Deathloop Performance Analysis

In an infinite loop. Deathloop is not only an original and well-designed game, it is also a visually striking one. The story does not disappoint either. We benchmarked Deathloop on desktop PCs and notebooks. Our findings: It needs a lot of VRAM.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Stanislav Kokhanyuk), Published 09/22/2021 🇩🇪 🇳🇱 ...

Technology

French developer Arkane Studios, which is primarily known for the Dishonored franchise (the first game in the series released in 2012, the second one in 2016), has a knack for making unconventional games. Deathloop is no exception, and it brings the level of originality to new heights. The first-person shooter is hard to categorise visually or gameplay-wise. It blends together elements from looter-shooters such as Borderlands 3, role-playing games (various quests in various locations) and old-school dungeon-crawlers like Rogue (dying has dire consequences).

One of the main features of Deathloop is the degree of freedom it allows. Thanks to a large selection of weapons, gadgets and abilities, players can freely customise their play style. The stealth system is robust, and so is gunplay. However, motion feels a bit more fluid in games such as Doom, and AI is not as advanced as it could have been. Visually, Deathloop also has something to offer. There is a lot of visual variety in the game in contrast to many other modern titles.

Overall, the visuals can be described as good to very good. Both textures and effects look impressive. The PC version of the game offers a very comprehensive graphics settings menu. While the Video tab contains 15 settings (one of them for optional upscaling), the Advanced tab also features about 15 settings, all of which can be changed in one fell swoop thanks to the included presets. The presets range from Very Low to Ultra (six in total). Very nice: Graphics changes can be applied without a restart.

Arkane Studios really needs to work on optimising the VRAM usage. According to the built-in VRAM gauge, Deathloop gobbles up VRAM like hot pancakes. To run the game on ultra settings at 1080p, you will need a GPU with at least 6 GB of VRAM. If you want to game at 4K on ultra settings, a graphics card with 8 GB of VRAM will be required. We shall see how things actually stand in our benchmarks. Deathloop is supposed to support ray tracing. Because there is only one RT effect (soft shadows), which is coupled with the presets, we shall not conduct any additional ray-tracing benchmarks.

Benchmark

We created our own benchmark sequence for this performance analysis. Our benchmark takes place in The Complex (about one hour into the game). As you can see from the video below, in our benchmark the main character runs for 30 seconds outside The Complex. We use CapFrameX to capture the frame rate data. Deathloop features a hard 120-FPS cap, meaning that at 1080p on reduced settings the frame rate often hits the ceiling when gaming with powerful GPUs.

Results

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

FHD (1920x1080)

Deathloop will not run on a GPU with a 2 GB frame buffer. Entry-level GPUs such as the MX350 and MX450 cannot handle the game even on the lowest settings. Here, 4 GB is the bare minimum. Mid-range graphics cards on the level of the GeForce GTX 1650 (Ti) can run Deathloop on the medium preset at 1080p. An upper mid-range GPU such as the GTX 1660 Ti is required to achieve playable frame rates on the highest settings.

