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Call of Duty Vanguard Performance Analysis

Old weaknesses, new strengths. Unlike its predecessors, Call of Duty Vanguard tries to do something new. We conducted our performance analysis to determine the system requirements.
Call of Duty Vanguard

Technology

At first glance, Vanguard appears to have all of the problems and issues which we saw in the previous CoD titles – in terms of both gameplay and technology. The textures still take a while to load in after a fresh start (sometimes it takes minutes for all high-resolution assets to load). This is quite annoying. Connecting to the servers still takes a while as well. The single-player mode is replete with AI bugs once again.

Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard

The game size has shrunk considerably, which is a major positive. While Black Ops Cold War took up over 200 GB of storage space, Vanguard needs ''only'' 65 GB (with the Warzone mode installed). The graphics menu has been reworked. Now there are dedicated tabs, which means that gamers will not have to do as much scrolling as before.

Finally, after years of criticism, there are graphics presets. This saves time for ordinary gamers and also makes benchmarking easier. Another major positive: A restart is not required for graphics changes to take effect.

Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard

There is not much to criticise about the graphics menu. There are images and text descriptions which help elucidate what each setting does. While the gameplay tab is relatively unimpressive, the Display tab contains all the usual settings (resolution, frame rate limiter, HDR, …).

The Quality tab takes the cake, though. It contains over 30 settings. The effect which they have on the visuals varies greatly. Gamers have an opportunity to do a lot of tinkering if they so desire. Call of Duty Vanguard supports DLSS and FidelityFX but no ray tracing.

Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard

There is also a VRAM gauge, according to which the game requires at least 2 GB of VRAM at 1080p and low settings, over 3 GB of video memory at medium settings and 5 GB at high/ultra settings – neither too much nor too little when compared to other modern titles.

Visually, Call of Duty Vanguard has made many strides forward. The vegetation density, level of detail, (weather) effects, animations and the character models all impress. Destructibility is another noteworthy element of CoD Vanguard (barricades, walls, etc., can be destroyed). All in all, the visuals can be characterised as good to very good.

Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard

Gameplay-wise, Call of Duty Vanguard appears to be a step in the right direction, at least in our opinion. Instead of an endless stream of mindless shootouts, Vanguard offers gripping video sequences, decent narratives and character development, which is unusual for a first-person shooter. Just like Warzone, Vanguard feels great in motion. The gunplay is superb as well.

Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
Call of Duty Vanguard
 

Benchmark

Because of wide swings in performance (depending on the level, NPC density and amount of effects on screen), Call of Duty Vanguard is not easy to benchmark. We decided to set our benchmark at the beginning of the mission known as ''The Battle of Midway''. Our 50-second benchmark sequence takes place aboard an aircraft carrier (see the video below). We record performance statistics using CapFrameX.

Because Call of Duty Vanguard is a first-person shooter, it requires at least 60 FPS for an enjoyable gaming experience.

Results

The benchmarks were conducted mainly using the laptops which our partners MSI and XMG (Schenker Technologies) lent us.

FHD (1920x1080)

To run CoD Vanguard at 1080p, gamers will need at least a lower mid-range graphics card. The GPUs on the level of the GeForce GTX 1650 (Ti) can handle the title on the low/medium preset. To achieve decent frame rates at high or ultra settings, you will need a graphics card with more than 4 GB of VRAM (GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or Radeon RX 5600M).

