| BASIC GAME INFORMATION |
Returnal testing of older graphics cards was performed to determine performance on these devices. Some players may have older computers or laptops that don’t have new graphics cards and need to know how the game runs on their systems. The test results can also be helpful in choosing the most appropriate graphics settings for these older graphics cards to achieve maximum performance and best image quality. Additionally, testing older graphics cards can help players understand what upgrade is needed to improve the performance and experience of playing Returnal.
| IRON IN TESTS |
The company kindly helped us with all possible support in expanding the test stand for this type of testing GIGABYTE .
| THE GRAFICAL PART |
This subsection of our review highlights the main graphical aspects of this game. Particular attention is paid to the version of the graphics engine used, the version of the API used, graphic settings and the quality of development of the main visual aspects.
| SUPPORTED OS AND GRAPHICS API |
Returnal supported Windows 10/11.The priority and main graphics API for Returnal is DX 12.
| GAME ENGINE |
Returnal is based on the Unreal Engine 4 game engine, developed and supported by Epic Games.
Thanks to his work, each playthrough of the game is unique and inimitable, which increases the replay value of the game. The first game created on the engine, Unreal, appeared in 1998. Since then, various versions of this game engine have been used in more than a hundred games, including Deus Ex, Dishonored, Lineage II, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Postal 2, the Brothers in Arms series, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, as well as in the famous game series Unreal and Unreal Tournament from Epic Games themselves. Being primarily adapted for first-person shooters, the engine was also used to create games of other genres.
Written in the high-level language C++, the Unreal Engine 4 allows you to create games for most operating systems and platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS and Mac OS X, Xbox consoles, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Wii, Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube. In December, Mark Rein demonstrated the work of the Unreal Engine 3 on the iPod Touch and iPhone 3GS. In March 2010, the engine was demonstrated on the Palm Pre communicator, based on the webOS mobile platform.
To simplify porting, the engine uses a modular system of dependent components: supports various rendering systems (Direct3D, OpenGL, Pixomatic; previously supported Glide API, S3 Metal, PowerVR SGL), audio playback (EAX, OpenAL, DirectSound3D; previously supported A3D), voice playback tools text, speech recognition (only for Xbox360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Windows, also planned for Linux and Mac), modules for working with the network and support for various input devices.
Windows Live, Xbox Live, and GameSpy technologies are supported for online play, including up to 64 players (clients) simultaneously. Despite the fact that the development tools do not officially include support for a large number of clients on one server, the engine has been used to create MMORPG games. One of the most famous representatives of the genre, Lineage II, uses the Unreal Engine.
| QUALITY MODES |
Below we have provided screenshots of the game at various graphics settings, where our readers can see the difference between the minimum and maximum graphics quality settings.
Graphics settings in Returnal include parameters such as screen resolution, shadow quality, texture quality, effects quality, and others. Graphics quality settings affect the quality of visuals as well as game performance.
Low graphics settings provide lower quality visuals but may improve game performance on less powerful systems. Medium graphics settings provide moderate visual quality and strike a balance between game quality and performance. High graphics settings provide higher quality visuals, but may slow down game performance on less powerful systems.
Typically, graphics settings with higher quality visual effects consume more computer resources, which can result in slower gaming performance, especially on older or less powerful computers. However, graphics quality settings depend on the player’s personal preferences and the configuration of his computer, so you should choose the settings that best combine visual quality and performance.
| TEST PART |
| Test configuration | |
| test stands |
GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z97 GIGABYTE GA-X99-Gaming 7 WIFI ROG STRIX X370-F GAMING Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 power supply 16 GB DDR3 2133 CL11 16 GB DDR4 3600 CL16 Kingston FURY Renegade |
| Multimedia equipment |
Monitor Philips 326M6VJRMB/00 |
| Software configuration |
|
| Operating system | Windows 10 21H2/ Windows 11(Alder Lake) |
| Graphics driver |
Nvidia GeForce/ION Driver Release 528.49 WHQL AMD Radeon Adrenalin Edition 23.2.1 |
| Monitoring programs |
MSI Afterburner |
Our video cards were tested at different screen sizes of 1920×1080, 2560×1600 with low, medium and epic graphics quality settings.
In the video card test, the default resolution is 1920×1080; other resolutions are added and removed manually. You can also remove and add any positions of video cards. You can also select any of our test processors from the list in the drop-down menu, comparing its performance with the given video card tests (by default, the most productive solution is selected). The test is carried out on the most powerful CPU in this game and is scaled to other processors, taking into account their testing on NVIDIA and AMD video cards.
You can select and buy a video cards model or one close to it by following the link from any position of our modular charts from our partner Telemart.
- 1.Low
- 2.Medium
- 3. High
Low
When resolved 1920×1080 average FPS of 25 frames showed level video cards Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060. Minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the level Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060. A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by solutions Radeon RX 590 or GeForce GTX 1070 .
When resolved 2560×1440average FPS of 25 frames showed level video cards Radeon RX 4700 or GeForce GTX 1060. Minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the level Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060. A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by solutions Radeon RX Vega 56 or GeForce GTX 1070 Ti FSR .
average
When resolved 1920×1080 average FPS of 25 frames showed level video cards Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060. Minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the level Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060. A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by solutions Radeon RX 5700 or GeForce GTX 1080 .
