The First Descendant tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

More than just hype? The First Descendant is a loot shooter that resembles a cross between Destiny and Warframe. Despite being very popular on Steam right now, it has received fairly mixed reviews. We have taken a closer look at the game’s hardware requirements.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Zhiwei Zhuang), Published 07/10/2024 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...

Test systems

Razer Blade 14 Mid 23 (RTX 4060 & Radeon 780M)

be quiet! Silent Base 802 (RTX 4080 & RX 7900 XT)

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

The success enjoyed by The First Descendant at the time of this review, published in July 2024, is not least due to its free-to-play model. However, this approach also has its dark side, as demonstrated by many comments and criticisms. For example, when launching the game for the first time, players need to grant the developers extensive permissions, which could be a potential nightmare from a data privacy perspective. Additionally, the prices of paid contents, such as new characters and skins, are often criticised.

The First Descendant is fantastic gameplay-wise, as far as we can tell from our brief play session. The third-person shooter boasts satisfying controls with fluid movement and solid gunplay, along with an impressive audiovisual package overall. Even though the sci-fi setting feels rather generic in terms of style, the underlying Unreal Engine 5 manages to render beautiful landscapes on the screen.

The graphics menu can likewise match what is offered by larger releases. Whilst the Display tab is straightforward, the Graphics tab provides a whole host of detail settings that can be adjusted conveniently using the provided presets. Also included here are options for ray tracing and upscaling, with the game supporting DLSS, FSR, XeSS and TSR. When using upscaling, you can also enable Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction. An optional frame rate cap, ranging from 30 to 144 fps, completes the package.

Changes can be applied without requiring a restart, which is deserving of a thumbs-up. The fact that the game needs to prepare its shaders at every launch isn’t overly annoying because the process doesn’t take too long. The game feels quite polished technically. Although it frequently stutters in the initial few seconds, we didn’t encounter any crashes or other major problems.

Benchmark

The game’s opening sequence was chosen for our frame rate measurements. We had the player character sprint along a predefined path and used CapFrameX to record the frame rate for roughly 20 seconds, as shown in the video below. In our view, the game should be reasonably playable at an average frame rate of 40 fps or higher.

▶ load Youtube video

Results

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

The First Descendant is quite graphically demanding, though not overly so. Some iGPUs will allow you to play the game at Full HD resolution. For instance, both the Radeon 780M and Intel Arc 8 managed to break the 40 fps mark at 1080p with Low preset. On the other hand, modern mid-range graphics chips shouldn’t have any significant issues running the game at higher settings. For example, a GeForce RTX 4050 can handle the Ultra preset.

