F1 2021 in test: Notebook and desktop benchmarks

Ray tracing at the start.

With F1 2021, the virtual Formula 1 series not only offers a real story mode for the first time, but also ray tracing support. We tested the system requirements on several notebook and desktop GPUs.

Florian Glaser (translated by DeepL / Ninh Duy), Published 07/21/2021 🇩🇪 🇮🇹 ...

Technology

Games with ray tracing support were still quite scarce until 2019. They eked out a shadowy existence. But more and more games based on the exciting technology have been released since 2020 (Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Dogs Legion, Crysis Remastered, ...). One of the latest representatives of this group is F1 2021, which - analogous to the previous year's versions (see, for example, F1 2020) - we have subjected to a detailed benchmark check. As with most ray-tracing titles, however, you often have to look for the graphical improvements with a magnifying glass or they are only noticeable when you know where to look exactly (reflections, etc.).

Visually, F1 2021 cuts a good figure both with and without ray tracing. The detailed racing cars and the weather system are once again among the greatest strengths. Especially in the rain, the graphics look very atmospheric and provide a dense atmosphere as well as a great feeling of immersion.

There are also plus points for the extensive graphics menu, which is only accessible after an unnecessarily large number of clicks (the menus are still quite convoluted), but has even more options than its predecessor. While the upper section of the "Graphics Settings" contains controls for the gamma, the motion blur and the steering animation, the lower section contains almost 20 detailed settings that can be comfortably adjusted via presets. In most cases, a restart is not necessary to change the settings.

If a graphics card is capable of ray tracing, the corresponding technology is automatically activated from the Ultra High preset. Otherwise, the option is simply grayed out. Our tests were all performed with ray tracing included in the Ultra High preset, so the results of older and/or cheaper graphics cards are missing here. F1 2021 generally requires a graphics accelerator with DirectX 12 support.

But back to the graphics options: The submenu "Video Mode" contains various other settings, ranging from the GPU used to the dynamic resolution, which can optionally be enabled. For example, V-Sync, a frame rate limit and anisotropic filtering are also available here if desired. Above all, TAA is available as edge smoothing.

Owners of Nvidia chips can also use DLSS if necessary to somewhat compensate for the performance loss due to ray tracing in higher resolutions. Ray tracing also costs a decent amount of performance in F1 2021 (about 30% according to our experience). Without ray tracing, the graphics performance is similar to that of F1 2020, so if you were able to play the predecessor smoothly, you should have no problems with F1 2021.

Benchmark

Fortunately, the built-in benchmark function remains. Unlike other games that offer a fixed sequence, the benchmark conditions in F1 2021 can be adjusted in many ways. Besides the track, you can also set the weather, the camera mode and the number of laps. There is also an optional FPS counter and a loop option. Our measurements are based on the default settings, which means the Bahrain track with clear (dry) weather and changing camera perspective.

Since each benchmark race varies slightly due to the varying AI, the determined results are not quite constant, but constant enough to mostly create a usable and reliable performance ranking, as long as systems do not run into the CPU limit, which happens quite quickly in F1 2021 with stronger GPUs (at least without ray tracing).

Very nice: At the end of each benchmark, a quite detailed evaluation is displayed including minimum, average and maximum FPS. The values are also automatically saved as an XML file in Windows' "My Games" folder.

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Results

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

If you put up with low to medium details in Full HD, a graphics card from the entry-level segment is sufficient. Besides the GeForce MX450, the GeForce MX350 also supports a mix of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and the Medium preset with an average of over 40 FPS. For high or maximum details, it should better be a mid-range model (GeForce GTX 1650 or Radeon RX 5500M upwards). These chips sometimes crack the 100 FPS mark with deactivated ray tracing. A suitable GPU from the upper mid-range (RTX 3050 Ti or better) is required including ray tracing.

