Dying Light 2 in test: Notebook and desktop benchmarks

The zombies are loose. In Dying Light 2, players fight their way through a post-apocalyptic open-world and collect all kinds of items. We looked at the technology and the graphics demands.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser, ✓ Brian Burriston (translated by DeepL / Ninh Duy), Published 02/08/2022 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...

Technology

Rarely has a destroyed world been so appealing: This or something similar could sum up the visuals of Dying Light 2. The developer Techland, who was responsible for the western series Call of Juarez in the past, has managed to create a very coherent overall look.

Among the positive aspects are especially the enormous render distance and the dense vegetation, which provide a great atmosphere. Even indoors, there are usually an astonishing amount of details. Furthermore, the game scores with a chic lighting, which helps give environments natural coloring. Another highlight is the landscape simulation, with trees and grasses swaying in the wind. There is also rarely anything to complain about in terms of texture sharpness. Only the shadow quality and some animations could be better for our taste.

When it comes to the graphics options, PC fans get their money's worth. The video menu, which has more than 20 settings, consists of a simple and an advanced tab. Those who don't feel like eternal detail tuning can conveniently choose from several presets, which either fall back on DirectX 11 or DirectX 12.

Techland has even taken the trouble to include extra presets for ray tracing. The latter affects the options Ambient Occlusion, Sun Shadows, Flashlight, Global Illumination and Reflections, whereby you often have to look for the optical differences with a magnifying glass - the performance loss, however, is considerable, as we will see in a moment. However, upscaling via DLSS or FSR is possible to save performance.

Top: Except for ray tracing, all changes are applied directly without restarting. The technology also cut a stable figure in the test. We did not have to complain about any crashes or major graphics errors in the benchmarks. The loading times, the duration of the game start and the download size (approx. 43 GB) are completely acceptable.

Benchmark

Our benchmark sequence takes place outdoors. We use the tool CapFrameX to record a fixed sprint in the garden of the estate for about 20 seconds, which you browse with an acquaintance shortly after the game starts. Since this is a fast-paced action title from the first-person perspective, the average should be at least 40 FPS, or better yet, 60 FPS.

Results

For the benchmarks, we mainly use rental devices from our partners at XMG (Schenker Technologies) and MSI.

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

The graphics requirements are still not particularly high in Full HD. GPUs from the lower mid-range, like the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti can at least handle minimum details. Representatives from the upper mid-range (e.g. the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti) are also suitable for the presets Medium to High.

Dying Light 2
1920x1080 Low Quality 1920x1080 Medium Quality 1920x1080 High Quality
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	152 (53.5^min, 71.2^P0.1, 122^P1) fps ∼16% 140 (53.9^min, 83.4^P0.1, 119^P1) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	139 (66.4^min, 74.9^P0.1, 118^P1) fps ∼15% 128 (60.1^min, 66^P0.1, 109^P1) fps ∼16%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	108 (51.2^min, 59.5^P0.1, 92^P1) fps ∼11% 97.8 (52.8^min, 57.1^P0.1, 86.1^P1) fps ∼12%
AMD Radeon RX 6800M, R9 5900HX Asus ROG Strix G15	107 (53.4^min, 62.3^P0.1, 75.6^P1) fps ∼11% 91.5 (45.9^min, 60^P0.1, 67.7^P1) fps ∼11%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	99.6 (42.7^min, 72.3^P0.1, 88.7^P1) fps ∼11% 87.3 (39.7^min, 70.6^P0.1, 79.6^P1) fps ∼11%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	92.7 (40.9^min, 61.9^P0.1, 82.8^P1) fps ∼10% 81.8 (38.4^min, 64.7^P0.1, 75.6^P1) fps ∼10%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	73.4 (32.2^min, 37^P0.1, 67^P1) fps ∼8% 65.4 (34.8^min, 46.2^P0.1, 60.1^P1) fps ∼8%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP	49.6 (42.7^min, 42.9^P0.1, 45.5^P1) fps ∼5% 44 (37^min, 38.4^P0.1, 40.5^P1) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	59.4 (40^min, 47.5^P0.1, 54.4^P1) fps ∼6% 47 (29.5^min, 42.3^P0.1, 43.3^P1) fps ∼5% 40.1 (28.4^min, 34.3^P0.1, 37^P1) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	42.6 (35.1^min, 37^P0.1, 39^P1) fps ∼4% 33.4 (28.5^min, 29.8^P0.1, 30.8^P1) fps ∼4% 27.8 (23.8^min, 24.5^P0.1, 25.6^P1) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	37.6 (29.9^min, 30.5^P0.1, 32.3^P1) fps ∼4% 28.7 (21^min, 22.7^P0.1, 24.5^P1) fps ∼3% 23.8 (20.3^min, 20.3^P0.1, 20.7^P1) fps ∼3%

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

With QHD displays, it is almost impossible to avoid a high-end system. A mix of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels and the High preset at least yearns for a GeForce RTX 3060.