When resolved 2560×1440average FPS of 25 frames showed level video cards Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060. Minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the level Radeon RX 570 or GeForce GTX 1660. A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by solutions Radeon RX 5700 FSR .
High
When resolved 1920×1080 average FPS of 25 frames showed level video cards Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060. Minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the level Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 1060. A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by solutions Radeon RX 5700 FSR or GeForce GTX 1080 FSR .
When resolved 2560×1440average FPS of 25 frames showed level video cards Radeon RX 570 or GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. Minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the level Radeon RX 590 or GeForce GTX 1070. A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by solutions Radeon RX 5700 XT FSR .
| VIDEO MEMORY CONSUMPTION |
Testing of video memory consumed by the game was carried out by the program MSI Afterburner. The indicator was based on the results on video cards from AMD and NVIDIA with separate screen sizes 1920×1080, 2560×1440 and 3840×2160 with various anti-aliasing settings. By default, the graph displays the most current solutions. Other video cards are added and removed from the schedule at the request of the reader.
- 1.Low
- 2.Medium
- 3. High
GameGPU
Low
When resolved 1920×1080 video memory consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 6 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 8 gigabyte.
When resolved 2560×1440 video memory consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 6 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 8 gigabyte.
average
When resolved 1920×1080 video memory consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 6 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 8 gigabyte.
When resolved 2560×1440 video memory consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 6 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 8 gigabyte.
High
When resolved 1920×1080 video memory consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 6 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 8 gigabyte.
When resolved 2560×1440 video memory consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 6 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 8 gigabyte.
| CPU TEST |
Testing was carried out at a resolution of 1920×1080. In the processor test, you can remove or add any processor positions. You can also select any tested video card from the list in the drop-down menu, comparing its performance with the given processor test results (by default, the most productive solution from NVIDIA is selected). Testing takes place on the most powerful NVIDIA and AMD video cards and scales to low-end models.
You can select and buy a processor model or one close to it by following the link from any position of our modular charts from our partner Telemart.
- 1.Low
- 2.Medium
- 3. High
Low
When using video cards NVIDIA processors showed an acceptable indicator of at least 25 frames per second Ryzen 3 1200 or Core i 3 2100, and an FPS of at least 60 frames per second will be able to provide solutions at the level Ryzen 5 1600.
When using video cards AMDprocessors showed an acceptable indicator of at least 25 frames per second Ryzen 3 1200 or Core i 3 2100, and an FPS of at least 60 frames per second will be able to provide solutions at the level Ryzen 5 1400 or Core i 7 2600.
average
When using video cards NVIDIA processors showed an acceptable indicator of at least 25 frames per second Ryzen 3 1200 or Core i 3 2100, and an FPS of at least 60 frames per second will be able to provide solutions at the level Ryzen 5 1600.
When using video cards AMDprocessors showed an acceptable indicator of at least 25 frames per second Ryzen 3 1200 or Core i 3 2100, and an FPS of at least 60 frames per second will be able to provide solutions at the level Ryzen 5 1600 or Core i 7 2600 .
High
When using video cards NVIDIA processors showed an acceptable indicator of at least 25 frames per second Ryzen 5 1400 or Core i 5 2500.
When using video cards AMDprocessors showed an acceptable indicator of at least 25 frames per second Ryzen 3 1400 or Core i 5 2500.
- 3. High
GameGPU
The game can load up to 12 streams. The game uses 8 threads as efficiently as possible.
| RAM TEST |
The test was carried out on the basic configuration of the Core i 7 5960X with 16GB DDR4 3200 MHz pre-installed memory. All used RAM was taken as an indicator. The RAM test on the entire system was carried out on various video cards without launching third-party applications (browsers, etc.). In the graphics, you can add and remove any resolutions and video cards as desired.
- 1.Low
- 2.Medium
- 3. High
GameGPU
Low
When resolved 1920×1080 RAM consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 13 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 12 gigabyte.
When resolved 2560×1440 RAM consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 13 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 12 gigabyte.
average
When resolved 1920×1080 RAM consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 13 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 12 gigabyte.
When resolved 2560×1440 RAM consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 13 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 12 gigabyte.
High
When resolved 1920×1080 RAM consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 13 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 12 gigabyte.
When resolved 2560×1440 RAM consumption for video cards with 6-yu gigabytes will be 15 gigabyte, 8-yu gigabytes will be 12 gigabyte.
| CONCLUSION |
It can be said that older video cards may have problems playing Returnal on high graphics settings. However, at lower graphics settings, older video cards can handle the game quite well.
Using FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology can provide a significant advantage when playing Returnal on older graphics cards. For example, in testing on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card using FSR, the settings increased frame rates to over 42 FPS on high graphics settings, compared to 35 FPS without FSR. At the same time, the loss in image quality was minimal.
Thus, using FidelityFX Super Resolution can be useful for those who want to run the game Returnal on older video cards and get higher frame rates with minimal loss of image quality.
Overall, if you have an older graphics card and want to play Returnal, then you may need to lower your graphics settings to get a smoother experience.
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| Тeating 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 60% |
Graphics 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 40% |
Optimization 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 29% |