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The Elder Scrolls Online Benchmarked

Big, bigger, TESO. As one of the last publishers to do so, Bethesda Softworks tries an MMORPG by subscription. The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO) is intended to piggyback off of the success of competitors in its genre, like Guild Wars 2 and World of WarCraft. You will encounter hardly any new technological advances, but the title scores points for its visually appealing and interesting world. Our article primarily deals with the new game's hardware demands.
The Elder Scrolls Online

For the original German article, see here.

Graphics

For an MMO game, the underlying graphics are completely respectable, though you cannot expect anything visually stunning to unfold on the screen. In terms of facets of the game that are well-done, we certainly deem the detailed character models and expansive landscapes worth mentioning. The landscapes are covered with loads of flora and fauna. However, you should not look too closely at the objects, as many of the textures appear spongy up close. But to some extent, the nice light/color moods and the well-executed art design make up for this shortcoming.

As per usual with MMORPGs, some passages could be livelier. Here and there, Tamriel seems a little sterile. But to be fair, making such a big world diverse and thrilling in every way is not exactly easy.

The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online

In terms of gameplay, we think TESO deserves a good grade. Granted, fights from the point of view of the player are not perfectly rendered (not enough feedback when the target is hit, unclean collision detection), but the controls work fluidly and comfortably. Especially considering earlier versions of the Elder Scrolls, the menus are relatively well-designed. Also, the background music is decent. Thanks to the professional (English) speakers, the dialog (set to music) fosters an enjoyable atmosphere.

The basic principle is more or less a matter of taste. As we know from prior titles in the Elder Scrolls line, after the tutorial, the character is thrown seemingly aimlessly into the world and receives hardly any guidance. Which is to say: You have to work out a lot of things for yourself and plumb the mysteries of the continent on your own. While player X may love this, player Y may feel somewhat lost. To understand the world more easily, it is better to have some prior experience with the series.

The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online

The ZeniMax Online Studios deserve high praise for the comprehensive video menu with about 20 different options. Alongside the standard repertoire like resolution, picture mode and gamma value, you can also change many graphics details here (texture quality, shadows, water reflections, etc.) The five presets are especially practical ("Minimum," "Low," "Medium," "High" and "Ultra High") and allow you to adjust all the settings at once quickly and easily -- which is important, because depending on the scene, the presets can behave massively differently.

Minimum and low details prove to be so ugly that no one would use them voluntarily. That is to say nothing of the objects that just suddenly appear out of nowhere. Starting at the medium settings, things start to look nicer and act more normally, and at high details the game's visuals and behavior are both quite good. However, it should be mentioned that the highest preset does not set all the menu items to their maximum values (the range of vision, for instance, is set to just 62 of 100%). But simply because it is easier, we used the automatic levels anyway. Great: It is possible to change to the settings directly inside the game, though TESO has to reload the content.

Low Preset
Low Preset
Medium Preset
Medium Preset
High Preset
High Preset
Ultra High Preset
Ultra High Preset
Low Preset
Low Preset
Medium Preset
Medium Preset
High Preset
High Preset
Ultra High Preset
Ultra High Preset

Benchmark

Depending on the environment, the frame rate fluctuates greatly. While there are seldom problems indoors, on busy streets the performance can drop. For this reason, our benchmark takes place in a city. Thanks to the numerous buildings, other players and plants, Vulkhel Guard, in which you start on the side of the Aldmeri faction (on the island of Auridon), is well-suited for our performance measurements.

As you can gather from our video below, we ran down a specific route -- about 35 seconds forward and 35 seconds back. Despite the fluctuations typical of online games (other characters hop around on the screen, etc.), the sequence delivers rather constant results. That is, at least, when the time of day remains the same. Depending on the lighting, the frame rate varies somewhat. The numbers listed originated in the morning, afternoon or evening, but never night (in comparison with reality, the passing of a day is accelerated many times over).

Low Settings
Low Settings
Medium Settings
Medium Settings
High Settings
High Settings
Ultra Settings
Ultra Settings

In case you are wondering why some more potent GPUs come in behind their allegedly weaker relatives: At moderate graphics options, the performance is highly dependent on the processor. The fact that AMD processors tend to do worse (example: Radeon R9 280X vs. GeForce GTX 660 Ti) can be traced back to the membership in Nvidia's TWIMTBP program, among other things. Certainly, the brand new "wonder driver" 337.50 does not do the GeForce models any harm either.

