Performance Analysis of Mass Effect Legendary Edition

100 GB for 100 hours of joy.

Over the past few years, video game publishers have released a whole slew of remastered versions of classic games. Not that long ago a complete remake of Mafia was released, and now the Mass Effect trilogy is also getting some love. Read this article to find out the system requirements for Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Stanislav Kokhanyuk), Published 05/19/2021 🇩🇪 🇳🇱 ...

Technology

Even though the remastered Mass Effect games do not look particularly impressive in this day and age, they still thoroughly beat the original titles. For our performance analysis, we decided to focus on the remaster of Mass Effect 1, because it received the most significant visual upgrade (its textures have been completely reworked). The remaster feels very atmospheric, which is a good thing for a role-playing game like Mass Effect. However, the animations are still not good, just like in all other Mass Effect titles.

We were quite disappointed by the graphics menu because it only contains 6 settings (Dynamic Shadows, Motion Blur, Vsync, Film Grain, Antialiasing & Ambient Occlusion). There are also no presets. In the graphics menu, gamers can change the resolution and the window mode. There is also a frame rate limiter with a range of 30 to 240 FPS.

We carried out our benchmarks with all the graphics effects enabled, at least at resolutions above 1080p. However, we did not use vertical synchronisation. Positive: A restart is not required for graphics changes to take effect. 

The system requirements of Mass Effect Legendary Edition are very low, which is why it can run even on systems with weak hardware. This is good news for people who own cheap PCs or laptops. Mass Effect LE often runs into CPU bottlenecks even with mid-range graphics cards, which is not uncommon for this type of game. You will need a high-end GPU if you want to game at 4K, though.

Benchmark

We conducted our benchmarks at the space station known as Citadel. It features beautiful architecture and a lot of NPCs. We used CapFrameX to record the frame rates.

▶ load Youtube video

Results

FHD (1920x1080)

As we already mentioned, even cheap PCs and laptops can easily handle Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Low-end GPUs can run the game at 1080p with all the visual effects enabled without any issues. At 1080p, the GeForce MX350 was able to achieve over 40 FPS, which is enough for an RPG.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition
1920x1080 On
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	128 (27.1^min, 49.8^P0.1, 69.8^P1) fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	126 (26.7^min, 45.8^P0.1, 69.9^P1) fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	123 (25.3^min, 53.5^P0.1, 68.9^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	123 (24.6^min, 49.7^P0.1, 68.1^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	122 (25.2^min, 51.7^P0.1, 65.6^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	112 (25.3^min, 37.7^P0.1, 60.6^P1) fps ∼23%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	111 (15^min, 15.4^P0.1, 19.1^P1) fps ∼23%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	110 (15.8^min, 35.6^P0.1, 62.3^P1) fps ∼23%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	103 (26.8^min, 52.6^P0.1, 61.6^P1) fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	99.9 (21.4^min, 23.7^P0.1, 30.3^P1) fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	90.3 (22.7^min, 43.5^P0.1, 51.1^P1) fps ∼19%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H Dell G5 15 SE	71 (20.4^min, 26.2^P0.1, 42.1^P1) fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK MSI GT62VR	70.2 (19.7^min, 25.1^P0.1, 41.9^P1) fps ∼14%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ MSI GL62M 7RD	64.3 (20.9^min, 26.1^P0.1, 42.9^P1) fps ∼13%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H MSI Alpha 15	48.6 (12.1^min, 16.1^P0.1, 22.6^P1) fps ∼10%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350, i5-10210U Honor Magicbook Pro	44 (21.3^min, 24.1^P0.1, 31.5^P1) fps ∼9%

QHD (2560x1440)

To run the game at 1440p, you will need a mid-range graphics card such as the GeForce GTX 1650. All in all, the remastered version is not particularly demanding at 1440p. 

