Diablo 4 technical review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

A solid launch. After a great deal of criticism was levelled at the mobile game Diablo Immortal (e.g. due to its gacha mechanics), many PC gamers were rather sceptical about the release of Diablo 4. But rest easy: the game makes hardly any blunder both technically and content-wise.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Zhiwei Zhuang), Published 06/14/2023 🇩🇪 🇸🇪 ...

Notebooks used in this review

Right now, our gaming benchmarks are performed using these laptops. Click on the images to visit the respective product page. All other test systems (tower PCs, mini-PCs, etc.) are listed at the end of this article.

Technical aspects

The action RPG series finally gets a worthy successor roughly 10 years after the launch of Diablo 3. Whilst the new game could have done more in some areas, Diablo 4 mostly manages to impress in terms of graphics. The title looks decent once it reaches medium settings, and delivers great to excellent visuals at high settings and above. Besides visual effects (e.g. magic spells) and weather and time-of-day simulation, the detail level of characters and texture sharpness in environments are exceptional as well. The game also features superb animations and destructible level objects. Overall, Diablo 4 offers highly atmospheric (grim) environments that invite gamers to slay some monsters.

The neat and well-structured graphics menu is going to satisfy most gamers (though it requires quite a bit of scrolling). Whilst the upper section mainly contains screen settings (there is unfortunately no "normal" fullscreen mode), various options such as resolution scaling and frame rate limit (max. 400) await you in the middle. Depending on your graphics card, you can also enable XeSS (Intel), FSR (AMD) or DLSS (Nvidia) in this section. Diablo 4 lets you use DLSS in combination with Frame Generation, but you'll need an RTX 40 Series card or better to do so.

Rounding off the graphics menu is a quality section that offers four convenient presets and around 20 detail settings. The developers opted to explain each setting in words rather than including images for comparison. On the bright side, the game deserves a thumbs-up for not requiring you to restart the game after changing any of the settings.

Other than some minor graphical glitches and clipping issues, Diablo 4 cuts a surprisingly good and polished figure technically. If you ignore the login process, the game launches and loads pleasantly fast (especially considering the intro videos can be skipped) and doesn't have any other major problems. The only downside is that its install size is relatively large at over 80 GB.

Benchmark

Since Blizzard didn't include a built-in benchmark in the game, we used a sequence defined by us to measure frame rates. A rather slow-paced section of the game was selected for better reproducibility; it doesn't represent a worst-case scenario. As you can see in the video below, we move the player character along a set path for about 20 seconds. CapFrameX was used to record frame rates. Because Diablo 4 employs a bird's eye view, an average of 30 fps should be enough for the game to be considered decently playable.

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

Diablo 4 has moderate hardware requirements. Even an iGPU such as the popular Iris Xe Graphics G7 is capable of running the game at 1080p, albeit only at low settings. By contrast, the much more powerful Radeon 680M managed to churn out approx. 30 fps at Full HD even with the settings maxed out.