The First Descendant
1920x1080 Low Preset 1920x1080 Medium Preset 1920x1080 High Preset 1920x1080 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	215 (59.7^min, 141.5^P0.1, 170.6^P1) fps ∼100% 180.9 (123.4^min, 145.8^P0.1, 153.4^P1) fps ∼100% 157.1 (110.9^min, 126.2^P0.1, 136.3^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	189.9 (101.2^min, 122.5^P0.1, 141.9^P1) fps ∼88% 181.2 (114.4^min, 120.7^P0.1, 134.2^P1) fps ∼100% 156.6 (85.2^min, 106.2^P0.1, 118.3^P1) fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	182.8 (51.3^min, 106.6^P0.1, 134.9^P1) fps ∼85% 152.7 (83.4^min, 94.2^P0.1, 121.4^P1) fps ∼84% 130.6 (46.1^min, 90^P0.1, 109^P1) fps ∼83%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	140.7 (41.8^min, 44.9^P0.1, 81.2^P1) fps ∼65% 118.8 (29.6^min, 57^P0.1, 82.7^P1) fps ∼66% 95.1 (52.2^min, 54.7^P0.1, 72.6^P1) fps ∼61%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	115.7 (83^min, 86.6^P0.1, 93.5^P1) fps ∼54% 93.3 (65.9^min, 70.2^P0.1, 77.9^P1) fps ∼51% 79.6 (62.7^min, 63.8^P0.1, 68.1^P1) fps ∼51%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	102 (23.6^min, 51.6^P0.1, 77.8^P1) fps ∼47% 81.1 (29.9^min, 61.5^P0.1, 65^P1) fps ∼45% 67.7 (39.3^min, 52.4^P0.1, 55.6^P1) fps ∼43%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	133.4 (17.5^min, 81.6^P0.1, 102.9^P1) fps ∼100% 83.5 (41.6^min, 52.7^P0.1, 69^P1) fps ∼39% 65.5 (8.19^min, 10.1^P0.1, 50.3^P1) fps ∼36% 56.1 (18.9^min, 39.7^P0.1, 46.1^P1) fps ∼36%
Intel Arc 8-Core iGPU, Ultra 7 155H Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14	49.4 (39.6^min, 41.2^P0.1, 42.6^P1) fps ∼37% 33.8 (28.3^min, 28.3^P0.1, 29.2^P1) fps ∼16% 27.2 (14.9^min, 17.6^P0.1, 23.8^P1) fps ∼15% 23.9 (19.7^min, 19.8^P0.1, 20.6^P1) fps ∼15%
AMD Radeon 780M, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	44.3 (29.8^min, 30.4^P0.1, 38.1^P1) fps ∼33% 27.9 (19.7^min, 20.1^P0.1, 21.6^P1) fps ∼13% 21.8 (9.7^min, 10.6^P0.1, 17.5^P1) fps ∼12% 17.9 (5.14^min, 6.29^P0.1, 13^P1) fps ∼11%

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

Similarly, you don’t necessarily need a high-end graphics card to run the game at QHD resolution. Even a GeForce RTX 4060 is powerful enough to deliver acceptable frame rates.

The First Descendant
2560x1440 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	114.1 (53.4^min, 85.7^P0.1, 96.7^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	89.7 (66.3^min, 66.8^P0.1, 71.2^P1) fps ∼79%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	89.4 (66.2^min, 69.9^P0.1, 73.5^P1) fps ∼78%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	61 (39.7^min, 44.5^P0.1, 50.4^P1) fps ∼53%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	50.6 (33.1^min, 38.7^P0.1, 43.3^P1) fps ∼44%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	43.5 (16.9^min, 25^P0.1, 36.6^P1) fps ∼38%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	34.6 (26.9^min, 27.4^P0.1, 29.3^P1) fps ∼30%

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

However, things get challenging once we reach 4K resolution. For laptops, only Nvidia’s top-end model, the GeForce RTX 4090, can run the game properly at this resolution with Ultra preset. Enabling ray tracing will push system requirements even higher. Nevertheless, on current Nvidia GPUs, performance loss can be mitigated by enabling DLSS (see table). On AMD graphics cards, unfortunately, FSR isn’t enough to offset the performance impact of ray tracing.

The First Descendant
3840x2160 Ultra Preset 3840x2160 Ultra Preset + Ultra Ray Tracing + DLSS Quality 3840x2160 Ultra Preset + Ultra Ray Tracing + FSR Quality
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	62.5 (51.3^min, 53.8^P0.1, 56.9^P1) fps ∼100% 64.3 (50.8^min, 53.4^P0.1, 56.7^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	58.7 (47.6^min, 48.5^P0.1, 50.5^P1) fps ∼94% 38.2 (32.3^min, 32.3^P0.1, 33.3^P1) fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	47.9 (38.8^min, 38.8^P0.1, 41.5^P1) fps ∼77% 51.3 (43.5^min, 43.7^P0.1, 45^P1) fps ∼80%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	31.9 (22.2^min, 23.6^P0.1, 28.2^P1) fps ∼51% 35 (26.7^min, 27.6^P0.1, 30^P1) fps ∼54%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	26.4 (21.6^min, 21.8^P0.1, 23.3^P1) fps ∼42% 29.3 (24.2^min, 24.7^P0.1, 26^P1) fps ∼46%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	23.1 (19.4^min, 19.5^P0.1, 20.7^P1) fps ∼37% 23.6 (18.8^min, 18.9^P0.1, 21.4^P1) fps ∼37%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	16.1 (13.5^min, 13.6^P0.1, 14.3^P1) fps ∼26% 19.3 (16.7^min, 16.8^P0.1, 17.3^P1) fps ∼30%

