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Assassin's Creed Origins Notebook and Desktop Benchmarks

CPU eater. While frame rates in games usually scale with the performance of the graphics card, Assassin’s Creed Origins also requires a fair bit of CPU power. We examine whether the hardware requirements of Assassin's Creed Origins are justified.
Assassin's Creed Origins

Technology

For the original German review, see here.

Like its predecessors Unity and Syndicate, the latest installment in the successful Assassin’s Creed series is based on Ubisoft’s in-house engine AnvilNext 2.0, which is also used by other Ubisoft titles (e.g. Rainbow Six Siege, For Honor & Ghost Recon Wildlands). These titles have done well in our technology tests in the past; that is to say, the quality of the graphics on offer was in line with the system requirements.

Assassin’s Creed Origins somewhat bucks this trend. Although demands on the GPU have hardly increased in comparison to Ghost Recon Wildlands, the demands on the processor are significantly higher without a corresponding increase in the visual display.

Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins

One sign of the game’s surprising CPU hunger is the fact that stronger GPUs only find limited performance gains when the display resolution is reduced. On the other hand, systems with identical GPUs but varying CPUs measure vastly different frame rates. There is - depending on the settings used - a difference of greater than 30 FPS (103 vs. 67 FPS @ 1280x720 & Very Low) between a desktop computer with a Core i7-6700K and a GeForce GTX 1060, and a laptop with a Core i7-6820HK and a GeForce GTX 1060, which works out to be a disparity of over 50%.

Although Origins shows good signs of “multithreading” upon inspection of the CPU under load, which in itself is a positive characteristic and speaks in favor of modernized task sharing, the fact that dual-core chips with Hyper-Threading, or quad-core chips without Hyper-Threading tend to be overstrained, and indeed, the fact that even quad core chips with eight threads working in parallel are pushed to their limits, would appear to point to rather poor optimization. As we’ve recently reported, the high CPU usage could be related to the copy protection software Denuvo, which has already been the frequent cause of negative headlines in the past.

Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins

Were we to forget for a moment the limitations of the game caused by the processor, Ubisoft delivers a thoroughly decent technical experience, which - other Assassin’s Creed titles send their regards - scores points with its lush long-range views, high quality details and harmonious lighting effects.

The Egyptian setting is very new and refreshing, which is why Origins appears to be more than just another soulless installment in the Assassin’s Creed series. It’s only in the sharpness of the textures where room for improvement could be found.

Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins

We praise the developers above all for the first-class graphics menu that is not only very clean to navigate but is also extensive. Because of the practical comparison images and explanatory texts, we will even speak about the current options, of which other companies should make note. We’ll start with the display menu, which includes brightness controls, display mode, aspect ratio, resolution, refresh rate and field of view. There is also the option to change the internally rendered resolution, as well as turn V-Sync and FPS limits on or off.

The graphics menu is especially comprehensive. Here you can find various buttons and sliders for controlling levels of detail (shadows, environment, textures, background, fog, water, characters, etc.) as well as other technical features. Along with tessellations, Origins has options for screen space reflections, ambient occlusion and volumetric clouds. The type of anti-aliasing is unfortunately undefined. We’re assuming it’s a type of post processing like TAA.

Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins

Those wanting to change the graphics settings in one click can simply use one of the preset options. There are six presets in total, four of which - Very Low, Medium, High and Ultra High - we have tested. In contrast to the wide range of graphics options available, it is somewhat of a shame that so many of them require a restart of the game. This is not too annoying in light of the skippable intro scenes, although starting the game anew takes a while even with an SSD. “Takes a while” also describes installing the game. The retail version comes with five discs, and the digital download size is roughly 37 GB (about 41 GB on the hard drive).

In contrast to other triple-A games from 2016 and 2017, Origins is by the by relatively efficient when it comes to video memory. While some titles (such as Middle-Earth: Shadow of War) already require more than 4 GB of graphics memory at maximum details at 1920x1080, the newest Assassin’s Creed title seems to be content with approximately 2.7 GB. The current usage at any stage can easily be read off the VRAM display.

Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins

Benchmarks

A game with so many graphics options also has in turn so many ways to analyze and measure performance using the integrated benchmarking tools. With the exception of Watch Dogs 2, this feature is shared by all of Ubisoft’s recent triple-A games (Ghost Recon Wildlands, For Honor, The Division, Far Cry Primal, Rainbow Six Siege), although none of their benchmarks are quite as detailed as in Origins.

In addition to showing the most important hardware information (CPU, GPU, API, drivers), the utilization, or rather the temperature of the processor and the graphics card can also be displayed with a push of the F1 key. There is, of course, also an FPS indicator.

Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins
Assassin's Creed Origins

At the end of the almost two-minute tracking shot, whose performance - as far as we can tell - is geared towards actual gameplay, there appears an informative summary that breaks down the performance into multiple levels. A similar feature exists in the game itself, with which one can analyze the frame rates of the past 30 seconds.

Frame rates should be on average at least 35-40 for one to reasonably be able to enjoy the Origins experience. Unfortunately, the minimum FPS given by the benchmark tests don’t really carry much weight because of its extreme variance. One should also be careful about using Fraps; in our tests, Fraps caused the mouse speed (keywords: camera navigation) to constantly vary, making normal gameplay impossible.

Results

Although Assassin’s Creed Origins could be better optimized here and there, a high-end PC/laptop is not necessarily needed for the Egyptian adventure. The game is playable with mid-range graphics cards such as the GeForce MX150 on a resolution of at least 1280x720 and minimum graphics settings.

Very Low
Very Low
Low
Low
Medium
Medium
High
High
Very High
Very High
Ultra High
Ultra High

On the other hand, those expecting a resolution of 1920x1080 and mid to high settings must have a graphics chip on par with the GeForce GTX 1050. The highest settings in Full HD call for a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or better. For Quad HD (2560x1440) and preset ultra graphics settings, one’s computer should have at least a GeForce GTX 1060. At 4K resolution (3840x2160), we recommend a GeForce GTX 1080.

Assassin´s Creed Origins
    3840x2160 Ultra High Preset     2560x1440 Ultra High Preset     1920x1080 Ultra High Preset     1920x1080 High Preset     1920x1080 Medium Preset     1280x720 Very Low Preset
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop), 4790K
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition
49 (31min) fps ∼25%
79 (42min) fps ∼28%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop), 6700K
Desktop PC
40 (12min) fps ∼20%
66 (26min) fps ∼24%
78 (31min) fps ∼27%
91 (42min) fps ∼27%
93 (51min) fps ∼27%
101 (55min) fps ∼27%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile, i7-7820HK
Alienware 17 R4
38 (15min) fps ∼19%
63 (24min) fps ∼23%
70 (27min) fps ∼25%
79 (35min) fps ∼23%
80 (41min) fps ∼23%
87 (50min) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop), 6700K
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070
33 (10min) fps ∼17%
57 (31min) fps ∼21%
73 (32min) fps ∼26%
87 (35min) fps ∼25%
91 (40min) fps ∼26%
103 (63min) fps ∼28%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile, 6820HK
Asus G752VS
31 (6min) fps ∼16%
52 (9min) fps ∼19%
63 (13min) fps ∼22%
70 (21min) fps ∼20%
72 (31min) fps ∼21%
78 (37min) fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop), 6700K
Desktop PC
23 (13min) fps ∼12%
41 (16min) fps ∼15%
57 (26min) fps ∼20%
68 (26min) fps ∼20%
76 (42min) fps ∼22%
103 (47min) fps ∼28%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK
MSI GT62VR
22 (5min) fps ∼11%
39 (7min) fps ∼14%
50 (10min) fps ∼18%
60 (11min) fps ∼17%
62 (13min) fps ∼18%
67 (23min) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980, 6700K
Desktop PC
19 (5min) fps ∼10%
34 (6min) fps ∼12%
54 (19min) fps ∼19%
64 (33min) fps ∼19%
70 (42min) fps ∼20%
103 (53min) fps ∼28%
AMD Radeon RX 480 (Desktop), 4790K
AMD Radeon RX 480 8 GB Reference
23 (8min) fps ∼12%
51 (22min) fps ∼18%
56 (27min) fps ∼16%
59 (31min) fps ∼17%
68 (44min) fps ∼18%
AMD Radeon RX 470 (Desktop), 4790K
MSI RX 470 Gaming X 4GB
14 (2min) fps ∼7%
44 (19min) fps ∼15%
52 (23min) fps ∼15%
57 (25min) fps ∼16%
66 (30min) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i7-7700HQ
MSI GE72 7RE-046
4 (2min) fps ∼2%
20 (4min) fps ∼7%
28 (14min) fps ∼10%
38 (22min) fps ∼11%
45 (14min) fps ∼13%
77 (31min) fps ∼21%
AMD Radeon RX 460 (Desktop), 4790K
XFX RX-460P4DFG5 Double Dissipation 4 GB
8 (1min) fps ∼4%
27 (9min) fps ∼10%
32 (11min) fps ∼9%
37 (13min) fps ∼11%
62 (27min) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ
Asus GL753VD
10 (4min) fps ∼5%
21 (14min) fps ∼8%
29 (16min) fps ∼10%
35 (18min) fps ∼10%
40 (23min) fps ∼11%
66 (25min) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M, 6700HQ
MSI GE72 965M Ti
4 (3min) fps ∼2%
24 (13min) fps ∼8%
30 (14min) fps ∼9%
35 (13min) fps ∼10%
64 (25min) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M, 6700HQ
MSI PE60 2QD
16 (11min) fps ∼6%
21 (12min) fps ∼6%
25 (14min) fps ∼7%
47 (28min) fps ∼13%
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-7700HQ
MSI PL62
12 (2min) fps ∼4%
17 (7min) fps ∼5%
22 (8min) fps ∼6%
47 (10min) fps ∼13%
NVIDIA GeForce 940MX, 6700HQ
MSI CX72 6QD
8 (5min) fps ∼3%
10 (7min) fps ∼3%
12 (5min) fps ∼3%
25 (18min) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce 940M, 5700HQ
MSI GP62 2QD
10 (7min) fps ∼3%
12 (5min) fps ∼3%
25 (14min) fps ∼7%
AMD Radeon R9 M280X, FX-7600P
Asus N551ZU-CN007H
15 (4min) fps ∼4%
Intel HD Graphics 630, i7-7700HQ
MSI PL62
7 (3min) fps ∼2%
10 (5min) fps ∼3%

