Until Dawn benchmark test: Tough GPU requirements

A mixed remake.

It's not uncommon for PC gamers to have to wait a long time for ports of console games. Until Dawn, however, has almost set a new record at just under 10 years. Read our tech check to find out whether the graphics are still up to date.

Florian Glaser (translated by Daisy Dickson), Published 10/08/2024 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...

Test systems

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

While the original Until Dawn, which came out on PS4 back in 2015, was based on the Decima Engine, the PS5 and PC remake uses the mighty Unreal Engine 5. The latter ensures that the game will look its best even in 2024. Although there is still some room for improvement in certain aspects (e.g. animations), the graphics look great in total. In particular its wealth of detail in the levels and numerous neat effects (snow tracks) speak for the game and are in keeping with the times. In combination with the dark and exciting atmosphere, this results in a successful overall impression.

The fact that the PC version currently only achieves a "Mixed" rating on Steam is primarily due to technical problems, if you scroll through the comments and ratings. In addition to needing a PSN account and there having been some questionable changes or "improvements" made (e.g. new music), crashes and temporary frame rate drops are also often criticized.

During our tests, the game ran quite stably—if you exclude the occasional crash when exiting (after returning to the desktop, Until Dawn often takes a long time to close completely). Speaking of long: The annoying shader compiling process, which is now commonplace in more and more games, usually takes several minutes when first launching the title, even on more powerful systems. The remaining loading times are thankfully kept within limits and you can skip the intro videos, which, in view of the fact that some setting changes require a restart, reduces the waiting times a little.

This brings us to the graphics options. From a PC perspective, these are satisfactory, i.e. pretty extensive. The video menu starts with various screen settings (resolution, frame rate limit, V-Sync, picture mode, ...). Our measurements were taken using the default 2.39:1, which means black bars at the top and bottom (Star Wars Outlaws sends its regards). The options menu continues with around 10 quality settings, which can be conveniently adjusted in one go using a preset. The palette here ranges from Low to Ultra, although we would only describe the game as really respectable at High.

This is followed by a few advanced functions, most of which have no impact on performance. The situation is completely different when it comes to resolution scaling. In addition to TSR, Until Dawn also supports FSR and DLSS (including Frame Generation if required). The game also supports ray tracing, including for reflections and ambient occlusion. Unfortunately, the video menu still seems to be a bit buggy at the moment. For example, the screen percentage is automatically set to 25 every time the game is (re)started. In addition, the benchmarks indicate that it has been optimized more for Nvidia than for AMD.

Benchmark

Although the graphics menu contains an item called Hardware Benchmark, this is apparently only a short hardware detection that doesn't use a real sequence. We therefore had to look for a manual sequence for our measurements. Since the frame rate is sometimes significantly better indoors, we opted for an outdoor passage, as you can see in the following video. The CapFrameX tool was used to record a fixed route for around 20 seconds. From an average value of 40 FPS, Until Dawn cuts a very playable figure.

▶ load Youtube video

Results

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

The horror game proves to be quite demanding in terms of its graphics requirements. Although you can certainly play it with iGPUs, you can't expect more than 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and minimal details—even when using more powerful representatives such as the Intel Arc 8. On a Radeon 780M, the performance is only sufficient for 1,280 x 720 pixels (or corresponding upscaling). Mid-range chips at the level of the Laptop RTX 4050, on the other hand, can also handle high details at over 40 FPS in Full HD. For the Ultra preset, we would recommend a Laptop RTX 4060 or better.

Until Dawn
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	173.7 (99.7^min, 122.5^P0.1, 136.3^P1) fps ∼100% 166.6 (108.1^min, 125.7^P0.1, 136.3^P1) fps ∼100% 139.6 (91.7^min, 97.6^P0.1, 106.5^P1) fps ∼100% 109.5 (82.1^min, 84.3^P0.1, 90.7^P1) fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	125.6 (45.4^min, 85.1^P0.1, 96^P1) fps ∼72% 120.1 (41^min, 50.1^P0.1, 88.8^P1) fps ∼72% 104.4 (23.3^min, 33.8^P0.1, 67.3^P1) fps ∼75% 90 (29.3^min, 37^P0.1, 58.2^P1) fps ∼82%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	135.6 (75.5^min, 99.9^P0.1, 109.6^P1) fps ∼78% 132.3 (90.6^min, 91.8^P0.1, 102.1^P1) fps ∼79% 109.6 (73.1^min, 75.7^P0.1, 78.8^P1) fps ∼79% 83.8 (63.8^min, 65.1^P0.1, 70.1^P1) fps ∼77%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	99 (32.6^min, 37.3^P0.1, 61.8^P1) fps ∼57% 92.4 (21.2^min, 28.3^P0.1, 56.3^P1) fps ∼55% 78.4 (26.2^min, 28.1^P0.1, 45.5^P1) fps ∼56% 64.7 (13.8^min, 25.1^P0.1, 40^P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	97.8 (48.2^min, 58.1^P0.1, 72^P1) fps ∼56% 91.4 (38.1^min, 48.5^P0.1, 61.5^P1) fps ∼55% 71 (34.4^min, 37^P0.1, 55.7^P1) fps ∼51% 52.9 (31.3^min, 37.9^P0.1, 44.3^P1) fps ∼48%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	102.3 (16.1^min, 40.4^P0.1, 62.9^P1) fps ∼59% 84.4 (15.8^min, 34.1^P0.1, 53.2^P1) fps ∼51% 58.6 (26.3^min, 30.9^P0.1, 39.5^P1) fps ∼42% 42.6 (23.6^min, 24.5^P0.1, 29.2^P1) fps ∼39%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	96.4 (10.7^min, 25.6^P0.1, 60^P1) fps ∼55% 69.2 (19.2^min, 25.8^P0.1, 47.3^P1) fps ∼42% 48.8 (19^min, 23.1^P0.1, 39.3^P1) fps ∼35% 33.8 (12.3^min, 17.3^P0.1, 27.3^P1) fps ∼31%
Intel Arc 8-Core iGPU, Ultra 7 155H Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14	40.2 (26.3^min, 30.1^P0.1, 32.3^P1) fps ∼23% 27.2 (17.5^min, 19^P0.1, 22.7^P1) fps ∼16% 18.9 (4.73^min, 5.38^P0.1, 9.3^P1) fps ∼14% 14 (5.26^min, 5.35^P0.1, 6.14^P1) fps ∼13%
AMD Radeon 780M, Z1 Extreme Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme	32 (8.27^min, 10.8^P0.1, 22.2^P1) fps ∼18% 20 (6.72^min, 6.77^P0.1, 8.3^P1) fps ∼12% 12.7 (0.977^min, 1.176^P0.1, 3.16^P1) fps ∼9% 10.2 (4.05^min, 4.12^P0.1, 4.79^P1) fps ∼9%

