU. The only graphics card that was able to run the game with 60fps at 1080p/Ultimate settings was the RTX2080Ti. Additionally, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 performs horribly in this particular game. While the AMD Radeon RX580 performs great, the Vega 64 was slightly faster than the NVIDIA GTX980Ti. We really don’t know what the hell is going on here as Vega 64 should be significantly faster than both the RX580 and the GTX980Ti.
Now while the RTX2080Ti was the only GPU that could offer a constant 60fps experience at 1080p/Ultimate, we also benchmarked the game at 1080p/Original settings. And, thankfully, both the GTX980Ti and the Vega 64 were able to offer a smooth experience. Both of these GPUs had some drops to 54fps, however the game felt smooth for the most part.
Similarly to our 1080p/Ultimate benchmarks, our 1440p/Ultimate tests show the RTX2080Ti pushing a constant 67fps experience. As for 4K, NVIDIA’s most powerful GPU was able to push a minimum of 44fps and an average of 49fps.
In order to get a constant 65fps experience at a custom 4K resolution (3328×1872), we used the following graphics settings. By using these settings, our framerate was higher than 65fps at all times. Furthermore, the graphical difference between these settings and the game’s default Ultimate settings is minimal. Thus, we suggest using them in order to hit higher framerates at 4K resolutions.
Graphics-wise, Horizon Zero Dawn looks great. This is easily one of the most beautiful open-world games to date, and looks better than other open-world games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Guerrilla and Virtuos have used a lot of high-resolution textures in the PC version, and players can now interact with all foliage/grass. Still, the game suffers from some ridiculous 30fps animations, as well as some stutters when a UI element updates for a quest.
Before closing, we’d like to mention the good mouse and keyboard implementation. The game does not suffer from any mouse acceleration or smoothing issues. The game also displays proper K&M on-screen prompts. Aiming and firing Aloy’s bow with the mouse feels great, and you can now kill the enemy robots with ease.
All in all, Horizon Zero Dawn can run fine on specific PC configurations. However, the game does appear to have some optimization issues on older GPUs. And, in our opinion, that’s the biggest problem with Horizon Zero Dawn; its GPU scalability. While the game runs fine on the RTX2080Ti, it performs horribly on the Vega 64. Performance on the GTX980Ti is not that great too, as it’s slightly faster than the RX580. Theoretically, both of these GPUs should be noticeably faster than the RX580. This could be due to the fact that Horizon Zero Dawn uses, extensively, Asynchronous Compute. So yeah, there is definitely room for improvement here, no doubt about that. After all, this isn’t a perfect PC port or one of the most optimized PC games of 2020. However, it’s also nowhere close to being described as one of the worst PC ports/games of recent years.
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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RTX 2060 – I have all settings set to ultra except for shadows. Blur is off. I get about 45-50frames per second at 1440p which is good enough for me because I am a graphics wh0re.
A 2060 should’ve been able to give 1440p60 locked in this game
Yeah keep dreaming ??
Just because there are reported problems… doesn’t mean every single person is getting them.
I have everything set to ultra. The original playstation mode is about medium. It looks pretty damn nice and runs smooth. Might play with settings and tone another thing down a hair for a full 60. will report back
Lol at this “analysis”. Johnny boy read Durante’s article and copied most of it and then added some false facts.
Not more nonsensical than infected zombies, mutant monsters, Cyclopes, vampires, dragons, Mr. X, ion blasters, magic spells, silver swords etc. etc.
Great game, an awesome open world.
Is a poor’s man Dinotopia…but with dinorobots and people looking like natives-cavemen that use high tech tools…a weird mix.
That’s your opinion, and I don’t have any problem with it. I would never claim that you should like a game just because I like it.
Very appealing one that obviously cauggt the attention of a lot of people, you seems to be the weirdo for not liking it
Lol, seriously, bud? This is your proof that video game zombies really exist? Seriously? (like in Serious Sam, he carries a whole freaking arsenal on his back, including a cannon)
And how about the rest of my list?
When Doom Eternal was released did you complain about all those demons? No, you didn’t? They make sense to you?
That’s what I love about video games, they allow you to enact any fantasy, often very different from real life.
Xbox mckracken speccy
BS. The game should run better across all GPUs. The RX 580 should have no trouble at all with 1080p 60 at ps4 settings. It’s a card that’s more powerful than the ps4 pro, trading blows with an Xbox one x.
This game should be running 20 to 30 per cent faster than now across all cards and settings. And while it has great graphics I’d argue that the latest Assassin’s Creed games, hell even a modded witcher 3 looks better. And I can run that at 1800p 30 fps on an RX580
I have 50-70 FPS at 1440p on my mix of ultra and medium settings. GTX 1070 and I7 2600K 4.5GHZ. I like the game so far but i have like only 5 h in this game.
Please, it’s confirmed that the game has negative mouse acceleration at framerates above 30fps. Stop kissing this game’s butt, DSO.
Typical AMD: they optimized the game to only work for their latest GPUs (RDNA architecture), whereas all other cards (including those with the older GCN architecture such as Vega) are left in the cold and suffer from sub-par performance. They are even more ruthless than Nvidia. Where is the fabled “AMD fine wine” now, lol?
I don’t want to say this, but game just launched. Give it time for a few more patches and driver updates.
I hope you are right
So basically you say to pay the dollars later? Because they are asking the price now.
“We are having a broken launch boss, what to do?”
“Well, we will fix it later, fire away guys!”
“But it’s 50 dollars sir.”
“Hah, we already got Sony money, those PC peasants can endure.”
“Allright, launching the build now sir.”