Call of Duty Vanguard
    1920x1080 Low Preset     1920x1080 Medium Preset     1920x1080 High Preset     1920x1080 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
194 (108min, 132P0.1, 149P1) fps ∼31%
188 (87.1min, 111P0.1, 132P1) fps ∼29%
185 (113min, 128P0.1, 144P1) fps ∼29%
174 (94.9min, 118P0.1, 136P1) fps ∼27%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
189 (98.1min, 118P0.1, 139P1) fps ∼30%
179 (103min, 117P0.1, 137P1) fps ∼27%
176 (89.1min, 105P0.1, 124P1) fps ∼28%
161 (68.8min, 98.2P0.1, 115P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
168 (88.2min, 116P0.1, 134P1) fps ∼27%
157 (100min, 116P0.1, 126P1) fps ∼24%
144 (90.8min, 103P0.1, 111P1) fps ∼23%
131 (68min, 95.5P0.1, 104P1) fps ∼20%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
149 (109min, 112P0.1, 122P1) fps ∼24%
138 (93.5min, 106P0.1, 116P1) fps ∼21%
118 (72.7min, 86.3P0.1, 93.7P1) fps ∼19%
107 (69.1min, 81P0.1, 86.1P1) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
144 (58.7min, 100P0.1, 118P1) fps ∼23%
136 (78.3min, 98.9P0.1, 110P1) fps ∼21%
125 (70.5min, 90.9P0.1, 101P1) fps ∼20%
114 (44min, 82.9P0.1, 93.6P1) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
132 (73min, 80P0.1, 98.1P1) fps ∼21%
121 (62.8min, 73.4P0.1, 93P1) fps ∼18%
99.3 (49.6min, 70.2P0.1, 77.5P1) fps ∼16%
89.8 (59.2min, 65.1P0.1, 71.2P1) fps ∼14%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP
98.5 (60.5min, 74.8P0.1, 78.6P1) fps ∼16%
89.4 (65.8min, 73.6P0.1, 77.1P1) fps ∼14%
58.2 (25.3min, 43.2P0.1, 45.7P1) fps ∼9%
53.4 (38.9min, 40.3P0.1, 42P1) fps ∼8%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
Dell G5 15 SE
88.5 (56.7min, 65.4P0.1, 70.2P1) fps ∼14%
81.8 (29.5min, 59.1P0.1, 64.5P1) fps ∼12%
69.4 (19.8min, 51.6P0.1, 56.8P1) fps ∼11%
64.2 (36min, 47.5P0.1, 51.5P1) fps ∼10%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H
MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD
76.6 (23.3min, 24.1P0.1, 26.3P1) fps ∼12%
72.9 (24.3min, 25.1P0.1, 27.1P1) fps ∼11%
59.7 (24.3min, 26P0.1, 30.1P1) fps ∼9%
55.8 (23.6min, 25.1P0.1, 30P1) fps ∼9%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GP75
70.6 (56.6min, 57.3P0.1, 59.1P1) fps ∼11%
66.1 (46.4min, 54.2P0.1, 55.9P1) fps ∼10%
44.8 (31.4min, 34.4P0.1, 36.2P1) fps ∼7%
41.9 (30.8min, 33.4P0.1, 35.3P1) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GL75
64.5 (40min, 52P0.1, 55.2P1) fps ∼10%
59.8 (40.1min, 46.7P0.1, 50P1) fps ∼9%
33.9 (22.9min, 23.5P0.1, 24.7P1) fps ∼5%
33.4 (19min, 23.1P0.1, 24.9P1) fps ∼5%

QHD (2560x1440)

At 1440p and high settings, playable frame rates can be achieved with a high-end GPU such as the GeForce RTX 3060.

Call of Duty Vanguard
    2560x1440 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
138 (86.7min, 99P0.1, 110P1) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
126 (84.8min, 90.5P0.1, 98.8P1) fps ∼22%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
98.1 (68.9min, 74.6P0.1, 81P1) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
83.5 (61.1min, 66.4P0.1, 71P1) fps ∼14%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
77.7 (56.4min, 60.7P0.1, 65.2P1) fps ∼13%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
63.2 (2.32min, 50.4P0.1, 52.7P1) fps ∼11%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
Dell G5 15 SE
45.1 (22.8min, 34.1P0.1, 36.5P1) fps ∼8%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H
MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD
42.2 (24.8min, 27.4P0.1, 32.1P1) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GP75
28 (23.4min, 23.7P0.1, 24P1) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GL75
23.3 (16.8min, 17.2P0.1, 17.5P1) fps ∼4%

UHD (3840x2160)

At 4K, the most powerful laptop GPUs reach their limits. Even The GeForce RTX 3080 (Mobile) cannot crack the 60 FPS mark. Desktop graphics cards fare significantly better because they have much higher TGPs. 

Call of Duty Vanguard
    3840x2160 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
84.8 (53.3min, 69P0.1, 72.9P1) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
77.7 (43.8min, 60.5P0.1, 65.7P1) fps ∼16%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
56.8 (46.7min, 48P0.1, 50.1P1) fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
48.1 (37.3min, 41.1P0.1, 43P1) fps ∼10%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
43.8 (37.2min, 37.9P0.1, 39.2P1) fps ∼9%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
34.4 (28.3min, 29.1P0.1, 30.2P1) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H
MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD
22 (14.6min, 15.7P0.1, 17.3P1) fps ∼4%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
Dell G5 15 SE
21.8 (9.21min, 15.1P0.1, 17.2P1) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GP75
14.4 (11.2min, 11.3P0.1, 11.7P1) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GL75
12.6 (5.13min, 5.29P0.1, 9.71P1) fps ∼3%

Note

Because benchmarking video games is very time consuming and is often constrained by installation/activation limits, at the time of publishing, we were able to provide only a part of our performance analysis of Call of Duty Vanguard. Other graphics cards will be added in the coming days and weeks.