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

When playing at 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, you should rather opt for a high-end model. Maximum settings are adequately powered by a Laptop RTX 4080 or higher. Including Quality DLSS, a Laptop RTX 4060 is sufficient for Full HD.

Until Dawn
2560x1440 Ultra Preset 2560x1440 Ultra Preset + Quality DLSS + Ray Tracing 2560x1440 Ultra Preset + Quality FSR + Ray Tracing
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	83.6 (51.5^min, 57.3^P0.1, 69.5^P1) fps ∼100% 104.8 (74.1^min, 79.4^P0.1, 87.9^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	68.9 (53.9^min, 55.8^P0.1, 59.1^P1) fps ∼82% 73.5 (40.2^min, 58^P0.1, 63.6^P1) fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	64.3 (28.7^min, 38.4^P0.1, 45.8^P1) fps ∼77% 81.1 (31.7^min, 34.3^P0.1, 62.4^P1) fps ∼77%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	42.4 (21.4^min, 22.2^P0.1, 28.1^P1) fps ∼51% 61 (25^min, 28.1^P0.1, 38^P1) fps ∼58%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	37.5 (26.1^min, 27.6^P0.1, 31.2^P1) fps ∼45% 51.2 (26.2^min, 33.9^P0.1, 42.5^P1) fps ∼49%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	30 (19^min, 19.1^P0.1, 22.8^P1) fps ∼36% 41.4 (19.6^min, 20^P0.1, 29.4^P1) fps ∼40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	23.8 (18.5^min, 18.6^P0.1, 20.5^P1) fps ∼28% 33.7 (22.9^min, 23.2^P0.1, 27.4^P1) fps ∼32%

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

Until Dawn mutates into an absolute hardware hog in 4K. A mixture of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels and the Ultra preset pushes even the current laptop leader, the Laptop RTX 4090, to its limit. If you activate quality upscaling, you will be on the safe side with a Laptop RTX 4080 or higher.

Until Dawn
3840x2160 Ultra Preset 3840x2160 Ultra Preset + Quality DLSS + Ray Tracing 3840x2160 Ultra Preset + Quality FSR + Ray Tracing
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	47.7 (37.7^min, 40.3^P0.1, 43.1^P1) fps ∼100% 69.5 (49.9^min, 52.7^P0.1, 55.7^P1) fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	43 (36.6^min, 36.9^P0.1, 38.5^P1) fps ∼90% 50.3 (38.4^min, 39^P0.1, 43.8^P1) fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 16 E23	34.9 (23.7^min, 24.7^P0.1, 30.5^P1) fps ∼73% 54.6 (16.4^min, 28.6^P0.1, 41.3^P1) fps ∼79%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13950HX Razer Blade 16 Mid 23	23.1 (14.8^min, 16.4^P0.1, 20.4^P1) fps ∼48% 40.8 (21.2^min, 23.7^P0.1, 30.8^P1) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	20.3 (13.9^min, 14.2^P0.1, 16.7^P1) fps ∼43% 30.7 (20.1^min, 21.3^P0.1, 25.7^P1) fps ∼44%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, R9 7940HS Razer Blade 14 Mid 23	16.2 (9.25^min, 10.3^P0.1, 13.6^P1) fps ∼34% 24.7 (15.5^min, 15.6^P0.1, 19.8^P1) fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i7-13700H Medion Erazer Scout E20	12.3 (9.32^min, 9.5^P0.1, 10.3^P1) fps ∼26% 19.7 (11.4^min, 12.1^P0.1, 15^P1) fps ∼28%