Ghost of Tsushima tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Samurai action. Almost four years after the release of the console version, the hit PS4 game Ghost of Tsushima has now also arrived on PC. In this review, we’ll take a look at whether the game’s visuals still hold up to modern standards and how high the system requirements are.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Zhiwei Zhuang), Published 05/21/2024 🇩🇪 🇭🇺 ...

Test systems

Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16 (RX 7600S & 780M)

We currently carry out our gaming benchmarks with these devices. Clicking on the photos will take you to the respective manufacturer's website. More details on their specifications are listed at the end of the article.

Tech

It isn’t necessarily apparent that the technical backbone of Ghost of Tsushima is already few years old. Although the action-adventure game, which is set in Japan, isn’t amongst the very best in terms of visuals, we think the graphics are still great. As well as the characters and their animations, the textures and effects are also pleasing. Beautiful and lush environments serve as the backdrop to the entire experience, resulting in an impressive-looking game overall. The battle system, presentation and implementation of scenarios are all just as well done.

We have to give kudos for the largely clean PC port, something you can't take for granted any more. This should come as no surprise because the PC version was handled by PC port specialist Nixxes Software. The Dutch studio recently also did a great job with Horizon Forbidden West, which has similar system requirements.

As with other games ported by Nixxes, the graphics options are accessible both in and outside the game, a highly convenient feature (see screenshots). Due to the sheer number of options available, the settings are divided into two menus. The display tab allows you to adjust resolution, VSync, anti-aliasing (including SMAA, TAA & DLAA) and upscaling. DLSS, FSR and XeSS are available as upscaling methods, depending on the GPU manufacturer.

The graphics tab offers a similar number of settings. Adjustments can be made quickly by using one of the four presets, especially since applying changes doesn’t require a restart. We didn’t experience crashes or any similar issues during our testing. Unfortunately, mandatory shader compilation has become fairly common these days, but the process didn’t take particularly long in Ghost of Tsushima.

Benchmark

For our frame rate measurements, we used the game’s opening scene, where the protagonist rides a horse through a battlefield by the sea. Frame rates were captured for around 30 seconds using CapFrameX. The exact sequence can be viewed in the video below.

Resultate

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

Our testing revealed that iGPUs have a relatively tough time handling Ghost of Tsushima. Whilst our 780M laptop basically failed to produce playable frame rates at Full HD, the game at least ran reasonably well at low preset on our Arc 8 notebook. By contrast, at 1080p, current mid-range GPUs with RTX 4050-level performance can manage upwards of 40 fps even at very high preset.

Ghost of Tsushima
1920x1080 Low Preset 1920x1080 Medium Preset AA:T 1920x1080 High Preset AA:T 1920x1080 Very High Preset AA:T
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	168 (76.9^min, 108.6^P0.1, 135.5^P1) fps ∼100% 160.4 (74.6^min, 109.2^P0.1, 128.6^P1) fps ∼100% 141.1 (74.3^min, 102^P0.1, 118.6^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	127.1 (55.6^min, 79.6^P0.1, 97.5^P1) fps ∼76% 121.9 (55.5^min, 74.4^P0.1, 93.4^P1) fps ∼76% 114.6 (33.1^min, 71^P0.1, 91.8^P1) fps ∼81%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	127.1 (32.7^min, 56.6^P0.1, 94.8^P1) fps ∼76% 115.7 (32.2^min, 51.1^P0.1, 87.1^P1) fps ∼72% 105.5 (49.2^min, 55.4^P0.1, 82.8^P1) fps ∼75%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	100.2 (26.5^min, 33.3^P0.1, 64.7^P1) fps ∼60% 97.8 (31.5^min, 47.4^P0.1, 68.2^P1) fps ∼61% 82.7 (35.1^min, 40.8^P0.1, 61.3^P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	90.5 (22.3^min, 26.3^P0.1, 66.2^P1) fps ∼54% 83.2 (24.3^min, 28.1^P0.1, 62^P1) fps ∼52% 68.1 (30^min, 37.1^P0.1, 54.9^P1) fps ∼48%
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	94.8 (45.5^min, 61.2^P0.1, 75^P1) fps ∼100% 80.7 (44.8^min, 53.9^P0.1, 62.5^P1) fps ∼48% 72.4 (30.9^min, 34.9^P0.1, 53.8^P1) fps ∼45% 58.8 (34.7^min, 39.6^P0.1, 47^P1) fps ∼42%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	78.9 (35^min, 40.1^P0.1, 55.8^P1) fps ∼47% 72.3 (19.3^min, 36.2^P0.1, 53.6^P1) fps ∼45% 58.5 (22.7^min, 35.7^P0.1, 45.3^P1) fps ∼41%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	79.2 (43.2^min, 52^P0.1, 60.4^P1) fps ∼84% 67.4 (44.2^min, 46.9^P0.1, 53.5^P1) fps ∼40% 59.6 (17^min, 27^P0.1, 47^P1) fps ∼37% 45 (17.3^min, 27^P0.1, 35.3^P1) fps ∼32%
Intel Arc 8-Core iGPU, Ultra 7 155H Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14	33.6 (26.7^min, 26.8^P0.1, 28.7^P1) fps ∼35% 28 (22.5^min, 23.3^P0.1, 24.1^P1) fps ∼17% 25.2 (20.9^min, 20.9^P0.1, 21.9^P1) fps ∼16% 19 (16.4^min, 16.5^P0.1, 16.9^P1) fps ∼13%
AMD Radeon 780M, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	26.9 (13.2^min, 13.8^P0.1, 18.7^P1) fps ∼28% 21.4 (13.2^min, 13.5^P0.1, 18.1^P1) fps ∼13% 18.8 (12.9^min, 13^P0.1, 14.7^P1) fps ∼12% 16.3 (6.62^min, 6.75^P0.1, 8.66^P1) fps ∼12%

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

You don’t need a high-end graphics card to run Ghost of Tsushima at QHD. At 1440p and max settings, the game is already playable on a GPU with 8 GB of RAM, such as the GeForce RTX 4060 and Radeon RX 7600S.

