Senua's Saga Hellblade 2 tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Hefty system requirements.

Senua’s Sagas: Hellblade 2 is a gorgeous game despite its bleak settings. But it eats hardware for breakfast to achieve this. In this article, we’ll discuss what kind of graphics card you’ll need to run the game at various resolutions.

Florian Glaser (translated by Zhiwei Zhuang), Published 05/24/2024 🇩🇪 🇸🇪 ...

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

Running on the powerful Unreal Engine 5, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 definitely flexes its visual prowess with extremely sharp-looking, detailed and realistic environments, stylish effects (e.g. water puddles), and excellent character and facial models with top-notch animations. In general, the game stands out with its excellent audio-visual implementation. Coupled with a cinematic presentation, this creates in a highly dense atmosphere that some competing games could learn a thing or two from. The thrilling story proves to be another highlight.

However, not everything that glitters is gold when it comes to Hellblade 2’s gameplay and content. The levels can sometimes feel very linear. Some of the puzzles sprinkled throughout the game are also not very well designed. Moreover, the fundamentally gripping combat system can start to feel slightly repetitive and monotonous after a while. We also think the game's replay value is rather limited.

The developers gave us nothing to complain about the graphics menu. The Display category lets you adjust resolution and display mode, whilst the following upscaling methods can be found under Upscaler: TSR, FSR, XeSS and DLSS (which includes Frame Generation support). Unless otherwise stated, our tests were carried out with TSR enabled. Resolution scale was set at 100% and dynamic resolution turned off, meaning the game should be running at native resolution.

Further down in the graphics options is the General category, which features settings like HDR, VSync, variable rate shading, and (on compatible GPUs) Nvidia Reflex. The package is rounded off by the Quality section, which contains almost ten individual settings and three presets. Changes can be applied without requiring a restart. Another commendable feature is that the graphics menu shows you the fps count and VRAM usage in order to illustrate how much the settings impact performance. According to the game, you’ll need roughly 8 GB of VRAM to run it at 4K and max settings.

The PC version of Hellblade 2 is solid technically, aside from its hefty system requirements, which we will examine later. Load times are decent, and shader compilation also doesn’t take too long when the game is booted up for the first time. We didn’t encounter crashes or similar issues during our testing process.

Benchmark

For our benchmark sequence, we used the beginning of the second chapter, called Freyslaug. As you can see in the video below, we moved the female protagonist along a predefined path for around 30 seconds. The frame rates were recorded using CapFrameX.

Results

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

Hellblade 2 is too much to handle for iGPUs. Even powerful ones like the Radeon 780M and Arc 8 failed to provide a playable experience at Full HD and low preset, with frame rates below 20 fps. You should have at least a dedicated mid-range GPU for 1080p. The game can also run smoothly at medium settings if you have a GeForce RTX 4050, Radeon RX 7600S or above. The high preset makes the game slightly more demanding, requiring an RTX 4060 or, even better, an RTX 4070.

Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
1920x1080 Low Preset 1920x1080 Medium Preset 1920x1080 High Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	143.3 (97.4^min, 101.1^P0.1, 111.7^P1) fps ∼100% 119.5 (81.9^min, 95^P0.1, 101.6^P1) fps ∼100% 95.6 (61.4^min, 77.8^P0.1, 82.4^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	130.4 (71.4^min, 92^P0.1, 100.4^P1) fps ∼91% 110 (68.8^min, 80.5^P0.1, 89.5^P1) fps ∼92% 84.8 (61.7^min, 66.3^P0.1, 72.2^P1) fps ∼89%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	120.7 (41.4^min, 53.3^P0.1, 90.7^P1) fps ∼84% 99.3 (49.5^min, 59.9^P0.1, 78.9^P1) fps ∼83% 74 (31.1^min, 50.5^P0.1, 62.7^P1) fps ∼77%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	96.9 (27^min, 37.2^P0.1, 67.8^P1) fps ∼68% 81.5 (33.6^min, 40.6^P0.1, 58.3^P1) fps ∼68% 62.3 (28^min, 34.5^P0.1, 44.1^P1) fps ∼65%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	75.3 (46.4^min, 52.5^P0.1, 63.1^P1) fps ∼53% 61.6 (41.4^min, 48.7^P0.1, 52.8^P1) fps ∼52% 46.2 (29.3^min, 34.9^P0.1, 40.4^P1) fps ∼48%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	63.4 (35.5^min, 39.2^P0.1, 48.2^P1) fps ∼44% 51.9 (34.5^min, 36.6^P0.1, 43.8^P1) fps ∼43% 37.6 (14.7^min, 30^P0.1, 32.9^P1) fps ∼39%
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	56.1 (42.5^min, 47.3^P0.1, 49.6^P1) fps ∼39% 46 (34.2^min, 38.6^P0.1, 40.9^P1) fps ∼38% 31.7 (5.48^min, 17.5^P0.1, 27.2^P1) fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	52.1 (37.3^min, 42.6^P0.1, 44.3^P1) fps ∼36% 42.9 (3.56^min, 12.6^P0.1, 37.3^P1) fps ∼36% 21 (8.33^min, 9.92^P0.1, 18.1^P1) fps ∼22%
Intel Arc 8-Core iGPU, Ultra 7 155H Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14	17.8 (14.3^min, 14.4^P0.1, 15.5^P1) fps ∼12% 14.9 (11.5^min, 11.8^P0.1, 13.1^P1) fps ∼12% 12.1 (9.82^min, 9.88^P0.1, 10.6^P1) fps ∼13%
AMD Radeon 780M, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	17.3 (6.65^min, 7.13^P0.1, 13.7^P1) fps ∼12% 13.2 (6.04^min, 6.68^P0.1, 9.58^P1) fps ∼11% 9.72 (5.28^min, 5.65^P0.1, 7.6^P1) fps ∼10%