F1 2021
1920x1080 Ultra Low Preset 1920x1080 Medium Preset AA:T AF:16x 1920x1080 High Preset AA:T AF:16x 1920x1080 Ultra High Preset + Raytracing AA:T AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	294 (212^min) fps ∼47% 264 (193^min) fps ∼31% 256 (193^min) fps ∼32% 154 (129^min) fps ∼39%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	292 (222^min) fps ∼47% 263 (199^min) fps ∼31% 255 (191^min) fps ∼32% 152 (127^min) fps ∼38%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	282 (207^min) fps ∼45% 248 (177^min) fps ∼29% 217 (180^min) fps ∼27% 131 (110^min) fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	282 (205^min) fps ∼45% 254 (183^min) fps ∼30% 237 (180^min) fps ∼30% 147 (120^min) fps ∼37%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	269 (199^min) fps ∼43% 259 (202^min) fps ∼30% 250 (184^min) fps ∼32% 148 (129^min) fps ∼37%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	239 (205^min) fps ∼38% 201 (174^min) fps ∼23% 160 (142^min) fps ∼20% 101 (91^min) fps ∼26%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H Dell G5 15 SE	194 (161^min) fps ∼31% 162 (135^min) fps ∼19% 140 (123^min) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	181 (157^min) fps ∼29% 149 (126^min) fps ∼17% 120 (106^min) fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	178 (147^min) fps ∼29% 149 (131^min) fps ∼17% 126 (113^min) fps ∼16% 71 (60^min) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	168 (137^min) fps ∼27% 150 (113^min) fps ∼17% 139 (121^min) fps ∼18% 82 (67^min) fps ∼21%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H MSI Alpha 15	159 (130^min) fps ∼26% 134 (111^min) fps ∼16% 113 (95^min) fps ∼14%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	152 (128^min) fps ∼24% 123 (108^min) fps ∼14% 101 (90^min) fps ∼13%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	138 (120^min) fps ∼22% 109 (95^min) fps ∼13% 90 (79^min) fps ∼11%
NVIDIA GeForce MX450, i7-11370H Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 15	89 (74^min) fps ∼14% 53 (39^min) fps ∼6% 37 (26^min) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350, i5-10210U Honor Magicbook Pro	71 (55^min) fps ∼11% 45 (32^min) fps ∼5% 31 (24^min) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK MSI GT62VR	94 fps ∼11% 78 fps ∼10% 48 fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ MSI GL62M 7RD	46 fps ∼5% 37 fps ∼5% 24 fps ∼6%

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

Although ray tracing leaves its mark in terms of performance, it does not have to be an absolute top model for a combination of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels and the Ultra High preset. The corresponding options are playable starting with a GeForce RTX 2060.

F1 2021
2560x1440 Ultra High Preset + Raytracing AA:T AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	153 (129^min) fps ∼42%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	149 (126^min) fps ∼41%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	119 (103^min) fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	113 (97^min) fps ∼31%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	89 (79^min) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	79 (70^min) fps ∼22%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	63 (55^min) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	52 (46^min) fps ∼14%

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

Ray tracing only becomes really demanding when using 4K resolutions. Without DLSS, even stronger high-end GPUs have to struggle with maximum graphics settings, although decent results can be achieved with an RTX 2080 or RTX 3070 and higher.

F1 2021
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset + Raytracing AA:T AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	102 (90^min) fps ∼42%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	91 (81^min) fps ∼38%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	68 (59^min) fps ∼28%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	64 (57^min) fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	50 (44^min) fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	45 (40^min) fps ∼19%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	34 (30^min) fps ∼14%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	28 (24^min) fps ∼12%

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 System

Device	Graphics card	Processor	Memory	Operating system
Desktop-PC I	MSI GeForce RTX 3090 (24 GB GDDR6X) MSI GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB GDDR6X) MSI GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (11 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2080 (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-9900K	4 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop PC II	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (11 GB GDDR5X) Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti (6 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-8086K, Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop-PC III	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 Radeon RX Vega 64 (8 GB HBM2)	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GT76	Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-9900K	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP65	Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GE65	Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP65	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 16 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
MSI GT62VR	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-6820HK	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GE72	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-7700HQ	2 x 4 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GL62	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-7700HQ	2 x 4 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 RX5600M (6 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen 7 4800H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI Alpha 15	AMD Radeon RX5500M (4 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen 7 3750H	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

4K monitors	Nvidia drivers	AMD drivers
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Acer Predator XB321HK	ForceWare 471.11	Adrenalin 21.7.1

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Editor of the original article: Sebastian Jentsch - Managing Editor Consumer Laptops - 1750 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2010

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > F1 2021 in test: Notebook and desktop benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2021-07-21 (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.