It’s been one whole day and we were finally able to play the PC demo of Anthem though it appears that the demo still has major network and loading issues. Still, things are better than before but they are nowhere as stable as we were hoping for a demo (and not a beta). And after testing the demo, we can safely say that it is the most demanding game that is currently available to the market.
Our PC test system (Intel i7 4930K (overclocked at 4.2Ghz) with 16GB of DDR3 RAM at 2133Mhz, NVIDIA’s RTX 2080Ti, Windows 10 64-bit and using the GeForce driver 417.71) was unable to run the game with 60fps at 4K on Ultra settings.
Anthem is powered by Frostbite and scales incredibly on numerous CPU cores. In 4K, however, the limiting factor was our GPU and not our CPU. In other words, NVIDIA’s high-end gaming graphics card has already met its challenge as it can only run Anthem with constant 60fps in 4K on Medium settings. Yes, you read that right; Medium settings. On High settings, there were still drops below 55fps in 4K so even those with a high-end GPU will have to lower their settings or resolution in order to maintain a constant 60fps experience.
Before continuing, know that this isn’t a PC Performance Analysis; we are simply sharing our initial tech impressions. Naturally, we’ll have a proper article once the final game releases (and of course we’ll test multiple GPUs).
On Ultra settings, we were getting between 43-56fps in 4K. Clearly this performance is unacceptable unless you have a GSync monitor. Truth be told, the game was playable and enjoyable on our LG 32GK850G-B monitor, however that’s a bit irrelevant.
The good news here is that even though Anthem is really demanding, it’s also beautiful. In fact, it’s one of the most beautiful games we’ve seen to date on the PC, though I’m pretty sure that with further tweaks and optimizations the game could run better. So while the game requires a top of the line GPU in order to be enjoyed, it is at least looking great. And in case you’re wondering, performance is significantly worse on consoles.
Below you can find some 4K screenshots from the PC demo (MSI Afterburner is included showing the GPU/CPU usage and our framerates). Unfortunately these screenshots have Chromatic Aberration (there is an option to disable it, though we missed it when we took the screenshots).
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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