Results

The hardware demands are surprisingly low. For medium details and 1366x768 pixels, a low-end chip will suffice, like the HD Graphics 4600 integrated into Haswell processors. The high preset is fueled by just an inexpensive all-round model -- the GeForce GT 740M was granted an average of over 30 fps (1366x768).

Maximum details and 1920x1080 pixels demand quite a bit more of the hardware components, but more than a GeForce GTX 850M or GeForce GTX 765M is not imperative. Thus: The engine seems to be extremely well-optimized.

The Elder Scrolls Online
    1024x768 Low Preset AA:Off     1366x768 Medium Preset AA:Off     1366x768 High Preset AA:On     1920x1080 Ultra High Preset AA:On
GeForce GTX 680, 2600K, Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB MZ7PD256HAFV-0Z000
Desktop GTX 680, Intel Core i7-2600K
99 (88min) fps ∼99%
98 (83min) fps ∼98%
95 (70min) fps ∼95%
71.5 (47min) fps ∼79%
GeForce GTX 660 Ti, 3770K
Desktop-PC
98.4 (0min) fps ∼98%
94 (0min) fps ∼94%
85.7 (0min) fps ∼86%
67.4 (0min) fps ∼74%
GeForce GTX 880M, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
92.5 (0min) fps ∼93%
87.1 (0min) fps ∼87%
76 (0min) fps ∼76%
57.5 (0min) fps ∼63%
GeForce GTX 870M, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
93.7 (0min) fps ∼94%
84.5 (0min) fps ∼85%
76 (0min) fps ∼76%
54.5 (0min) fps ∼60%
Radeon R9 280X, 3770K
Desktop-PC
97.4 (0min) fps ∼97%
94 (0min) fps ∼94%
84.1 (0min) fps ∼84%
53.7 (0min) fps ∼59%
GeForce GTX 780M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
84.4 (0min) fps ∼84%
78.3 (0min) fps ∼78%
69.4 (0min) fps ∼69%
50.6 (0min) fps ∼56%
Radeon HD 8970M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
82.2 (0min) fps ∼82%
74.2 (0min) fps ∼74%
63.4 (0min) fps ∼63%
42.9 (0min) fps ∼47%
GeForce GTX 770M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
90.6 (0min) fps ∼91%
83.2 (0min) fps ∼83%
70.9 (0min) fps ∼71%
42.6 (0min) fps ∼47%
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
89.6 (0min) fps ∼90%
83.6 (0min) fps ∼84%
73.6 (0min) fps ∼74%
39.8 (0min) fps ∼44%
GeForce GTX 850M, 4340M
Schenker M504
92 (0min) fps ∼92%
81.5 (0min) fps ∼82%
72 (0min) fps ∼72%
37.1 (0min) fps ∼41%
GeForce GTX 765M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
84.9 (0min) fps ∼85%
81.6 (0min) fps ∼82%
66.6 (0min) fps ∼67%
35.7 (0min) fps ∼39%
GeForce GT 750M, 4702MQ
Schenker M503
82.3 (0min) fps ∼82%
66.4 (0min) fps ∼66%
46.8 (0min) fps ∼47%
22.6 (0min) fps ∼25%
GeForce GT 640M, 2637M, Lite-On LMT-256M3M
Acer Aspire M3-581TG
56 (38min) fps ∼56%
45 (33min) fps ∼45%
32.4 (22min) fps ∼32%
17.7 (13min) fps ∼19%
Iris Pro Graphics 5200, 4750HQ, Intel SSD 525 Series SSDMCEAC180B3
SCHENKER S413
66 (48min) fps ∼66%
43 (37min) fps ∼43%
32 (25min) fps ∼32%
16.6 (13min) fps ∼18%
GeForce GT 740M, 4200M
HP Envy 15-j011sg
81.1 (0min) fps ∼81%
51 (0min) fps ∼51%
33.9 (0min) fps ∼34%
15.8 (0min) fps ∼17%
HD Graphics 4600, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
60.8 (0min) fps ∼61%
31.3 (0min) fps ∼31%
19.3 (0min) fps ∼19%
9.3 (0min) fps ∼10%
HD Graphics 4000, 3720QM
Asus N56VM
40 (26min) fps ∼40%
23.1 (17min) fps ∼23%
13.9 (9min) fps ∼14%
7.2 (3min) fps ∼8%
HD Graphics 3000, 2637M, Lite-On LMT-256M3M
Acer Aspire M3-581TG
22.5 (17min) fps ∼23%
14.8 (12min) fps ∼15%

Processor Influence

As mentioned, The Elder Scrolls Online definitely profits from a strong CPU. In our test, we used a fast Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 desktop graphics card and paired it with three different processors. The Cinebench R15 benchmark illustrates the comparison between the processors' pure computational performance. You can also see clearly from the diagram that the GTX 680 profits from a strong CPU. But with the 2600K, the test system already reaches the maximum of 100 fps at the "High" settings.