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

On many graphics cards, performance took a surprisingly huge hit at QHD. You’ll need a laptop with a GeForce RTX 4080 or better to enjoy the game properly at 1440p and max settings.

Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
2560x1440 High Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	69.3 (41.8^min, 51.7^P0.1, 62.5^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	65.4 (36^min, 56.6^P0.1, 59.4^P1) fps ∼94%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	51.8 (36.2^min, 41.4^P0.1, 46.1^P1) fps ∼75%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	44.7 (26.7^min, 28.7^P0.1, 34.8^P1) fps ∼65%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	32 (18.2^min, 18.6^P0.1, 28.4^P1) fps ∼46%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	25.5 (17.1^min, 20.2^P0.1, 23.3^P1) fps ∼37%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	13.7 (6.7^min, 6.95^P0.1, 10^P1) fps ∼20%
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	12.5 (4.44^min, 5.31^P0.1, 10.4^P1) fps ∼18%

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

Currently, all laptop GPUs struggle to run the game at 4K and high preset – even the fastest one right now, the GeForce RTX 4090. The situation looks much better with DLSS Quality or FSR Quality enabled. Similar to what we saw at QHD, a GeForce RTX 4080 is then enough to get you started.

Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
3840x2160 High Preset 3840x2160 High Preset + Quality DLSS 3840x2160 High Preset + Quality FSR
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	40.6 (36.6^min, 37^P0.1, 38^P1) fps ∼100% 66.7 (43.2^min, 56.9^P0.1, 60.4^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	35.6 (32.4^min, 32.7^P0.1, 33.5^P1) fps ∼88% 57.5 (35^min, 50.3^P0.1, 52.7^P1) fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	28.9 (25.1^min, 25.4^P0.1, 26.7^P1) fps ∼71% 49.1 (28.8^min, 39.3^P0.1, 43.8^P1) fps ∼74%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	24.9 (15.9^min, 17.2^P0.1, 21.7^P1) fps ∼61% 42.8 (27.6^min, 31.6^P0.1, 36.5^P1) fps ∼64%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	12.8 (10.8^min, 11^P0.1, 11.8^P1) fps ∼32% 29.4 (12.3^min, 21.6^P0.1, 26^P1) fps ∼44%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	4.65 (2.47^min, 2.55^P0.1, 3.17^P1) fps ∼11% 23.8 (3.91^min, 5.39^P0.1, 19.5^P1) fps ∼36%
AMD Radeon RX 7600S, R9 7940HS Asus TUF Gaming Advantage A16	5.12 (4.3^min, 4.31^P0.1, 4.35^P1) fps ∼13% 7.77 (3.14^min, 3.26^P0.1, 6.54^P1) fps ∼14%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	4.12 (3.57^min, 3.58^P0.1, 3.7^P1) fps ∼10% 7.93 (2.76^min, 3.16^P0.1, 6.32^P1) fps ∼12%

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	Betriebssystem	Nvidia driver	AMD driver	Intel driver
Philips Evnia 329M1RV	Windows 11	555.85	24.5.1	31.0.101.5522

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 699 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 - 575 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.

> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Senua's Saga Hellblade 2 tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2024-05-24 (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.

Test systems

Tech

Benchmark

Results

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

Note

Overview

Details of the test systems

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