Deathloop
1920x1080 Low Preset 1920x1080 Medium Preset 1920x1080 High Preset 1920x1080 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	120 (24.7^min, 96^P0.1, 105^P1) fps ∼63% 119 (84.7^min, 98.7^P0.1, 105^P1) fps ∼60% 119 (80.8^min, 88.4^P0.1, 100^P1) fps ∼6% 109 (75.8^min, 79.2^P0.1, 85.4^P1) fps ∼63%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	120 (28.1^min, 94.7^P0.1, 106^P1) fps ∼63% 118 (4.52^min, 78^P0.1, 103^P1) fps ∼60% 110 (44.5^min, 73.5^P0.1, 88.9^P1) fps ∼6% 100 (37^min, 55.3^P0.1, 75.3^P1) fps ∼57%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	120 (42.6^min, 93.2^P0.1, 108^P1) fps ∼63% 120 (28.3^min, 93.8^P0.1, 107^P1) fps ∼61% 113 (46.5^min, 74.4^P0.1, 93.4^P1) fps ∼6% 107 (41^min, 65.8^P0.1, 82.5^P1) fps ∼61%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	119 (95.7^min, 99^P0.1, 105^P1) fps ∼62% 119 (23.8^min, 92.1^P0.1, 103^P1) fps ∼60% 118 (86.8^min, 88.7^P0.1, 98.5^P1) fps ∼6% 114 (80.9^min, 82.5^P0.1, 89.6^P1) fps ∼66%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	119 (87.5^min, 96.4^P0.1, 103^P1) fps ∼62% 119 (62.6^min, 93.2^P0.1, 101^P1) fps ∼60% 119 (24.9^min, 91.7^P0.1, 103^P1) fps ∼6% 114 (80.3^min, 83.1^P0.1, 89.4^P1) fps ∼66%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	116 (19.2^min, 27.4^P0.1, 94.3^P1) fps ∼61% 107 (18^min, 23.4^P0.1, 88.3^P1) fps ∼54% 90.6 (20.5^min, 46.5^P0.1, 68.7^P1) fps ∼5% 81.3 (32.2^min, 35^P0.1, 42.9^P1) fps ∼47%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	92.8 (15.6^min, 18.5^P0.1, 74.8^P1) fps ∼49% 81.5 (18.5^min, 60.4^P0.1, 68.3^P1) fps ∼41% 65.6 (26.1^min, 49.4^P0.1, 52.6^P1) fps ∼4% 57.4 (25.9^min, 43.3^P0.1, 45.9^P1) fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H Schenker XMG Focus 17	79.6 (17.8^min, 58^P0.1, 63.3^P1) fps ∼42% 70.2 (27.6^min, 56.5^P0.1, 58.5^P1) fps ∼35% 49.3 (24^min, 37.8^P0.1, 39^P1) fps ∼3% 42.2 (21.5^min, 29.9^P0.1, 31.4^P1) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	64.6 (20.1^min, 45.4^P0.1, 50.9^P1) fps ∼34% 56.4 (19.7^min, 43.6^P0.1, 47.2^P1) fps ∼28% 43.8 (17.5^min, 18.5^P0.1, 36.6^P1) fps ∼2% 40.4 (17^min, 20.9^P0.1, 33.2^P1) fps ∼23%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	59 (18.7^min, 36.8^P0.1, 46.4^P1) fps ∼31% 51.2 (17.5^min, 26.3^P0.1, 39.7^P1) fps ∼26% 37.3 (15.1^min, 15.6^P0.1, 27.3^P1) fps ∼2% 34.3 (14.9^min, 19.9^P0.1, 27.2^P1) fps ∼20%
NVIDIA GeForce MX450, i7-11370H Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 15	11.1 (6.99^min, 7.11^P0.1, 7.77^P1) fps ∼6% 6.94 (4.03^min, 4.2^P0.1, 4.85^P1) fps ∼4% 6.34 (2.64^min, 2.81^P0.1, 3.85^P1) fps ∼0% 5.81 (3.76^min, 3.81^P0.1, 4.16^P1) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350, i5-10210U Honor Magicbook Pro	9.96 (5.56^min, 5.91^P0.1, 7.11^P1) fps ∼5% 8.17 (5.02^min, 5.08^P0.1, 5.63^P1) fps ∼4% 6.62 (4.1^min, 4.14^P0.1, 4.58^P1) fps ∼0% 6.4 (3.06^min, 3.36^P0.1, 4.46^P1) fps ∼4%

QHD (2560x1440)

For an enjoyable 1440p gaming experience, a high-end GPU with 6 GB of VRAM is a must. You will need something like a GeForce RTX 3060 to run Deathloop at 1440p on the ultra preset at decent frame rates.

Deathloop
2560x1440 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	114 (78.1^min, 81.3^P0.1, 88^P1) fps ∼67%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	108 (60.3^min, 75^P0.1, 82.6^P1) fps ∼64%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	82.9 (14.5^min, 17.2^P0.1, 62.1^P1) fps ∼49%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	80.3 (38.8^min, 59.9^P0.1, 65.6^P1) fps ∼47%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	72 (15.7^min, 15.9^P0.1, 58^P1) fps ∼42%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	58.7 (31.8^min, 46.5^P0.1, 48.9^P1) fps ∼35%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	40.1 (21.2^min, 33.7^P0.1, 34.7^P1) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	26.3 (11.7^min, 13.7^P0.1, 22.3^P1) fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	22.1 (12.3^min, 14.9^P0.1, 17.9^P1) fps ∼13%

UHD (3840x2160)

At 4K, even the most capable GPUs with 8 to 16 GB of VRAM are struggling. Among laptop GPUs, only the RTX 3070 and the RTX 3080 can handle Dealthloop at 4K. However, the highest-end desktop graphics cards can hit even 60 FPS on average.

Deathloop
3840x2160 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	77.5 (51.6^min, 61.8^P0.1, 64.6^P1) fps ∼45%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	68.5 (48.9^min, 57.1^P0.1, 58.6^P1) fps ∼40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	49.7 (14.5^min, 16.4^P0.1, 42.5^P1) fps ∼29%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	44.9 (30.1^min, 37.6^P0.1, 39.8^P1) fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	40.3 (14.3^min, 15.2^P0.1, 33.7^P1) fps ∼23%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	32.8 (21.2^min, 26.9^P0.1, 28.2^P1) fps ∼19%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	21 (13.7^min, 16.5^P0.1, 18.8^P1) fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	11.9 (9.29^min, 9.33^P0.1, 10^P1) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	8.11 (6.26^min, 6.48^P0.1, 7.11^P1) fps ∼5%

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 Deathloop. Other graphics cards will be added in the coming days and weeks.

Annoying: Our all-AMD laptop Dell G5 (Ryzen 7 4800H & Radeon RX 5600M) could not launch Deathloop with the dedicated GPU, even though we used the latest GPU drivers.