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) & Radeon 780M	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
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 329M1RV	Windows 11	556.12	24.6.1	101.5594

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 624 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 - 171 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 > The First Descendant tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2024-07-10 (Update: 2024-08-15)

Pos	Model	< Prev Next > The First Descendant (2024)
Pos	Model	low 1920x1080 Low Preset	med. 1920x1080 Medium Preset	high 1920x1080 High Preset	ultra 1920x1080 Ultra Preset	QHD 2560x1440 Ultra Preset	4K DLSS 3840x2160 Ultra Preset + Ultra Ray Tracing + DLSS Quality	4K FSR 3840x2160 Ultra Preset + Ultra Ray Tracing + FSR Quality	4K 3840x2160 Ultra Preset
1	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090	347	254	219	192.5	142.7	86.4		84.7
2	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX	324	234	225	191.3	134.9		50.3	75.4
4	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080		215	180.9	157.1	114.1	64.3		62.5
7	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT		189.9	181.2	156.6	89.7		38.2	58.7
11	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU		182.8	152.7	130.6	89.4	51.3		47.9
13	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090	267	167.3	142.2	125.9	89.6	48.4		52.1
21	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU		140.7	118.8	95.1	61	35		31.9
32	NVIDIA Titan RTX	211	128.9	106.5	89.4	60.8	33.9		34.2
33	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti	214	141.8	110.2	94.2	63.8	35.2		35.9
37	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU	165.3ⁿ³	108.7ⁿ⁴	89.25ⁿ⁴	79.1ⁿ⁴	50.35ⁿ⁴	28.75ⁿ²		26.2ⁿ²
44	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU	147.6	93.3	76.1	64.5	43.3	24.3		23.9
45	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	194.2	121.9	99.1	84.2	55	29		29.4
53	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU	157.25ⁿ²	100.9ⁿ³	80.6ⁿ³	67.7ⁿ³	43.6ⁿ²	23.6		23.1
62	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU	151.7	96.9	78.4	66.1	43.6	23.3		23.8
65*	AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT	155.1	100.3	89.9	74.1	43.8		12.7	19.4
76	NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	140.6	86.5	68.1	57.7	38.5			20.2
80	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop)	156.4	96.4	77.3	63.5	40.5	22.1		22.2
98	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop)	140.8	85.2	68.4	56.1	36.1	19.3		19.4
142	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super (Desktop)	106.5	64.3	51	40.3	24.9			12.4
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >The First Descendant
Pos	Model	low	med.	high	ultra	QHD	4K DLSS	4K FSR	4K
146	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU	133.4	83.5	65.5	56.1	34.6	19.3		16.1
149*	Intel Arc A730M	86	56.4	45.9	39.4	26.7
159	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (Desktop)	102.8	60.8	46.8	37.2	22.7			10.7
162	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super (Desktop)	90.2	54.5	42.4	32.4	15.3
225*	AMD Radeon 890M	59.1	35	27.8	23.6
229*	Intel Arc 8-Core iGPU	45.05ⁿ²	30.2ⁿ²	23.75ⁿ²	21.45ⁿ²
247*	AMD Radeon 880M	37.6	23.4	17.3	14.7
249*	AMD Radeon 780M	51.75ⁿ²	32.75ⁿ²	25.5ⁿ²	21.2ⁿ²
289*	AMD Radeon 760M	36.6	23.1	19	15.4

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.