Ghost of Tsushima
2560x1440 Very High Preset AA:T
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	109.5 (68.5^min, 71.6^P0.1, 82.5^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	107.2 (52.1^min, 69.2^P0.1, 88.2^P1) fps ∼98%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	87.3 (52^min, 65.6^P0.1, 70.7^P1) fps ∼80%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	64.5 (32.5^min, 42.1^P0.1, 50.1^P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	50.5 (24.1^min, 26.1^P0.1, 39.6^P1) fps ∼46%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	44 (19.5^min, 24.3^P0.1, 34^P1) fps ∼40%
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	41.6 (25^min, 29.3^P0.1, 34.6^P1) fps ∼38%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	30.8 (22.6^min, 24^P0.1, 25.1^P1) fps ∼28%

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

The game becomes really demanding once it gets to 4K. At this resolution, your laptop should be equipped with at least a GeForce RTX 4080 if you want to use the very high preset. However, a GeForce RTX 4070 is sufficient with DLSS Quality or FSR Quality enabled.

Ghost of Tsushima
3840x2160 Very High Preset AA:T 3840x2160 Very High Preset + Quality DLSS 3840x2160 Very High Preset + Quality FSR
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	65 (43.8^min, 54.4^P0.1, 57.5^P1) fps ∼100% 103 (65^min, 79.9^P0.1, 85.9^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	64.8 (40.8^min, 50.7^P0.1, 57^P1) fps ∼100% 97.9 (49.7^min, 68.5^P0.1, 81.3^P1) fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	53.4 (23.9^min, 41.8^P0.1, 44.5^P1) fps ∼82% 76.4 (23.9^min, 49^P0.1, 61.5^P1) fps ∼74%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	39.8 (17.3^min, 22.4^P0.1, 31.6^P1) fps ∼61% 59.7 (26.8^min, 29.6^P0.1, 46.7^P1) fps ∼58%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	27.9 (14.2^min, 15.7^P0.1, 18.5^P1) fps ∼43% 42.9 (31.4^min, 34.3^P0.1, 37.1^P1) fps ∼42%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	24.3 (17.2^min, 17.2^P0.1, 18.9^P1) fps ∼37% 37.9 (27.5^min, 28.8^P0.1, 30.7^P1) fps ∼37%
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	16.9 (3.58^min, 5.25^P0.1, 10.2^P1) fps ∼26% 32.4 (24.8^min, 26.7^P0.1, 28.2^P1) fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	11.8 (9.82^min, 9.83^P0.1, 9.92^P1) fps ∼18% 21.4 (16.1^min, 16.2^P0.1, 17.2^P1) fps ∼21%

Note

Because gaming tests are highly time-consuming and often constrained by installation or activation limits, we are only able to deliver part of the benchmark results at the time of publishing this article. More graphics cards will be added subsequently.

Overview

Details of the test systems

Notebook	Graphics card	Processor	Memory
XMG Neo 16 E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 @175 W TGP (16 GB GDDR6X)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 @175 W TGP (12 GB GDDR6X)	Intel Core i9-13950HX	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
Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 @140 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS	2 x 8 GB DDR5
Medion Erazer Scout E20	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 @100 W TGP (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-13700H	2 x 8 GB DDR5
Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	AMD Radeon RX 7600S (8 GB GDDR6) & AMD Radeon 780M	AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS	2 x 8 GB DDR5
Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14	Intel Arc 8	Intel Core Ultra 7 155H	2 x 16 GB DDR5

Tower PC	Graphics card	Processor	Memory
Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (16 GB GDDR6X) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT (20 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-13900K	2 x 24 GB DDR5 G.Skill

4K monitor	Operating system	Nvidia driver	AMD driver	Intel driver
Philips Evnia 329M1RV	Windows 11	552.44	24.5.1	31.0.101.5522

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 618 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 - 159 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 > Ghost of Tsushima tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2024-05-21 (Update: 2024-05-21)

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.

Pos	Model	< Prev Next > Ghost of Tsushima (2024)
Pos	Model	low 1920x1080 Low Preset	med. 1920x1080 Medium Preset TAA	high 1920x1080 High Preset TAA	ultra 1920x1080 Very High Preset TAA	QHD 2560x1440 Very High Preset TAA	4K 3840x2160 Very High Preset TAA	3840x2160 Very High Preset + Quality DLSS	3840x2160 Very High Preset + Quality FSR
4	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080		168	160.4	141.1	109.5	65	103
7	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT		127.1	121.9	114.6	107.2	64.8		97.9
11	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU		127.1	115.7	105.5	87.3	53.4	76.4
21	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU		100.2	97.8	82.7	64.5	39.8	59.7
37	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU		90.5	83.2	68.1	50.5	27.9	42.9
44	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU	93.6	79.1	70.9	58.6	46	28.7	42.7
53	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU		78.9	72.3	58.5	44	24.3	37.9
91	AMD Radeon RX 7600S	94.8	80.7	72.4	58.8	41.6	16.9		32.4
145	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU	79.2	67.4	59.6	45	30.8	11.8	21.4
224*	Intel Arc 8-Core iGPU	33.6	28	25.2	19
242*	AMD Radeon 780M	26.9	21.4	18.8	16.3