“Serves them right.”
You don’t have to buy it now or ever. Stop being so entitled.
In the Digital Foundry vid AMD ran better though!
How is this AMD’s fault? It was designed to milk every ounce of power from the PS4 and was optimized as such. AMD had nothing to do with it, aside from making the processor they chose for the console (years before). It should be expected that a game designed for only one system with so much care would run like this, especially once ported by a third party known for crappy PC ports.
Typical AMD? Is 580 RDNA? It runs well on it… Obviously in 2020 it will be optimized for the most recent tech, but it really is more about the tech features the FX things…
You seems a typical nvidia user who has no knowledge, thinking that a 970 completely unbalanced architecture should be running this game very well. LOL
Hope Guerilla/Sony respond quickly to the problems. It will be a testing ground for them for sure.
Btw this is one of the very few titles with a stunning HDR implementation. Not blowing out blacks or washing out the colours by altering the gamma and contrast. Everything is vibrant and clean and feel like an enhancement over the SDR picture, not a downgrade.
I honestly don’t understand the HDR hype and why people love this sh*t so much. It looks washed out and unnatural. I’ll never understand the hype of HDR.
I turned HDR off when I had this game on Pro
What display/TV do you have; It looks amazing on a LG C9.
First of all, it depends on the game itself and your TV/monitor. Not all games have great HDR and not all displays have good support for it.
It can also be very finicky with settings. You have to adjust it properly based on your display’s capabilities. Unfortunately it’s not a simple on/off toggle.
Right now there are a lot of problems and confusions but when done right, it can look really incredible (provided you have the right display too).
i’m not even talking about HDR in games brother, just HDR in general and games included. It just looks fake and very unnatural. I just rather my Full RGB spectrum, natural whites & Blacks.
In general I consider HDR far superior to the standard picture. Especially Dolby Vision in movies. They just look so much better on my setup that I can’t imagine going back to SDR.
Just bear in mind to see the benefits you need a good display. Imo only OLED and QLED TV’s can provide the true experience. Mid-range TV’s and even expensive HDR PC monitors can’t even come close…
Probably because you have never used a good HDR display.
Anyone claiming that this is not a bad port is out of their minds. A thousand dollar GPU not intended for 1080p can only push the game too 120fps on the original ps4 settings ? THe same ps4 that is weaker than a 970 ? Yeah, sure great otimization.
Even my 2070 SUPER can’t maintain stable 60 FPS on ultra settings… on f*cking 1080p!
It’s a very hit and miss problem. Honestly no problems for me.
I was saying the same thing. If I can hit 130-165fps in The Witcher 3, Borderlands 3, GTAV, Dying Light, CoD Warzone and other open world games at 1080p/med-high settings with i7/1080TI then I should be able to hit those same frames with Horizon.
So a 2080TI should be pushing like 200fps+ at 1080p/med-high settings. This port is bad and it’s ok to admit that. I already refunded. Will be waiting for patches and a sale per usual.
so, how many armor suit that girl can using it ??
is there a crossbow ?? sniper rifle ??
why a bow can kill a giant full metal armor of robot ??
Multiple armors, but I look forward to a sequel which hopefully might include more armor and possible armor crafting.
It’s complicated, but there’s different types of arrows and effects they have, and there are weak points on the dinos.
Nice work John. And fast.
1440P/60 fps mixed high/ultra, no AA, 3770K @ 4.2, 32GB DDR3 1866, GTX 1080. Runs smooth surprisingly.
Also running on older drivers. I just ignore the warning.
They are using new AMD technology, I bet this game will run well only on next gen RDNA 2 cards.
I hope you are wrong since that would be bad news for gamers and consumers
Not a single respectable reviewer uses minimum framerate, because it was proven time and time again that it is misleading with barely any informational value.
“high res textures”, yeah sure, on characters, but everything else is sporting the same exact textures as the PS4P btw.
Why test with a Vega 64 when some of the AMD features and optimizations are RDNA architecture specific? (as states by AMD). Throw in a 5700XT and 5500XT in there atleast.
I’m running it at 3440×1440 with a mix of ultra and medium setting, getting a solid 70-84 FPS and the game looks great. Very atmospheric at times. I haven’t noticed a singel glitch as of yet (2 hours playtime).
“simulating” cores is lunacy. Just buy one Ryzen already and put IT to the testbed
10 here on my end +-
So, a 5.3GHz 8700K with the cache at 5GHz, 32GB’s of 4133MHzCL17 Sammy B-die and a Sapphire Nitro+ RX 5700XT Special Edition should run quite nice.
I honestly dont know why you all are having these types of stuttering issue I have over 8 hours in the game now, and not once have I ever experienced that. and I’m on a 4K 32 in monitor, everything set to Ultra settings on an EVGA 2080 Super FTW card, intel i9-9900K. maintaining 48 fps constantly.
Id be very curious to know what type of hardware you all are running on and if your running the game on an M.2 fast drive.
My guess it is a ryzen related issue.
Refunded mine, I’ll wait to see if they ever manage to fix the numerous issues and maybe pick it up in a cheap sale.
men i am tired of this testing, like everybody has a fu 2080ti, stop testing with last video card, test with 2060S or 2070S, 5700xt, if this card can ran a game, that means a game is optimize and i don’t need to spend fu 1200euro minimu for a video card, and is a single player you finish it and its done, you dont to spend so much money for 40 h of a game play, you forgot how was 60 fps, i was so damn happy, now if a game doesn’t run 144, i need to change the video card or i need i9, 3900x, cant play games on i5 or 3600, i7, the prices are because of YOU, people are retarded this days!