Overview

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed Origins
 Assassin´s Creed Origins (2017)
low
1280x720
Very Low Preset
med.
1920x1080
Medium Preset
high
1920x1080
High Preset
ultra
1920x1080
Ultra High Preset
QHD
2560x1440
Ultra High Preset
4K
3840x2160
Ultra High Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
264
246
243
210
198
142
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
185
170
167
145
131
91
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super
263n2
246n2
234n2
208n2
174n2
118n2
AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT
182
144
134
114
90
58
NVIDIA Titan RTX
115
104
102
87
65
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop)
146n2
131n2
125.5n2
106.5n2
92.5n2
63.5n2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU
149
126
118
102
82
52
Intel Arc A770
78
66
64
57
52
38
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super (Desktop)
108
97
94
82
76
53
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop)
115n2
104n2
102n2
86.5n2
79
51.5n2
AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT
125
89
89
73
59
37
Intel Arc A750
78
65
63
56
50
37
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)
79
49
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal
105
95
93
84
56
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop)
124n2
106.5n2
101.5n2
86n2
73.5n2
48n2
AMD Radeon VII
75
70
68
63
49
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Desktop)
74
69
68
63
61
39
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop)
113n3
102n3
98n3
83n3
72n2
46n3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop)
101
93
91
76.5n2
66
38.5n2
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed Origins
low med. high ultra QHD 4K
Intel Arc A580
83
73
71
63
56
39
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop)
126n2
104n2
98n2
83.5n2
68.5n2
43.5n2
AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Desktop)
74
69
68
63
56
35
AMD Radeon RX 6600M
109
107
107
85
68
37
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile
84
72
71
64
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q
82
72.5n2
65.5n2
61
39
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop)
113
97
92
78
39
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
80.5n12
75n12
73.5n12
66.5n12
34n12
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile
87
80
92n4
79.5n4
63
38.5n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (Desktop)
103
92
88
75
58
34
AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
71
66
64
59
52
33
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop)
107n2
92.5n2
86.5n2
72n3
57
32n3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q
71
66
62
58
52
35
AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56
70
65
57
33
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile
83n2
74.5n2
77n5
67n5
53n2
31.5n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (Desktop)
113
91
84
71
55
33
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super (Desktop)
136
90
83
69
54
33
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti
60
28
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q
66.5n2
58.5n2
66.5n4
57n4
26
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
103
70
64
54
34
19
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed Origins
low med. high ultra QHD 4K
AMD Radeon RX 590 (Desktop)
78
67
62
53
25
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Desktop)
66.5n2
58n2
54.5n2
46n2
22n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop)
103
76
68
57
41
23
AMD Radeon RX 570 (Desktop)
78
59
54
46
35
21
AMD Radeon RX 480 (Desktop)
68
59
56
51
23
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
67
68n2
60n5
50n5
39
22
AMD Radeon RX 5500M
41
35
AMD Radeon RX 580 (Laptop)
50
44
43
37
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Desktop)
102
63
57
47
33
17
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q
77
67
62
52
21
AMD Radeon RX 470 (Desktop)
66
57
52
44
14
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
69
55
50
42
16
AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH
64
45
42
34
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile
63n2
43.5n2
39n3
33n3
23n2
4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M
71
45
40
33
22
9
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q
58
41
33
27
13
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile
60.5n2
35n2
28.5n2
22n2
21
10
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q
59
40
35
28
11
AMD Radeon RX 460 (Desktop)
62
37
32
27
8
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M
64
35
30
24
4
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed Origins
low med. high ultra QHD 4K
AMD Radeon RX 560 (Laptop)
36
23
19
9
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
51
29
23
18
13
AMD Radeon Pro 555
45
24
20
NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop)
46
22
17
13
NVIDIA GeForce MX150
44n3
20n3
16.5n2
12
Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs
32
17
11
AMD Radeon RX 540
38.5n2
19.5n2
22
15
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100
28
11
9
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M
47
25
21
16
AMD Radeon RX Vega 11
41n3
23n3
19n3
AMD Radeon R9 M280X
15
NVIDIA GeForce MX130
29.5n2
13n2
10n2
7
NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
23n2
11n2
10
8
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)
19n3
15.5n2
11
8
NVIDIA GeForce 940M
25
12
10
NVIDIA GeForce 930MX
23
10
9
7
AMD Radeon R9 M375
24
13
12
10
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655
13
NVIDIA GeForce 930M
21
NVIDIA GeForce MX110
22
10
8
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed Origins
low med. high ultra QHD 4K
NVIDIA GeForce 920MX
22
10
8
6
Intel UHD Graphics 630
10
7
Intel HD Graphics 630
10
7
AMD Radeon R5 (Bristol Ridge)
10
6
Intel UHD Graphics 620
9
5
Intel HD Graphics 620
8
AMD Radeon R5 M255
16
AMD Radeon RX Vega 3
13
7
Intel HD Graphics 520
8
5
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M
10
Intel HD Graphics 4600
7
Intel HD Graphics 5500
6
Intel HD Graphics 615
7
Intel HD Graphics 610
7
Intel HD Graphics 4400
5
Intel HD Graphics 505
2
(-) * Smaller values are better. / n123 Number of benchmarks for this median value / * Approximate position