Test Systems

Four of our test devices are courtesy of Schenker Technologies (mysn.de):

  • W504 (Core i7-4700MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 860M, GTX 870M, GTX 880M)
  • W503 (Core i7-4700MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 765M, GTX 770M, GTX 780M, Radeon HD 8970M)
  • M504 (Core i5-4340M, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 850M)
  • M503 (Core i7-4702MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 750M)

The 64-bit edition of Windows 7 is installed on each of these notebooks. Thank you to Micron for the 480 GB Crucial M500.

Another test device is courtesy of Nvidia:

  • HP Envy 15-j011sg (Core i5-4200M, 12 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 740M)

GPU drivers used: Nvidia 337.50 Beta, AMD 14.3 Beta 1.0, Intel 10.18.10.3496

In addition there are benchmarks from other notebooks (possibly with different drivers).

Schenker M503/M504, Schenker W503/W504
Schenker M503/M504, Schenker W503/W504
HP Envy 15
HP Envy 15

Overview

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >The Elder Scrolls Online
 The Elder Scrolls Online (2014)
low
1024x768
Low Preset
Off AA
med.
1366x768
Medium Preset
Off AA
high
1366x768
High Preset
On AA
ultra
1920x1080
Ultra High Preset
On AA
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti
98.2
95.7
90.1
58.6
AMD Radeon R9 290X
67.5n2
41n3
AMD Radeon R9 280X
97.4
94
84.1
53.7
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
99
98
95
71.5
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M
92.5
87.1
76
57.5
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti
98.4
94
85.7
67.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
98.9
97.9
94.8
65.1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M
84.4
78.3
69.4
50.6
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M
93.7
84.5
61.45n2
45.45n2
AMD Radeon HD 8970M
82.2
74.2
63.4
42.9
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti
99.1
97.1
85.1
44
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M
90.6
83.2
70.9
42.6
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M
88.7n2
81.45n2
70.7n2
40.25n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M
86.2n4
76.55n4
65.3n5
37.1n5
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M
84.9
81.6
66.6
35.7
AMD Radeon HD 8850M
44.4
33.4
27.9
17.2
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
82.3
66.4
46.8
22.6
NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
79.6
77.4
58.3
31.4
NVIDIA GeForce 840M
67.5n3
47.2n3
34.2n3
17.7n2
PosModel< PrevNext >The Elder Scrolls Online
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)
60
46
29.9
15.4
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200
66
43
32
16.6
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M
81.1
51
33.9
15.8
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M
79.4
41.8
24.6
AMD Radeon R7 M265
61.9n2
41.45n2
27.15n2
7.3
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M
56
45
32.4
17.7
AMD Radeon HD 8650G
45
32
21
10.9
NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M
68
37.5
26.2
13.7
AMD Radeon HD 7560D
58
35
21.3
10.8
NVIDIA GeForce 820M
58.6
34
25.2
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M
74.4
37.9
21.4
AMD Radeon R5 M230
54.4n2
28.3n2
13.8n2
5.6
Intel Iris Graphics 5100
46
26.6
18.4
10.1
Intel HD Graphics 4600
58.85n2
26.55n2
16.45n2
9.3
AMD Radeon HD 7660G
40
28.9
19.1
10.3
AMD Radeon HD 8550G
36
28
18.2
9.7
Intel HD Graphics 4400
38.1
20.6
12.4
Intel HD Graphics 4000
40
23.1
13.9
7.2
AMD Radeon R5 (Beema/Carrizo-L)
32.1
17.4
9.5
3.7
Intel HD Graphics 4200
43.1
23.4
15
PosModel< PrevNext >The Elder Scrolls Online
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 8450G
39
25.8
15.3
AMD Radeon HD 8400
28.2
16.8
9
AMD Radeon HD 8350G
37
22.2
12.3
AMD Radeon HD 8330
24.8
15.2
7.8
Intel HD Graphics (Haswell)
35.2
13.6
9
Intel HD Graphics 3000
22.5
14.8
AMD Radeon HD 8210
17.1
Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge)
34.5
14.3
8.6
Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail)
25.2
9.2
(-) * 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.
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Florian Glaser, 2014-04-16 (Update: 2021-05-18)