Gears Tactics Notebook and Desktop Benchmarks

Exciting Mix. Gears Tactics links the turn-based battles of an XCOM with the Gears universe. Read on to see whether the successful mix also cuts a technical figure.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser, ✓ Andrea Grüblinger (translated by Christian Hintze), Published 05/06/2020 🇩🇪

Technology

While the Gears series is more known for brisk action, Gears Tactics is taking a completely new direction. Thanks to the turn-based principle, players have no time pressure, but can take a breather and concentrate on the tactical decisions in peace.

From a bird's eye view, we move several figures over detailed battlefields and try to assert ourselves against aliens. Between and sometimes even during the missions, Gears Tactics presents atmospheric video sequences that advance the story. In the roughly 1-2 hour play time for benchmarking, we really liked the title which made us want more.

The developers provide a convincing graphical presentation. Gears Tactics is based on the Unreal Engine 4, which is also used in Fortnite, Ark Survival Evolved, Darksiders III, Borderlands 3, and Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order (sometimes better, sometimes worse). In addition to the crisp textures and the detailed characters, the great effects should be mentioned on the positive side. The developers deserve further praise for the large number of graphics settings. Due to the sheer volume, they are divided into 5 menus (see screenshots).

If you don't want to tweak individual settings forever, you will find several presets in the general menu, which adjust the overall quality in one go. There are also setting options for the frame rate and resolution. The latter is regulated by a scale, which in some cases allows higher resolutions than the native one. Most setting changes are applied without a restart and are directly active. Also nice: as in current Ubisoft games there are explanatory texts and comparison pictures for the different graphics options.

A change of preset can have a strong impact not only visually but also in terms of performance (especially between low and medium), as the following comparison pictures show. Owners of weaker systems will be particularly pleased that the frame rate scales well downwards.

Technically, Gears seems quite mature, although we had a few problems during the test. For one thing, the game crashed every now and then. On the other hand, some systems with a Pascal chip (GeForce GTX 1060, GTX 1070, ...) experienced strange performance drops every second. These could usually be remedied by restarting. In addition, high-resolution textures - especially on GPUs with less than 6 GB VRAM - often load unpleasantly.

We also have to criticize the Microsoft Store, which still functions just as poorly and immaturely as it has a few months or years ago. Incorrect speed information here, crude error messages and download abortions there: We expect significantly more from a large corporation such as Microsoft. Alternatively, the game, which by the way weighs almost 30 GB, can be purchased and downloaded via Steam.

Benchmarks

For tuning fans, Gears Tactics also has an integrated benchmark in its luggage that lasts exactly 90 seconds and shows a typical fight from a bird's eye view. Since the benchmark battles are not 1: 1 identical due to varying AI decisions, the results can vary slightly from run to run. In our experience, however, the deviations are limited.

During the benchmark, Gears Tactics outputs several pieces of information (e.g. frames per second & VRAM load). What players are then offered as an evaluation, however, beats (almost) everything that has existed so far in terms of scope and level of detail. Just watch our video.

Results

FHD (1,920x1,080)

In contrast to first-person and third-person titles, which (depending on the player type) that only feel really smooth from 40 to 60 FPS, an average value of 30 to 35 FPS is theoretically sufficient for Gears Tactics.

With 1,920x1,080 pixels and the preset medium, dedicated entry-level GPUs like a GeForce MX330 should be sufficient. For a mixture of high details and a Full HD resolution, on the other hand, it should be a chip from the lower mid-range (GeForce GTX 1050 and up). Faster and / or more current all-round GPUs such as the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or GTX 1650 are only in demand at maximum settings.

Gears Tactics
1920x1080 Medium Preset 1920x1080 High Preset 1920x1080 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop) MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, i9-9900K	243 fps ∼72% 166 fps ∼67% 126 fps ∼72%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG, i9-9900K	240 fps ∼71% 156 fps ∼63% 119 fps ∼68%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) MSI GeForce RTX 2080, i9-9900K	227 fps ∼67% 158 fps ∼63% 115 fps ∼66%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) MSI GeForce RTX 2070, i9-9900K	215 fps ∼64% 140 fps ∼56% 94.5 fps ∼54%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop DDR4-2666, i7-8086K	204 fps ∼60% 137 fps ∼55% 119 fps ∼68%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop) MSI GeForce RTX 2060, i9-9900K	193 fps ∼57% 120 fps ∼48% 82.9 fps ∼47%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF, i7-9750H	182 fps ∼54% 128 fps ∼51% 85 fps ∼49%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile Alienware 17 R4, i7-7820HK	181 fps ∼54% 115 fps ∼46% 83.3 fps ∼48%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile Asus G752VS, 6820HK	161 fps ∼48% 105 fps ∼42% 70.9 fps ∼40%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD, i7-9750H	159 fps ∼47% 101 fps ∼41% 70.1 fps ∼40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile MSI GE65 Raider 9SE, i7-9750H	155 fps ∼46% 105 fps ∼42% 71.3 fps ∼41%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M MSI Alpha 15, R7 3750H	123 fps ∼36% 80 fps ∼32% 58.4 fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile MSI GT62VR, 6820HK	110 fps ∼33% 68.5 fps ∼28% 45.9 fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile MSI GP75 Leopard 9SC, i7-9750H	98.2 fps ∼29% 64.7 fps ∼26% 46.9 fps ∼27%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile MSI GE72 7RE, i7-7700HQ	74.7 fps ∼22% 48.5 fps ∼19% 36.2 fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Desktop) Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop MSI GTX 1050 Ti, i7-8086K	71.7 fps ∼21% 44.3 fps ∼18% 32.6 fps ∼19%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M MSI GE72 965M Ti, 6700HQ	64.6 fps ∼19% 34.2 fps ∼14% 25.3 fps ∼14%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile MSI GL62M 7RD, i7-7700HQ	64.5 fps ∼19% 39.3 fps ∼16% 27.1 fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Desktop) Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop DDR4-2666, i7-8086K	62.2 fps ∼18% 38.2 fps ∼15% 30.7 fps ∼18%
AMD Radeon R7 370 Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop MSI Radeon R7 370, i7-8086K	52 fps ∼15% 28.3 fps ∼11% 21.8 fps ∼12%
AMD Radeon RX 460 (Desktop) Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop XFX Radeon RX 460, i7-8086K	51.4 fps ∼15% 36.6 fps ∼15% 21.5 fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350 MSI Prestige 14, i7-10710U	48 fps ∼14% 30.1 fps ∼12% 19.3 fps ∼11%
NVIDIA GeForce MX330 MSI Prestige 14, i7-10510U	34.5 fps ∼10% 22.1 fps ∼9% 15.9 fps ∼9%
Intel UHD Graphics 630 Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop DDR4-2666, i7-8086K	13.2 fps ∼4% 7.5 fps ∼3% 5.4 fps ∼3%