Overview

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 @85 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
Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 15	Nvidia GeForce MX450 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-11370H	1 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Honor MagicBook Pro	Nvidia GeForce MX350 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-10210U	1 x 16 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
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 Titan RTX (24 GB GDDR6) Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super (8 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 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 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit

4K monitors	Nvidia drivers	AMD drivers
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Acer Predator XB321HK	ForceWare 471.96	Adrenalin 21.9.1

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Editor of the original article: Sebastian Jentsch - Managing Editor Consumer Laptops - 1813 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2010

Computers always had an important place in my life, starting with an Intel 80286 microprocessor in the early 1990s. I became interested in the productive side of technology, especially in campus radio, while studying at TU Chemnitz and during a trainee program in Belfast. Hardware interests led me to manage Notebookjournal.de, which is now a division of Notebooksbilliger, for a few years. I became self-employed in 2010 and took the next logical step in my career by starting to write for Notebookcheck.

contact me via: Xing

Translator: Stanislav Kokhanyuk - Translator - 78 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2021

I am a big fan of technology, which is why I try to keep up with it. Among my other passions are literature and writing, and so it should not be surprising to anyone at all that I have a four-year bachelor's degree in philology. However, my interests are not limited just to the world of technology, or, for that matter, the world of literature. I am also interested in people and the stories they have to tell. And more recently, I took an interest in artificial intelligence.

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> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > Reviews > Deathloop Performance Analysis

Florian Glaser, 2021-09-22 (Update: 2021-09-23)

Pos	Model	< Prev Next > Deathloop (2021)
Pos	Model	low 1280x720 Very Low Preset	med. 1920x1080 Medium Preset	high 1920x1080 High Preset	ultra 1920x1080 Ultra Preset	QHD 2560x1440 Ultra Preset	4K 3840x2160 Ultra Preset
9	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090	122	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²
14	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU		130.5	129.4	123.5	112.8	60.7
16	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080		119	119	114	108	68.5
20	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU		139.9	129.8	106.3	65.4	37.4
22	NVIDIA Titan RTX	128	125	124	119	91.6	51.8
24	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU		143	133	112	80.2	44.4
26	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070		119	119	109	82.9	49.7
29	AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT	134	134	117	95.4	65.9	34.5
30	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU		120	113	107	80.3	44.9
33	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU		0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	30.8
41	AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT	134	123	86	75.7	51.2	20.8
44	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU		0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	72	40.3
46	AMD Radeon RX 6800S		121	98.1	71.4	48.9	24.4
48	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060	120	102	87.3	72	51.9	28
56	AMD Radeon RX 6700M		99.8	85.1	77.3
58	NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	120	111	94.8	78.9	57.1	31.3
62	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop)	119	115	103	0ⁿ²	59.4
66	AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Desktop)	131	119	98.6	71.9	49.8	25.8
70*	AMD Radeon RX 7600S		112.1	93.2	69.4	48.7	23
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >Deathloop
Pos	Model	low	med.	high	ultra	QHD	4K
71	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU	132	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ³	0ⁿ³	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²
77	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop)	119	102	86.9	69	46.8	27.4
78	AMD Radeon RX 6600	131	106	87.6	65.6	44.1	21.2
81	AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Desktop)	132	108	89.6	65.4	44.7	23.9
83	AMD Radeon RX 6600M		98	80.9	58.8
95*	Intel Arc A730M		76.2	65.5	54.6	37
96*	AMD Radeon RX 6700S		110.8	89	66.3	39.6
111	AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (Desktop)	135	102	72.4	52.6	38.7	17.6
119	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super (Desktop)	131	81.5	66.5	50.9	35	18.1
121	AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (Desktop)	118	69.4	57	41.3	28.8	14.5
127	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile		81.5	65.6	57.4	40.1	21
128	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU		0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²
132	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (Desktop)	117	74.2	60.1	49	33.5	16.8
135	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super (Desktop)	105	62.8	49.6	0ⁿ²	24.9
141	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU	109	63.4	51.7	38.1
159	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile	81	55.5	43.4	34.7
160	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile		56.4	43.8	40.4	26.3	11.9
170	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile	77.9	39.5	30.1	22.4
173	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Desktop)	98.4	51.4	40	31.4	20	3.13
174	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile		51.2	37.3	34.3	22.1	8.11
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >Deathloop
Pos	Model	low	med.	high	ultra	QHD	4K
194*	NVIDIA T600 Laptop GPU	68.9	34.4	28.4	25.2
213	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile	36.8	23.6	20.7	16.8
216	AMD Radeon 680M	80.1	38.1	29.5	24.5
222*	NVIDIA GeForce MX450	27.7	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	5.81
247	AMD Radeon 660M	45.5	23.3	18.1
258	AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop)	39.7	23.2	19.8
281	NVIDIA GeForce MX350		8.17	6.62	6.4
290	AMD Radeon RX 550 (Laptop)	8.99
296	NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop)	11.9
322*	AMD Radeon 540X	17.1
345*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 10	22.8
391*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)	0ⁿ²	0ⁿ²	13.7
399	AMD Radeon RX Vega 7	29.1	14.2	11.7
420	AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)	23.7	11.2
538*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000)	11.6

Legend
5	Stutters – 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.
30	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60	Fluent – 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.