Diablo 4
1920x1080 Low Preset 1920x1080 Medium Preset 1920x1080 High Preset 1920x1080 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-12900K Desktop-PC	398 (142.1^min, 202^P0.1, 279^P1) fps ∼59% 397 (44.1^min, 198.8^P0.1, 289^P1) fps ∼58% 395 (40.1^min, 160.9^P0.1, 283^P1) fps ∼58% 384 (72.8^min, 137.2^P0.1, 242^P1) fps ∼57%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, i9-12900K Desktop-PC	395 (42.2^min, 168.9^P0.1, 267^P1) fps ∼58% 394 (43.4^min, 187.4^P0.1, 272^P1) fps ∼58% 390 (114.9^min, 195.8^P0.1, 273^P1) fps ∼57% 370 (47.4^min, 189.9^P0.1, 257^P1) fps ∼55%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 17 E23	379 (16.4^min, 100.8^P0.1, 232^P1) fps ∼56% 374 (42.3^min, 148.1^P0.1, 243^P1) fps ∼55% 361 (42.3^min, 146.1^P0.1, 226^P1) fps ∼53% 334 (65.2^min, 140^P0.1, 207^P1) fps ∼50%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX Schenker Key 17 Pro E23	345 (15.9^min, 69.8^P0.1, 195.9^P1) fps ∼51% 339 (41.6^min, 122.6^P0.1, 221^P1) fps ∼50% 322 (41.6^min, 117.6^P0.1, 204^P1) fps ∼47% 280 (72.6^min, 122^P0.1, 186.2^P1) fps ∼42%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	242 (14.1^min, 59.9^P0.1, 153.1^P1) fps ∼36% 227 (44.8^min, 90.8^P0.1, 154.2^P1) fps ∼33% 207 (66.2^min, 115.1^P0.1, 135.4^P1) fps ∼30% 182.9 (33.6^min, 101.7^P0.1, 131.3^P1) fps ∼27%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	252 (11.3^min, 45.6^P0.1, 153.2^P1) fps ∼37% 223 (36.6^min, 64.2^P0.1, 149^P1) fps ∼33% 195.4 (56.9^min, 70.9^P0.1, 139^P1) fps ∼29% 165.5 (49^min, 90.8^P0.1, 120.1^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Focus 15 E23	204 (13.3^min, 32.8^P0.1, 126.5^P1) fps ∼30% 181.6 (39.3^min, 76.8^P0.1, 122.7^P1) fps ∼27% 160 (58.7^min, 97.4^P0.1, 118.8^P1) fps ∼23% 134.2 (53.4^min, 77.9^P0.1, 98.9^P1) fps ∼20%
AMD Radeon RX 6800S, R9 6900HS Asus ROG Zephyrus G14	206 (58.8^min, 78.8^P0.1, 142^P1) fps ∼30% 182.3 (40.1^min, 67.8^P0.1, 128.5^P1) fps ∼27% 163.9 (15.2^min, 86.7^P0.1, 114.8^P1) fps ∼24% 133.8 (8.01^min, 16.9^P0.1, 78.7^P1) fps ∼20%
AMD Radeon 680M, R9 6900HS Asus ROG Zephyrus G14	45.8 (22^min, 22.9^P0.1, 29.1^P1) fps ∼7% 43.5 (7.94^min, 15.4^P0.1, 33^P1) fps ∼6% 39.1 (23.1^min, 24.2^P0.1, 29.1^P1) fps ∼6% 32.8 (9.36^min, 10.1^P0.1, 16.4^P1) fps ∼5%
Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs, i7-1165G7 Zotac ZBOX CI665 Nano	33.4 (13.5^min, 18.2^P0.1, 23.4^P1) fps ∼5% 28.3 (8.8^min, 10.9^P0.1, 22^P1) fps ∼4% 23.9 (15.5^min, 16.3^P0.1, 18.4^P1) fps ∼4% 19.3 (8.94^min, 9.17^P0.1, 14^P1) fps ∼3%

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

You likewise don't need a high-end system to play the Diablo 4 at QHD. Even a GeForce RTX 4050 appears underutilised when running the game at 1440p and Ultra preset.

Diablo 4
2560x1440 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-12900K Desktop-PC	293 (69^min, 81.6^P0.1, 207^P1) fps ∼51%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, i9-12900K Desktop-PC	280 (70.8^min, 167.7^P0.1, 203^P1) fps ∼49%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 17 E23	232 (59.4^min, 112.2^P0.1, 165.6^P1) fps ∼40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX Schenker Key 17 Pro E23	187.7 (47.8^min, 67.4^P0.1, 133^P1) fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	120.7 (42.1^min, 55.2^P0.1, 89.3^P1) fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	107.7 (40.6^min, 55.1^P0.1, 81.2^P1) fps ∼19%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Focus 15 E23	86.6 (42.7^min, 54.8^P0.1, 66.3^P1) fps ∼15%

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

The situation looks similar at 4K. That said, anything below an RTX 4050 may struggle to perform well at this resolution as soon as you go for max settings. Refer to the table below for benchmark results, including those obtained with DLSS and Frame Generation enabled.

