Horizon Forbidden West tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Showpiece game.

Nearly four years after the release of Horizon Zero Dawn, the highly promising sequel Horizon Forbidden West has now arrived on the PC. The action RPG has quite a bit to offer not only content-wise but also graphically. In this review, we’ll check out what the hardware requirements are for the game.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Zhiwei Zhuang), Published 03/25/2024 🇩🇪 🇸🇪 ...

Test systems

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

Philips Evnia 8000 Series 41.5" UHD OLED gaming monitor

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.

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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 Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	206 (134.7^min, 140.1^P0.1, 154.5^P1) fps ∼100% 148.6 (103.7^min, 111.8^P0.1, 123.2^P1) fps ∼100% 144.9 (93.9^min, 115^P0.1, 122^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	154.3 (96.7^min, 105.5^P0.1, 113.4^P1) fps ∼75% 132.4 (87.1^min, 91.6^P0.1, 101.2^P1) fps ∼89% 129.8 (90.2^min, 93.5^P0.1, 100^P1) fps ∼90%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900H Asus ROG Zephyrus M16	125.9 (70.7^min, 87.9^P0.1, 95.5^P1) fps ∼61% 95.6 (21.3^min, 62.1^P0.1, 70.7^P1) fps ∼64% 93.7 (61.5^min, 62.9^P0.1, 70.1^P1) fps ∼65%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	103.5 (44.5^min, 53.4^P0.1, 72.4^P1) fps ∼50% 91.3 (46^min, 54.8^P0.1, 64.4^P1) fps ∼61% 89.2 (33.5^min, 48.1^P0.1, 63.2^P1) fps ∼62%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	94.3 (47^min, 64.6^P0.1, 68.9^P1) fps ∼46% 71.7 (50.6^min, 55.2^P0.1, 59.2^P1) fps ∼48% 70.3 (55.5^min, 56.1^P0.1, 58.3^P1) fps ∼49%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	92.2 (32.8^min, 68.9^P0.1, 73.9^P1) fps ∼45% 63.5 (49^min, 49.7^P0.1, 53.4^P1) fps ∼43% 60.6 (45.5^min, 47.5^P0.1, 50.2^P1) fps ∼42%
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	77 (58^min) fps ∼37% 60 (47^min) fps ∼40% 59 (46^min) fps ∼41%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	75.7 (60^min, 60.4^P0.1, 64.7^P1) fps ∼37% 51.9 (39.1^min, 41.9^P0.1, 44.1^P1) fps ∼35% 45 (20.7^min, 24.1^P0.1, 37.1^P1) fps ∼31%
AMD Radeon 780M, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	28.5 (19.3^min, 19.5^P0.1, 23.3^P1) fps ∼93% 25.2 (18.7^min, 19.4^P0.1, 21.7^P1) fps ∼12% 17.7 (13.3^min, 13.3^P0.1, 13.8^P1) fps ∼12% 17.4 (13^min, 13.1^P0.1, 13.6^P1) fps ∼12%
Intel Arc 8-Core iGPU, Ultra 7 155H Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14	30.6 (24^min, 24^P0.1, 24.5^P1) fps ∼100% 27.1 (20.1^min, 20.3^P0.1, 21.6^P1) fps ∼13% 18.5 (13.2^min, 13.4^P0.1, 14.9^P1) fps ∼12% 16.2 (12.3^min, 12.3^P0.1, 13.5^P1) fps ∼11%

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 Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	117.1 (87.6^min, 90.3^P0.1, 96.7^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	106.2 (68.9^min, 77.8^P0.1, 87.7^P1) fps ∼91%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900H Asus ROG Zephyrus M16	75.2 (50.7^min, 54^P0.1, 59.6^P1) fps ∼64%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	71 (37.6^min, 47.7^P0.1, 52.9^P1) fps ∼61%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	54 (44.2^min, 45.2^P0.1, 47.1^P1) fps ∼46%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	47 (36.8^min, 36.9^P0.1, 39.3^P1) fps ∼40%
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	46 (39^min) fps ∼39%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	31.6 (25.7^min, 26.3^P0.1, 27.4^P1) fps ∼27%

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 Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	76.1 (62.3^min, 63.2^P0.1, 65.7^P1) fps ∼100% 102.4 (75.5^min, 78.7^P0.1, 87.1^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	69.5 (53.5^min, 54.2^P0.1, 58.7^P1) fps ∼91% 88.6 (71.5^min, 73.2^P0.1, 77^P1) fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900H Asus ROG Zephyrus M16	47.9 (37.6^min, 38.3^P0.1, 40.1^P1) fps ∼63% 63.3 (46^min, 48^P0.1, 53.1^P1) fps ∼62%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	45.8 (33.1^min, 34.4^P0.1, 37.2^P1) fps ∼60% 61.2 (22.3^min, 43.9^P0.1, 49.8^P1) fps ∼60%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	32.3 (27^min, 27.4^P0.1, 28.3^P1) fps ∼42% 45.5 (36.3^min, 37.9^P0.1, 39.9^P1) fps ∼44%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	27.6 (23.6^min, 23.6^P0.1, 24.3^P1) fps ∼36% 39.8 (34.5^min, 34.5^P0.1, 35.7^P1) fps ∼39%
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	21 (15^min) fps ∼28%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	18.6 (13.6^min, 14.2^P0.1, 15.9^P1) fps ∼24% 22.1 (13.8^min, 14.4^P0.1, 16.8^P1) fps ∼22%

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

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 654 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 - 381 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 > Horizon Forbidden West tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2024-03-25 (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.