Elex 2 in test: Notebook and desktop benchmarks

A typical Piranha Bytes adventure.

Almost 4.5 years after the first part, Elex 2 is the sequel to the atmospherically dense sci-fi/fantasy role-playing game. We took a look at the graphics requirements in different resolutions and detail levels.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser, ✓ Brian Burriston (translated by DeepL / Ninh Duy), Published 03/10/2022 🇩🇪 🇳🇱 ...

Technology

At first glance, the technical conclusion is quite sober. Analogous to the predecessor, the Elex 2 lags noticeably behind the current possibilities. The animations, the texture quality and the amount of polygons often leave a lot to be desired or could be better. In general, the visual differences compared to the first Elex are limited (shadows and lighting are a bit nicer now).

Despite the aforementioned limitations, the overall look is very atmospheric. Thanks to the dense vegetation, the believable, varied landscape and the lively fauna and flora, the game creates a great atmosphere - as you would expect from Piranha Bytes. We especially liked the plants and trees swaying in the wind. The unique style, which mixes science fiction with classic "forest and meadow" fantasy elements, is a matter of taste.

The graphics menu turns out to be quite unspectacular. While you can adjust the resolution and the picture mode in the upper area, there are about 10 quality and detail controls in the lower area. It is a pity that text explanations and practical presets are missing again. On the other hand, changes are applied directly without restarting, which saves time, although the image often hangs for seconds when changing the shader quality - Elex 1 sends its regards - which gives the impression that the game is frozen.

Not everything else runs smoothly from a technical point of view, either. We had the problem that the frame rate was stuck at a much too low value on one computer despite various resolutions and settings. In this case, a restart of the game helped. It also happened from time to time that lower settings led to slightly worse results than higher settings, which of course shouldn't be the case. We would describe the Elex 2 graphics at medium details setting as decent.

Benchmark

Since the title doesn't include an integrated benchmark, we use a specially set sequence. As you can see in the following video, we run a certain route in the outdoor area with the main character for about 30 seconds. The corresponding area is reached directly after the intro videos. The frame rate is recorded with the CapFrameX tool. Because it is "only" an RPG from the third-person perspective, 40 FPS+ is sufficient as an average.

▶ load Youtube video

Results

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

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

Although the visual improvements are rather small, Elex 2 has a much bigger graphics appetite than its predecessor. To be able to play the title with 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, at least a mid-range GPU has to be under the hood. The GeForce GTX 1650 (Ti), for example, is fast enough for low and medium settings. For high to maximum details, however, it should be a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or RTX 3050 Ti.

Elex 2
1920x1080 Low / Off 1920x1080 Medium / On AA:FX AF:16x 1920x1080 High / On AA:FX AF:16x 1920x1080 Ultra / On AA:SM AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	93.3 (56.6^min, 62.3^P0.1, 69.2^P1) fps ∼46% 92.5 (55.8^min, 63.8^P0.1, 69.2^P1) fps ∼46% 92.1 (58.9^min, 63.1^P0.1, 69.7^P1) fps ∼28%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	97.6 (32.8^min, 46.5^P0.1, 68.5^P1) fps ∼48% 87 (52.3^min, 57.4^P0.1, 66.8^P1) fps ∼43% 86.6 (54.2^min, 60^P0.1, 64.6^P1) fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	97.9 (32^min, 48.5^P0.1, 68.9^P1) fps ∼48% 88.1 (32.7^min, 38.5^P0.1, 67.6^P1) fps ∼44% 84.8 (36.5^min, 45.1^P0.1, 63.6^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	98.5 (29^min, 42.6^P0.1, 67.9^P1) fps ∼49% 89.3 (36.3^min, 44.5^P0.1, 65.9^P1) fps ∼44% 83.6 (56.2^min, 59^P0.1, 68.5^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	97 (36.9^min, 43.2^P0.1, 70.7^P1) fps ∼48% 87.2 (22.1^min, 54.4^P0.1, 66^P1) fps ∼43% 82.8 (32.7^min, 39^P0.1, 62.3^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	87.9 (15.3^min, 31.8^P0.1, 56.4^P1) fps ∼43% 78.9 (29.2^min, 37.2^P0.1, 58.5^P1) fps ∼39% 69.9 (34.4^min, 40.5^P0.1, 55.5^P1) fps ∼21%
AMD Radeon RX 6800M, R9 5900HX Asus ROG Strix G15	64.2 (36.2^min, 37.2^P0.1, 44.2^P1) fps ∼32% 61.3 (42.5^min, 44^P0.1, 46.9^P1) fps ∼30% 60.9 (31.2^min, 43.5^P0.1, 45.8^P1) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP	62.8 (33.8^min, 36.6^P0.1, 41.8^P1) fps ∼31% 55 (29.4^min, 33.1^P0.1, 42.9^P1) fps ∼27% 49.6 (33.1^min, 33.8^P0.1, 41^P1) fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	61.2 (19.7^min, 28.4^P0.1, 38.7^P1) fps ∼30% 53 (21.2^min, 24.3^P0.1, 36.4^P1) fps ∼26% 48.4 (29.4^min, 32^P0.1, 36.2^P1) fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	52.2 (26.7^min, 29^P0.1, 36.2^P1) fps ∼24% 46.1 (25.8^min, 27.7^P0.1, 31.3^P1) fps ∼23% 39.2 (19.2^min, 23^P0.1, 26.1^P1) fps ∼20% 34.6 (19^min, 20^P0.1, 24.9^P1) fps ∼10%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	50.4 (24.6^min, 25.1^P0.1, 27.9^P1) fps ∼23% 43.4 (9.59^min, 23^P0.1, 28.2^P1) fps ∼21% 37.1 (24.8^min, 27^P0.1, 30.4^P1) fps ∼18% 32.8 (7.69^min, 14.4^P0.1, 24.4^P1) fps ∼10%
Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs, i7-1165G7 Honor MagicBook 14	18.9 (8.52^min, 9.48^P0.1, 12.1^P1) fps ∼9% 16.1 (11.5^min, 12^P0.1, 13.5^P1) fps ∼8% 13.9 (3.96^min, 4.99^P0.1, 9.1^P1) fps ∼7% 12.4 (7.38^min, 7.7^P0.1, 8.96^P1) fps ∼4%