 

Legend
5Stutters – This game is very likely to stutter and have poor frame rates. Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, average frame rates are expected to fall below 25fps
May Stutter – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, stutters and poor frame rates are expected.
30Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 58fps
May Run Fluently – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, fluent frame rates are expected.
?Uncertain – This graphics card experienced unexpected performance issues during testing for this game. A slower card may be able to achieve better and more consistent frame rates than this particular GPU running the same benchmark scene.
Uncertain – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game and no reliable interpolation can be made based on the performances of surrounding cards of the same class or family.
The value in the fields displays the average frame rate of all values in the database. Move your cursor over the value to see individual results.

Test Systems

Device Graphics Card CPU RAM Operating System
Desktop-PC I MSI GeForce GTX 1080 (8 GB GDDR5X)
MSI GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB GDDR5)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 (4 GB GDDR5)
Intel Core i7-6700K 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop-PC II Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (11 GB GDDR5X)
Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti (6 GB GDDR5)
XFX Radeon R9 Fury (4 GB HBM)
Sapphire Radeon R9 290X (4 GB GDDR5)
Sapphire Radeon R9 280X (3 GB GDDR5)
MSI Radeon R7 370 (2 GB GDDR5)
Intel Core i7-4790K 2 x 4 GB DDR3 Windows 10 64 Bit
Alienware 17 R4 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 (8 GB GDDR5X) Intel Core i7-7820HK 2 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Asus G752VS Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-6820HK 2 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GT62VR Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-6820HK 4 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GE72 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2 x 4 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Asus GL753VD Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (4 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GL62 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (2 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2 x 4 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GE72 Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M (2 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-6700HQ 1 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI PE60 Nvidia GeForce GTX 950M (2 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2 x 4 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI PL62 Nvidia GeForce MX150 (2 GB GDDR5) Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI CX72 Nvidia GeForce 940MX (2 GB DDR3) Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP62 Nvidia GeForce 940M (2 GB DDR3) Intel Core i7-5700HQ 1 x 8 GB DDR3 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI CX61 Nvidia GeForce 920M (2 GB DDR3) Intel Celeron 2970M 1 x 8 GB DDR3 Windows 10 64 Bit
Asus N551ZU AMD Radeon R9 M280X (4 GB GDDR5) AMD FX-7600P 2 x 4 GB DDR3 Windows 10 64 Bit
4K Monitor Nvidia Driver AMD Driver
2 x Asus PB287Q, Philips 328P6VJEB ForceWare 388.00 Crimson 17.10.3
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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Assassin's Creed Origins Notebook and Desktop Benchmarks
Florian Glaser, 2017-11- 8 (Update: 2017-11- 8)