QHD (2,560x1,440)

A real gaming chip is recommended for resolutions above 1,920x1,080. From a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or Radeon RX 5500M, 2,560 x 1440 pixels and the Preset Ultra are conjured up smoothly on the screen.

Gears Tactics
2560x1440 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	101 fps ∼68%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop), i7-8086K Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop DDR4-2666	88.6 fps ∼60%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	87.3 fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	76.7 fps ∼52%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2070	69.9 fps ∼47%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	59.9 fps ∼41%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2060	57.1 fps ∼39%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile, i7-7820HK Alienware 17 R4	56.6 fps ∼38%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	50.8 fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile, 6820HK Asus G752VS	46.2 fps ∼31%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	44.9 fps ∼30%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H MSI Alpha 15	38 fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK MSI GT62VR	31.4 fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP75 Leopard 9SC	29.9 fps ∼20%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i7-7700HQ MSI GE72 7RE	22.4 fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Desktop), i7-8086K Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop MSI GTX 1050 Ti	20.6 fps ∼14%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Desktop), i7-8086K Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop DDR4-2666	19 fps ∼13%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ MSI GL62M 7RD	18.1 fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M, 6700HQ MSI GE72 965M Ti	16.1 fps ∼11%
AMD Radeon RX 460 (Desktop), i7-8086K Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop XFX Radeon RX 460	14.2 fps ∼10%

UHD (3,840x2,160)

If you want to enjoy Gears in full graphic splendor on a 4K monitor with 3,840x2,160 pixels, you can't avoid an absolute high-end model such as the GeForce RTX 2070 or RTX 2080.

Gears Tactics
3840x2160 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	64.7 fps ∼73%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop), i7-8086K Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming Desktop DDR4-2666	51.9 fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	46.9 fps ∼53%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	42.9 fps ∼49%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2070	38.7 fps ∼44%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	31.6 fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2060	31.1 fps ∼35%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile, i7-7820HK Alienware 17 R4	29.7 fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	26.8 fps ∼30%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile, 6820HK Asus G752VS	25.3 fps ∼29%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	21.8 fps ∼25%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H MSI Alpha 15	19 fps ∼22%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK MSI GT62VR	15.7 fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP75 Leopard 9SC	14.6 fps ∼17%

Please note

Given how complex and time-consuming gaming benchmarks can be, particularly due to installation and activation limits, we are unable to present you with all benchmarks at the time of writing. We are going to update this article with new benchmarks in the coming days and weeks.

Overview

Testsystems

Device	Graphics Card	Processor	RAM	Operating System
Desktop-PC I	MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (11 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2080 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2060 (6 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) XFX Radeon R9 Fury (4 GB HBM) Sapphire Radeon R9 290X (4 GB GDDR5) Sapphire Radeon R9 280X (3 GB GDDR5) MSI Radeon R7 370 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-8086K, Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop-PC III	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 RTX 2060 Super (8 GB GDDR6) Nvidia Titan X (Pascal) (12 GB GDDR5X) KFA2 GeForce GTX 1660 Super (6 GB GDDR6) PNY GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB GDDR5) Gainward GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR5) Zotac GeForce GT 1030 (2 GB GDDR5) AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (8 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5700 (8 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (8 GB GDDR6)) AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (8 GB HBM2) XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 (8 GB GDDR5)	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X	2 x 8 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 (4 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Alienware 17 R4	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 (8 GB GDDR5X)	Intel Core i7-7820HK	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Asus G752VS	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-6820HK	2 x 16 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
MSI Prestige 14	Nvidia GeForce MX350 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-10710U	1 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI Prestige 14	Nvidia GeForce MX330 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-10510U	1 x 16 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

4K Displays	Nvidia Driver	AMD Driver
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H	ForceWare 445.87	Adrenalin 20.4.2

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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.

Translator: Christian Hintze - Managing Editor - 1922 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2016

A C64 marked my entry into the world of PCs. I spent my student internship in the repair department of a computer shop and at the end of the day I was allowed to assemble my own 486 PC from “workshop remnants”. As a result of this, I later studied computer science at the Humboldt University in Berlin, with psychology also being added to my studies. After my first job as a research assistant at the university, I went to London for a year and worked for Sega in computer game translation quality assurance. This included working on games such as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and Company of Heroes. I have been writing for Notebookcheck since 2017.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Gears Tactics Notebook and Desktop Benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2020-05- 6 (Update: 2022-01-21)

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.