Mass Effect Legendary Edition
2560x1440 On
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	128 (26.2^min, 55.6^P0.1, 68.7^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	125 (20.6^min, 48^P0.1, 68.8^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	123 (24.8^min, 43.3^P0.1, 67.1^P1) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	120 (25.4^min, 51.9^P0.1, 66.9^P1) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	120 (26.8^min, 50.6^P0.1, 66.1^P1) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	109 (15.3^min, 15.8^P0.1, 23.1^P1) fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	106 (18.7^min, 35.4^P0.1, 60.3^P1) fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	96.2 (23.1^min, 30.8^P0.1, 60.3^P1) fps ∼19%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	90.3 (19.6^min, 21^P0.1, 25.8^P1) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	75.9 (28.3^min, 38^P0.1, 58.4^P1) fps ∼15%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H Dell G5 15 SE	67.6 (21.5^min, 26.8^P0.1, 41.4^P1) fps ∼13%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	67.5 (22.3^min, 27.7^P0.1, 49.5^P1) fps ∼13%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H MSI Alpha 15	42.4 (12.8^min, 15.1^P0.1, 19.6^P1) fps ∼8%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350, i5-10210U Honor Magicbook Pro	28.3 (10.9^min, 11.9^P0.1, 18.1^P1) fps ∼6%

UHD (3840x2160)

Even at 4K, you can get away with a mid-range GPU such as the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti or the Radeon RX 5600M.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition
3840x2160 On
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	121 (27.4^min, 46.8^P0.1, 68.2^P1) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	117 (25.4^min, 41.2^P0.1, 65.5^P1) fps ∼31%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	115 (23.9^min, 42.9^P0.1, 67.6^P1) fps ∼30%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	105 (24.4^min, 33.3^P0.1, 64.5^P1) fps ∼28%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	97.8 (25.7^min, 30.1^P0.1, 63.9^P1) fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	81.7 (13.4^min, 13.8^P0.1, 16.9^P1) fps ∼22%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	74 (16.1^min, 28.2^P0.1, 53.9^P1) fps ∼20%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	56.9 (16.6^min, 17.7^P0.1, 22.3^P1) fps ∼15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	53.6 (31.8^min, 35.3^P0.1, 44^P1) fps ∼14%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H Dell G5 15 SE	45.7 (23.6^min, 25.2^P0.1, 35.6^P1) fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	38.1 (29.7^min, 31.6^P0.1, 32.8^P1) fps ∼10%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H MSI Alpha 15	35.4 (12.2^min, 15.2^P0.1, 20.1^P1) fps ∼9%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	33.7 (27.4^min, 27.5^P0.1, 28.7^P1) fps ∼9%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350, i5-10210U Honor Magicbook Pro	13.3 (7.51^min, 7.57^P0.1, 7.87^P1) fps ∼4%

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 Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Other graphics cards will be added in the coming days and weeks.

Overview

Test Systems

Device	GPU	CPU	RAM	OS
Desktop PC I	MSI GeForce RTX 3090 (24 GB GDDR6X) MSI GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB GDDR6X) MSI GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (11 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2080 (8 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)	Intel Core i7-8086K, Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop PC III	Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 FE(24 GB GDDR6X) 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 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 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 Radeon RX Vega 64 (8 GB HBM2)	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X	2 x 16 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 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
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
Honor MagicBook Pro	Nvidia GeForce MX350 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-10210U	1 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Dell G5 15 SE	AMD Radeon RX5600M (6 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen 7 4800H	2 x 8 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
MSI Prestige 14 Evo	Intel Iris Xe (96 CUs)	Intel Core i7-1185G7	1 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit

4K monitors	Nvidia drivers	AMD drivers
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Acer Predator XB321HK	ForceWare 466.27	Adrenalin 21.5.1

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Editor of the original article: Sebastian Jentsch - Managing Editor Consumer Laptops - 1751 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2010

Computers always had an important place in my life, starting with an Intel 80286 microprocessor in the early 1990s. I became interested in the productive side of technology, especially in campus radio, while studying at TU Chemnitz and during a trainee program in Belfast. Hardware interests led me to manage Notebookjournal.de, which is now a division of Notebooksbilliger, for a few years. I became self-employed in 2010 and took the next logical step in my career by starting to write for Notebookcheck.