Overview

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >Call of Duty Vanguard
 Call of Duty Vanguard (2021)
low
1280x720
Low Preset
med.
1920x1080
Medium Preset
high
1920x1080
High Preset
ultra
1920x1080
Ultra Preset
QHD
2560x1440
Ultra Preset
4K
3840x2160
Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
286
329
301
239
161.4
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
178.6
264
276
251
190.7
118.9
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti
195.5n2
207n2
191.2n2
149.9n2
93.7n2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
116
180n2
182n2
170n2
133.5n2
83.4n2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
179
176
161
126
77.7
AMD Radeon RX 6800
115
170
164
147
107
61.3
NVIDIA Titan RTX
113
153
144
133
100
59.6
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
157
144
131
98.1
56.8
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
137
167
145
90.2n2
94
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU
136
125
114
83.5
48.1
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
101.65n2
91.5
135.7
115.7
98.8
80.5
AMD Radeon RX 6800M
116
136
120
107
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
125
139
115
102
71.1
36.1
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU
138
118
107
77.7
43.8
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
102
113
96.3
86.8
62.2
35.6
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal
101
114
113
95
72
45
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop)
106
119
102
92.2
67.6
38.8
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Desktop)
95.1
126
110
101
71.7
37.3
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU
121
99.3
89.8
63.2
34.4
PosModel< PrevNext >Call of Duty Vanguard
low med. high ultra QHD 4K
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop)
102
109
90.3
82
59.2
33.3
AMD Radeon RX 6600
121
125
97.6
87
59.5
28.8
AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Desktop)
82.9
110
97.2
91
63.8
34.2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
91.3
93
73.7
65.5
47.4
24.1
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (Desktop)
81.8
104
91.1
84.4
58.6
30.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (Desktop)
95.7
89.6
72
64
46.9
24.3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super (Desktop)
92.2
85.7
67.4
53.5
38.7
21.9
AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT
102
87.1
34.9
31.4
22.8
3.18
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (Desktop)
76.6
84.1
61.1
57.5
38.9
20.7
AMD Radeon RX 5600M
81.8
69.4
64.2
45.1
21.8
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile
72.9
59.7
55.8
42.2
22
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
89.4
58.2
53.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (Desktop)
89.8
80.5
62.7
55.8
40.1
21.6
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super (Desktop)
85.7
63.1
74.6
63.7
53.6
38.9
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
72.6
56.1
41.1
36.6
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile
66.1
44.8
41.9
28
14.4
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
43.1
21.7
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile
59.8
33.9
33.4
23.3
12.6
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile
50.8
35.1
23.6
2.87
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile
44.7
26.8
PosModel< PrevNext >Call of Duty Vanguard
low med. high ultra QHD 4K
NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop)
27.3
17.8
14
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)
25.7
18.7
13
11.7
AMD Radeon RX Vega 7
25.3
(-) * 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 GPU CPU RAM OS
XMG Neo 15 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 @165 W TGP (16 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-11800H 2 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
XMG Neo 17 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 @140 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-11800H 2 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
XMG Core 15 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 @130 W TGP (6 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-11800H 2 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
XMG Focus 17 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti @75 W TGP (4 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-11800H 2 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP65 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-9750H 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP75 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti (4 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-10750H 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GL75 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR6) Intel Core i7-10750H 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Dell G5 15 SE AMD Radeon RX 5600M (6 GB GDDR6) AMD Ryzen 7 4800H 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI Prestige 14 Evo Intel Iris Xe (96 CUs) Intel Core i7-1185G7 1 x 16 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Asus ROG Strix G15 AMD Radeon RX 6800M (12 GB GDDR6) AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX 2 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop PC I MSI GeForce RTX 3090 (24 GB GDDR6X)
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB GDDR6X)
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB GDDR6)
Intel Core i9-9900K 4 x 8 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop PC II Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 FE (24 GB GDDR6X)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12 GB GDDR6X)
Nvidia Titan RTX (24 GB GDDR6)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (8 GB GDDR6)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super (8 GB GDDR6)
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1660 Super (6 GB GDDR6)
PNY GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB GDDR5)
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1650 Super (4 GB GDDR6)
KFA2 GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR5)
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB DDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (8 GB GDDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 6600 (8 GB GDDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (8 GB GDDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 5700 (8 GB GDDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB GDDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (8 GB GDDR6)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 2 x 32 GB DDR4 Windows 10 64 Bit
4K monitors Nvidia drivers AMD drivers
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Acer Predator XB321HK ForceWare 496.49 Adrenalin 21.11.1
static version load dynamic
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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Call of Duty Vanguard Performance Analysis
Florian Glaser, 2021-11-11 (Update: 2021-11-11)