Diablo 4
3840x2160 Ultra Preset 3840x2160 Ultra Preset + DLSS Quality + FG
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, i9-12900K Desktop-PC	156.1 (57.4^min, 103.1^P0.1, 122.5^P1) fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-12900K Desktop-PC	148.6 (17.3^min, 42.6^P0.1, 105.9^P1) fps ∼32% 195.6 (114.7^min, 130.8^P0.1, 159.2^P1) fps ∼79%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 17 E23	123.5 (27.7^min, 62.3^P0.1, 96.5^P1) fps ∼26% 167.2 (66.4^min, 130.6^P0.1, 151^P1) fps ∼67%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX Schenker Key 17 Pro E23	99.3 (24.5^min, 36.6^P0.1, 76.8^P1) fps ∼21% 133.4 (22.5^min, 62.3^P0.1, 118.7^P1) fps ∼54%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	60.9 (11.7^min, 29.1^P0.1, 38.7^P1) fps ∼13% 82.6 (13.4^min, 32.2^P0.1, 62.6^P1) fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	54.7 (26.2^min, 26.7^P0.1, 43.5^P1) fps ∼12% 72 (11.4^min, 15.8^P0.1, 52.8^P1) fps ∼29%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Focus 15 E23	43.1 (6.88^min, 13.9^P0.1, 28.8^P1) fps ∼9% 56.9 (12^min, 15.4^P0.1, 40^P1) fps ∼23%

Note

Because gaming tests are very time-consuming and are often constrained by installation or activation limits, we are only able to provide you with part of the benchmark results at the time of publishing this article. We will be adding more graphics cards over the coming days and weeks.

Overview

All test systems

Device	Graphics card	Processor	Memory
Notebooks
XMG Neo 17 E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 @175 W TGP (16 GB GDDR6X)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
Schenker Key 17 Pro E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 @175 W TGP (12 GB GDDR6X)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
XMG Pro 15 E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 @140 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
XMG Pro 15 E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 @140 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
XMG Focus 15 E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 @140 W TGP (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14	AMD Radeon RX 6800S (8 GB GDDR6) & AMD Radeon 680M	AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS	2 x 16 GB DDR5
Tower PCs
Custom I	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (16 GB GDDR6X) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX (24 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-12900K	2 x 16 GB DDR4
Custom II	Palit GeForce RTX 4090 GameRock OC (24 GB GDDR6X) Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 FE (24 GB GDDR6X) Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (8 GB GDDR6X) Nvidia Titan RTX (24 GB GDDR6) lNvidia 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) AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (16 GB DDR6) AMD Radeon RX 6800 (16 GB DDR6) AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB DDR6) AMD Radeon RX 6650 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 7950X	2 x 16 GB DDR5
Mini-PCs
Minisforum NUCXi7	Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 @125 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-11800H	2 x 8 GB DDR4
Minisforum HX99G	AMD Radeon RX 6600M @100 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
Morefine S500+	AMD Radeon RX Vega 8	AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR4
Zotac ZBOX CI665 Nano	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (96 CUs)	Intel Core i7-1165G7	2 x 8 GB DDR4

4K monitors	Operating system	Nvidia driver	AMD driver
Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Gigabyte M32U	Windows 11	ForceWare 535.98	Adrenalin 23.5.2

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 616 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2009

I discovered my interest in computers in my childhood, growing up with MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 in the early 1990s. I was especially fascinated with computer games, even from an early age. From Monkey Island through Lands of Lore to Doom, I tried every game I could get my hands on. I have been working for Notebookcheck since 2009 with my focus mostly being on high-performance gaming laptops.

Translator: Zhiwei Zhuang - Translator - 152 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering, I moved from Singapore to Cologne in 2014 and began pursuing a career as a freelance translator. Much of my translation work focuses on science, engineering and technology. My fascination with computers and mobile electronics began when I was young. And I have fond memories reading countless tech and gaming magazines. Working with Notebookcheck gives me the opportunity to incorporate my personal interests into my professional work.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Diablo 4 technical review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2023-06-14 (Update: 2023-06-14)

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.