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Translator: Stanislav Kokhanyuk - Translator - 81 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2021

I am a big fan of technology, which is why I try to keep up with it. Among my other passions are literature and writing, and so it should not be surprising to anyone at all that I have a four-year bachelor's degree in philology. However, my interests are not limited just to the world of technology, or, for that matter, the world of literature. I am also interested in people and the stories they have to tell. And more recently, I took an interest in artificial intelligence.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Performance Analysis of Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Florian Glaser, 2021-05-19 (Update: 2024-08-15)

Pos	Model	< Prev Next > Mass Effect Legendary Edition (2021)
Pos	Model	low 1280x720 Off	ultra 1920x1080 On	QHD 2560x1440 On	4K 3840x2160 On
22	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090	126ⁿ²	120ⁿ²	117.5ⁿ²	115ⁿ²
36	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080	129	122	120	117
41	AMD Radeon RX 6800	117	110	106	101
43	NVIDIA Titan RTX	106	113	107	106
48	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU		152	149	115
53	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070	129	123	123	105
55	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop)	132	126	125	115
56	AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT	81.2	98.5	99.3	88.9
57	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU	129.5ⁿ²	115ⁿ³	111
64	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU		134.7ⁿ²	123.7ⁿ²	80.5
71	AMD Radeon RX 6800M	107	96.6
73	AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT	108	101	99.7	72.7
74	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop)	127	123	120	97.8
76	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU	106ⁿ²	100ⁿ³	94.3
78	AMD Radeon RX 6800S		99.3	98.2	70.1
82	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060	117	112	114	78.8
88	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile	125	111	109	81.7
89	AMD Radeon RX 6700M		99.6
91	NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	106	113	112
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Pos	Model	low	ultra	QHD	4K
96	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop)	116	113	113	92.6
100	AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Desktop)	109	105	104	78.7
106	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU	109	100ⁿ³	91.9
115	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop)	104	101	99.6	76.7
117	AMD Radeon RX 6600	96.2	91.6	89.3	57.9
121	AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Desktop)	112	108	103	68.7
124	AMD Radeon RX 6700S		98.4	95.3
125	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile	116	112	106	74
132	AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	95.8	107	105	70.9
151	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile	102	99.9	90.3	56.9
152	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050	114	110	94.2	51.7
154	AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (Desktop)	118	109	103	64.1
162	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super (Desktop)	116	112	105	58.5
164	AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT	110	105	78.1	37.5
165	AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (Desktop)	108	99.6	80.9	41
166	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU	150.1	135.1
169*	Intel Arc A730M		88.5	81.9
172	AMD Radeon RX 5600M	73.1	71	67.6	45.7
175	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile	115	110	96.2	53.6
176	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU		113ⁿ²
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Pos	Model	low	ultra	QHD	4K
181	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (Desktop)	114	112	94.6	47.9
185	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super (Desktop)	111	109	89.3	45.4
194	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU		96.8	78.2	43.5
200	AMD Radeon RX 6500M	82.2	75.6
213	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile	80.3	70.2
215	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile	123	103	75.9	38.1
217	AMD Radeon RX 5500M	50.3	48.6	42.4	35.4
227	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile	69.8	67.9
230	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Desktop)	116	101	69	33.9
231	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile	106	90.3	67.5	33.7
284	AMD Radeon 680M	91.1	57.8
290*	NVIDIA GeForce MX450	89.35ⁿ²	56.75ⁿ²	41.2
305	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile	80.3	64.3
320	AMD Radeon 660M	70	38.9
331	AMD Radeon RX 560X (Laptop)	62	48.3
353	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs	63.8ⁿ³	42.25ⁿ²	29.6
354	NVIDIA GeForce MX350	83.8	44	28.3	13.3
369	NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Desktop)	79.6	36.5
375	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs	49	32.4
379	NVIDIA GeForce GT 710	19.1	9.1
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Pos	Model	low	ultra	QHD	4K
402*	AMD Radeon 540X	39.5	19.2
424*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 10	29.4	18
461*	Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4 48EUs	33.3	21.6
463*	Intel UHD Graphics Xe 32EUs (Tiger Lake-H)	57.2	26.6
464	Intel UHD Graphics 770	70.9	33.6
473*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)	49.4ⁿ³	33.5ⁿ³	21.9
482	AMD Radeon RX Vega 7	48	25.3
507	NVIDIA GeForce 930MX	35	16.3
558*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000)	40.4	20
629*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 2000/3000)	23.7	15.3
631	Intel UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU)	25.8	17
632	Intel UHD Graphics 630	38.5	16.1	9.59
642	Intel UHD Graphics 620	22.6	11.8
716*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 3	22.2	13.7
723	NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M	21	8.91
744	Intel HD Graphics 4600	14.3	8.65
771*	Intel UHD Graphics (Jasper Lake 32 EU)	4.39

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.