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Guardians of the Galaxy Performance Analysis

A feast for Marvel fans. Linear story-driven single-player games are a rarity these days. This is why it is exciting to see a major publisher release such a title. After the Star Wars game (Jedi Fallen Order), we get ourselves a surprisingly good single-player Marvel title.
Guardians of the Galaxy

Technology

The Marvel-inspired game looks great and plays well. Developed by Eidos Montreal, Guardians of the Galaxy is a game which appears stunning even at low settings, thanks to its punchy colours and great level of detail.

Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy

Both textures and effects look very modern. The character models are impressive, even though they have a distinct comic-book look. Thanks to a mix of very well-made cutscenes and great background music, Guardians of the Galaxy is able to create a very dense atmosphere.

Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy

The developers behind the game (Eidos Montreal) deserve some praise for the well-made graphics menu. Some settings can be changed via the game launcher, while other settings can be adjusted in-game. In the Graphics tab, there are more than 10 settings (consisting of sliders and toggles). You can change the resolution, adjust the field of view, enable vertical synchronisation, and set the resolution scaling in the Display tab. The title supports such modern features as DLSS.

Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy

With the exception of the two RT settings, which affect the reflections, all other settings can be changed via presets, which have some peculiarities, especially the low and the high one. The fact that changing the texture quality requires a restart is not likely to please anyone, given that the introductory videos cannot be skipped.

Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy

On a technological level, Guardians of the Galaxy does not appear to be particularly polished. We experienced many crashes–especially when launching the game. The fullscreen mode also did not always work well (black screen).

Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy

Benchmark

Thankfully, Guardians of the Galaxy features a one-minute built-in benchmark (perfect length). Loading times are not super fast, though. During the benchmark, which takes place in a market, there are no performance statistics. However, upon completion, the benchmark provides the data such as minimum, average and maximum FPS. There is also a VRAM meter. 

Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy

Results

The benchmarks were conducted mainly using the laptops which our partners MSI and XMG (Schenker Technologies) lent us.

FHD (1920x1080)

To run Guardians of the Galaxy at 1080p, you will need a mid-range GPU. Half-way current laptop GPUs such as the GeForce GTX 1650 (Ti) manage to achieve over 40 FPS on average at 1080p and maximum settings. The title is not particularly demanding as far as system requirements are concerned. At medium settings, Guardians of the Galaxy can become limited by the CPU, if you have a very powerful GPU.

Guardians of the Galaxy
    1920x1080 Medium Preset     1920x1080 High Preset     1920x1080 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
141 (86min) fps ∼46%
140 (88min) fps ∼46%
137 (87min) fps ∼46%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
140 (86min) fps ∼46%
139 (101min) fps ∼45%
135 (84min) fps ∼45%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
116 (58min) fps ∼38%
115 (78min) fps ∼38%
114 (80min) fps ∼38%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
115 (73min) fps ∼38%
112 (74min) fps ∼37%
108 (68min) fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
113 (79min) fps ∼37%
112 (68min) fps ∼37%
111 (69min) fps ∼37%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
111 (65min) fps ∼36%
100 (77min) fps ∼33%
109 (63min) fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP
84 (62min) fps ∼27%
69 (52min) fps ∼23%
68 (26min) fps ∼23%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
Dell G5 15 SE
80 (43min) fps ∼26%
78 (46min) fps ∼25%
75 (42min) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H
MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD
74 (55min) fps ∼24%
72 (45min) fps ∼24%
70 (48min) fps ∼23%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GP75
55 (10min) fps ∼18%
54 (37min) fps ∼18%
53 (36min) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GL75
48 (8min) fps ∼16%
46 (9min) fps ∼15%
44 (31min) fps ∼15%

QHD (2560x1440)

For a decent 1440p gaming experience, you will need an upper mid-range GPU on the level of the Radeon RX 5600M or the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. With such a GPU, you will be able to achieve over 50 FPS on average at maximum settings.

Guardians of the Galaxy
    2560x1440 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
113 (71min) fps ∼37%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
110 (66min) fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
108 (79min) fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
107 (68min) fps ∼35%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
102 (79min) fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
79 (59min) fps ∼26%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
Dell G5 15 SE
52 (36min) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H
MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD
51 (38min) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GP75
32 (22min) fps ∼11%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GL75
31 (23min) fps ∼10%

UHD (3840x2160)

A high-end GPU is a must for those who want to game at 2160p. The GeForce RTX 3060 can run Guardians of the Galaxy at 4K and ultra settings.

Guardians of the Galaxy
    3840x2160 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
106 (68min) fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
95 (68min) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
69 (55min) fps ∼23%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
60 (48min) fps ∼20%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
56 (44min) fps ∼19%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
44 (3min) fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H
MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD
26 (8min) fps ∼9%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
Dell G5 15 SE
22 (2min) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GP75
13 (10min) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H
MSI GL75
6 (1min) fps ∼2%

Ray Tracing

If you want to play with RT effects enabled at 1080p, then you will need at least an RTX 3060. The RTX 3050 Ti strays too far into the unplayable territory.

Guardians of the Galaxy
    1920x1080 Ultra Preset + Ultra Ray-Tracing
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X
90 (57min) fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
87 (58min) fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X
85 (53min) fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP
85 (62min) fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP
80 (56min) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP
47 (4min) fps ∼19%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H
XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP
7 (3min) fps ∼3%

Note

Because benchmarking video games is very time consuming and is often constrained by installation/activation limits, at the time of publishing, we were able to provide only a part of our performance analysis of Guardians of the Galaxy. Other graphics cards will be added in the coming days and weeks.

