Horizon Forbidden West tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks
Test systems
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
Whilst its predecessor had to deal with some criticisms for its technical performance (see article), Horizon Forbidden West has received a much more positive reception.
The game once again needs to compile its shaders on initial startup, a process that takes a varying amount of time depending on the system. But other than that, there isn't much else to complain about this time round – besides maybe the massive file size of roughly 123 GB (the download is approx. 97 GB).
Due to the sheer number of settings available, the options are divided into two menus and also conveniently accessible outside the game. First off, the Display tab lets you adjust resolution, display mode, and a whole host of other settings like upscaling method (DLSS, FSR & XeSS), anti-aliasing (SMAA, TAA & DLAA), Nvidia Reflex and Frame Generation.
The Graphics tab contains even more options. Those who aren’t interested in tinkering with all the features can simply select one of the five provided presets, ranging from Very Low to Very High.
One standout aspect is that all changes take effect immediately, meaning they don’t require a restart. The only drawback is the absence of ray tracing, but Horizon Forbidden West still looks stunning even without this technology and is one of the most gorgeous PC games on the market right now.
Environments look incredibly detailed and crisp when it comes to vegetation, textures and so on. Animations and effects likewise deserve high praise.
Benchmark
Unlike Horizon Zero Dawn, the sequel doesn’t have any built-in benchmark. We thus used the very start of the game, where the female protagonist is unleashed on the enchanting fantasy world, as the sequence for our frame rate measurements. We moved the character along a defined path whilst recording the frame rate for about 20 seconds with CapFrameX. In our opinion, Horizon Forbidden West plays well enough at 40 fps and above.
Results
FHD (1,920 x 1,080)
The game’s graphics requirements are neither low nor particularly high. With an iGPU, you’ll have to restrict yourself to moderate resolutions and minimum settings, considering that even the AMD Radeon 780M and Intel Arc 8 barely reached the 30 fps mark at 1080p and Low preset. On the other hand, mid-range GPUs, like the GeForce RTX 4050, can handle the game at Full HD and Very High preset.
Horizon Forbidden West | |
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 | |
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS | |
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H | |
AMD Radeon 780M, R9 7940HS | |
Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU, Ultra 7 155H |
QHD (2,560 x 1,440)
To get perfect visuals on a QHD monitor, you should at least have an upper mid-range graphics card or better. A Radeon RX 7600S and above will let you play the game at 1440p and max settings.
Horizon Forbidden West | |
2560x1440 Very High Preset AA:T | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K | |
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS | |
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H |
UHD (3,840 x 2,160)
The combination of 4K resolution and Very High preset is meanwhile only reserved for expensive high-end GPUs, such as the GeForce RTX 4080, if you don’t use any upscaling. That said, with DLSS or FSR (in Quality mode) enabled, a GeForce RTX 4060 or higher is powerful enough to get you started with the game at 4K/Max.
Horizon Forbidden West | |
3840x2160 Very High Preset AA:T 3840x2160 Very High Preset + Quality DLSS 3840x2160 Very High Preset + Quality FSR | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K | |
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS | |
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 @150 W TGP (16 GB GDDR6X) | Intel Core i9-13900H | 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 42M2N8900 | Windows 11 | 551.86 | 24.3.1 | 101.5379 |