Dying Light 2
2560x1440 High Quality
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	106 (56.5^min, 60.7^P0.1, 92.7^P1) fps ∼13%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	94.6 (49.2^min, 59.1^P0.1, 83.9^P1) fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	70.1 (46.9^min, 55.6^P0.1, 65.1^P1) fps ∼9%
AMD Radeon RX 6800M, R9 5900HX Asus ROG Strix G15	64.5 (45.6^min, 46.2^P0.1, 48.8^P1) fps ∼8%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	61.8 (32.9^min, 44.9^P0.1, 56.3^P1) fps ∼8%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	57.4 (30.6^min, 41.7^P0.1, 53.2^P1) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	46 (28.1^min, 36.4^P0.1, 42.9^P1) fps ∼6%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP	30.3 (26^min, 26.1^P0.1, 27.9^P1) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	26.5 (20.3^min, 21.3^P0.1, 24.1^P1) fps ∼3%

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

It gets really crisp in the 4K range. When using high details, even the strongest notebook chips have to nibble at the 40 FPS mark (GeForce RTX 3080 etc.).

Dying Light 2
3840x2160 High Quality
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	62.1 (41.7^min, 51.1^P0.1, 56.6^P1) fps ∼8%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	53.8 (34.4^min, 42.8^P0.1, 49.9^P1) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	38.2 (28^min, 28.7^P0.1, 34.4^P1) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	34 (20.1^min, 22.2^P0.1, 31.1^P1) fps ∼4%
AMD Radeon RX 6800M, R9 5900HX Asus ROG Strix G15	32.6 (20.7^min, 22.9^P0.1, 27^P1) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	31.2 (21.4^min, 24.8^P0.1, 28.4^P1) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	24.5 (16.5^min, 18.2^P0.1, 22.5^P1) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP	15.3 (13.7^min, 13.7^P0.1, 13.8^P1) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	13 (11.3^min, 11.4^P0.1, 11.5^P1) fps ∼2%

Raytracing

The situation is similarly hard for ray tracing. Without DLSS, the frame rate drops by more than 50% at the maximum ray tracing preset, so that almost all laptop GPUs are already overtaxed in Full HD. As is often the case with ray tracing, the optical improvements are out of proportion to the performance loss. Techland should therefore add significant optimizations.

Dying Light 2
1920x1080 High Quality Raytracing
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	67.9 (4.05^min, 7.44^P0.1, 36.6^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	59.7 (4.25^min, 6.59^P0.1, 31.8^P1) fps ∼22%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	42.2 (4.42^min, 6.15^P0.1, 22.3^P1) fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	36 (5.07^min, 5.26^P0.1, 21.1^P1) fps ∼13%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	33.3 (5.53^min, 5.83^P0.1, 21^P1) fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	26.1 (3.8^min, 4.89^P0.1, 12.5^P1) fps ∼10%
AMD Radeon RX 6800M, R9 5900HX Asus ROG Strix G15	17.8 (1.957^min, 2.67^P0.1, 9.2^P1) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP	6.75 (2.2^min, 2.56^P0.1, 4.56^P1) fps ∼2%

Note

Since gaming tests are very time-consuming and often hindered by installation or activation limits, we can only provide you with a part of the benchmarks for the publication of the articles. More graphics cards will be installed in the coming days and weeks.

Overview

Test systems

XMG Neo 15 (RTX 3080) - Click on photo to open the configurator (bestware.com)

XMG Neo 17 (RTX 3070) - Click on photo to open the configurator (bestware.com)

XMG Core 15 (RTX 3060) - Click on photo to open the configurator (bestware.com)

XMG Focus 17 (RTX 3050 Ti) - Click on photo to open the configurator (bestware.com)

Device	Graphics card	Processor	Memory	Operating system
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
Asus ROG Strix G15	AMD Radeon RX 6800M (12 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 11
MSI Prestige 14 Evo	Intel Iris Xe (96 CUs)	Intel Core i7-1185G7	1 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 11
MSI Prestige 14 Evo	Intel Iris Xe (96 CUs)	Intel Core i7-1195G7	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 11
Acer Swift 3 SF314-42	AMD Radeon Vega 7	AMD Ryzen 7 4700U	2 x 4 GB DDR4	Windows 11
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 11
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) 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
Desktop PC III	Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super FE	Intel Core i9-11900K	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 11

4K monitors	Nvidia drivers	AMD drivers
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Acer Predator XB321HK	ForceWare 511.65	Adrenalin 22.2.1

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 615 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.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Dying Light 2 in test: Notebook and desktop benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2022-02- 8 (Update: 2022-02- 8)

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.