Overview

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >Guardians of the Galaxy
 Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)
low
1280x720
Low Preset
med.
1920x1080
Medium Preset
high
1920x1080
High Preset
ultra
1920x1080
Ultra Preset
QHD
2560x1440
Ultra Preset
4K
3840x2160
Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
261n4
260.5n4
260n4
259.5n4
257n4
204n4
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
215n2
214.5n2
214.5n2
209.5n2
207.5n2
146.5n2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super
250n2
249.5n2
249n2
241n2
239n2
146.5n2
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
202
201
200
197
191
118
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
222
220
222
212
203
111
AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
178n2
177.5n2
176.5n2
174n2
156n2
99n2
AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT
208
210
214
211
191
113
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU
163
160
158
152
141
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
177.5n2
135n3
136n3
134n3
133n3
106n3
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
194
196
191
191
186
110
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
216
217
214
204
167
95
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU
165
165
163
146
96
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB
139
148
147
143
141
100
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
113
112
111
110
95
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
219
223
222
218
172
92
AMD Radeon RX 6800
133
140
135
136
134
82
AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT
180
177
175
164
125
72
NVIDIA Titan RTX
172.5n2
171n2
170.5n2
168n2
140n2
82n2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16G
205
193
192
186
128
66
PosModel< PrevNext >Guardians of the Galaxy
low med. high ultra QHD 4K
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8G
201n3
196n3
195n3
187n3
128n3
67n3
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU
137.5n2
157n3
156n3
152n3
122n3
67.5n2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU
148
147
144
108
60
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
111
100
109
107
69
AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT
222
173
172
161
117
61
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
138
134
133
131
99
55
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU
134n2
138n3
137n3
135n3
103n3
56n3
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
172.5n2
170n2
168.5n2
162n2
118n2
64n2
Intel Arc A770
172
129
127
120
92
52
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
225
162
162
154
104
55
AMD Radeon RX 7600
207
146
145
136
96
52
AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT
130
131
132
129
103
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU
120
117.5n2
118n2
114n2
87
49
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU
134
135
133
AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT
200
140
138
129
91
48
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
139
124
123
119
82
43
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU
123
124n4
122n4
120n3
102n2
55.5n2
AMD Radeon RX 6800S
125
123
115
82
44
AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT
165
118
118
110
81
46
Intel Arc A750
167
118
116
109
83
48
PosModel< PrevNext >Guardians of the Galaxy
low med. high ultra QHD 4K
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
140
132
131
127
87
47
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal
136
112
111
109
80
47
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop)
148.5n2
145n2
144.5n2
140.5n2
100n2
54n2
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Desktop)
149n2
113.5n2
111.5n2
105.5n2
78.5n2
44.5n2
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU
115n2
114n3
109.5n4
106.5n4
77.5n2
39.5n2
AMD Radeon RX 7600S
110
108
102
75
42
Intel Arc A580
119
113
112
105
78
43
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop)
137n2
130.5n2
128.5n2
126n2
85.5n2
46n2
Intel Arc A770M
124
112
110
105
79
45
AMD Radeon RX 6600
161n2
117.5n2
116n2
109.5n2
75n2
39n2
AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Desktop)
114
85
84
81
62
40
AMD Radeon RX 6650M
117
110
111
105
AMD Radeon RX 6600M
103.5n2
102n2
101n2
100.5n2
100
58
AMD Radeon RX 6700S
112
111
104
68
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
128.5n2
99n2
98n2
93.5n2
62n2
33.5n2
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (Desktop)
90n2
88.5n2
88n2
88n2
63n2
29n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super (Desktop)
137
95
84
84
60
32
AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT
77.5n2
38n2
32.5n2
30.5n2
25.5n2
5.5n2
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (Desktop)
78
65
63
60
45
25
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU
144
120
119
113
PosModel< PrevNext >Guardians of the Galaxy
low med. high ultra QHD 4K
Intel Arc A730M
81
76
73
52
AMD Radeon RX 5600M
80
78
75
52
22
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile
74
72
70
51
26
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
83.5n2
75.5n2
73.5n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (Desktop)
128
83
80
77
54
28
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super (Desktop)
98
67
67
65
31
15
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU
96
74
73
32
AMD Radeon RX 6500M
83
48
47
44
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile
81
79
80
78
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile
55
54
53
32
13
Intel Arc A370M
23
14
12
AMD Radeon RX 5500M
62
49
44
42
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile
67
48
47
45
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Desktop)
80
53
51
50
32
13
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile
48
46
44
31
6
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (Desktop)
55
37
36
35
24
11
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile
45
29
29
28
AMD Radeon Steam Deck 8CU
48
31
30
28
AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop)
45
30
29
27
(-) * Smaller values are better. / n123 Number of benchmarks for this median value / * Approximate position

 

Legend
5Stutters – 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.
30Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60Fluent – 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.

Test Systems

Device GPU CPU RAM OS
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
Dell G5 15 SE AMD Radeon RX 5600M (6 GB GDDR6) AMD Ryzen 7 4800H 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
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 10 64 Bit
Desktop PC II Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 FE (24 GB GDDR6X)
Nvidia Titan RTX (24 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 6700 XT (12 GB DDR6)
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (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
4K Monitore Nvidia Treiber AMD Treiber
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Acer Predator XB321HK ForceWare 496.49 Adrenalin 21.10.3
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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Guardians of the Galaxy Performance Analysis
Florian Glaser, 2021-10-30 (Update: 2021-11- 3)