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

Owners of QHD displays will have a hard time avoiding a high-end representative at higher settings. 2,560 x 1,440 pixels and maximum settings require at least an GeForce RTX 3060 or Radeon RX 6800M.

Elex 2
2560x1440 Ultra / On AA:SM AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	83.6 (33.8^min, 40.9^P0.1, 60.7^P1) fps ∼47%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	79.5 (58.2^min, 59.2^P0.1, 63.8^P1) fps ∼45%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	74.9 (45.2^min, 47.6^P0.1, 52.6^P1) fps ∼42%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	65.9 (41.6^min, 49.8^P0.1, 55.5^P1) fps ∼37%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	61.7 (43.6^min, 47.3^P0.1, 51.4^P1) fps ∼35%
AMD Radeon RX 6800M, R9 5900HX Asus ROG Strix G15	52 (40.7^min, 42.1^P0.1, 44.3^P1) fps ∼29%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	50.3 (35.1^min, 37.7^P0.1, 41.7^P1) fps ∼28%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP	35.2 (26.8^min, 27.9^P0.1, 30.1^P1) fps ∼20%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	33.8 (22.8^min, 23.5^P0.1, 27.7^P1) fps ∼19%

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

When using a 4K monitor, even the strongest notebook chips reach their limit. With a mix of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels and full details, even the GeForce RTX 3080 has to struggle.

Elex 2
3840x2160 Ultra / On AA:SM AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	66.1 (48.6^min, 50.5^P0.1, 55.2^P1) fps ∼60%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	59.6 (22.6^min, 31.1^P0.1, 49.1^P1) fps ∼54%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	44.9 (22.3^min, 30.2^P0.1, 37.3^P1) fps ∼41%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	38.7 (30.2^min, 31.7^P0.1, 33.6^P1) fps ∼35%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	36.1 (26.9^min, 28.9^P0.1, 31.2^P1) fps ∼33%
AMD Radeon RX 6800M, R9 5900HX Asus ROG Strix G15	29.4 (26.2^min, 26.5^P0.1, 26.9^P1) fps ∼27%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	28.6 (23.5^min, 23.7^P0.1, 24.6^P1) fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	17.7 (14.1^min, 14.5^P0.1, 15.2^P1) fps ∼16%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP	14.3 (10.9^min, 11^P0.1, 12.2^P1) fps ∼13%

Note

Since gaming tests are very time-consuming and often restricted 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 system

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 11
XMG Neo 17	Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 @140 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-11800H	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 11
XMG Core 15	Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 @130 W TGP (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-11800H	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 11
XMG Focus 17	Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti @75 W TGP (4 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-11800H	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 11
MSI GP65	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 11
MSI GP75	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti (4 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-10750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 11
MSI GL75	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-10750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 11
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 i7-1195G7	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 11
Honor MagicBook 14	Intel Iris Xe (96 CUs)	Intel Core i7-1165G7	1x 16 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 511.79	Adrenalin 22.2.3

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 639 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 > Elex 2 in test: Notebook and desktop benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2022-03-10 (Update: 2024-08-15)

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.