After years of waiting, the day has finally arrived: Cyberpunk 2077 is here. CD Projekt Reddish's long-awaited title is easily the biggest release of the year. The game was announced back in 2022, and since then multiple teasers and trailers have kept the hype growing. So, has the wait been worth it? Based on the Steam reviews alone, we'd say the answer is yes.

Cyberpunk has received generally positive reviews in massive numbers and with over ane million concurrent players on Steam in the start 24 hours, it'southward already smashed Fallout 4'due south record for the most players for a single player title. When preloads went alive, Steam saw its biggest bandwidth peak since PUBG, reaching 23.five terabytes per 2nd.

And so Cyberpunk 2077 is massively popular and appears to exist a huge success, both in terms of sales and the quality of the game. Therefore we'll be dedicating a fair amount of time to bank check this i out. This outset feature volition cover Cyberpunk 2077 performance with all current and previous generation GPUs from AMD and Nvidia.

Then on the coming days, we'll be providing a detailed expect at ray tracing and DLSS operation likewise as some in-game quality comparisons, and possibly a 3rd commodity volition await at older GPU generations and CPU benchmarks as well. And so enough more content to come.

Follow up: Cyberpunk 2077 DLSS + Ray Tracing Benchmark

For this GPU benchmark round we're using version ane.03 of the game, which is the launch version with the mean solar day-one patch applied, which we waited for before nosotros began testing. The game does not feature a built-in benchmark, which is fine equally we typically prefer to measure in-game functioning. We're testing in 'Footling China' using the 'Streetkid' lifepath. This ways testing takes place in the well-nigh enervating section of the game, in the metropolis while it's raining.

As for quality settings, we've tested using both the 'medium' and 'ultra' quality presets at 1080p, 1440p and 4K. In total, we tested 25 graphics cards comprising current and previous generation GPUs. Do note the game was reset when changing quality presets. And then in society to create this article we've fabricated nearly 500 benchmark runs, each lasting lx seconds. Forget nearly sleep... "All work and no play makes Steve a dull boy."

Cyberpunk 2077 has been a pleasure to test with, though. In all of those runs, the game crashed to desktop simply a single time, which is highly stable for a new video game. Information technology'due south as well fast to load, the menu organisation is well-conceived, and switching betwixt resolutions is a breeze. If merely all games were this well polished.

The test organisation was configured with a Ryzen ix 5950X with 32GB of DDR4 retention on the MSI X570 Unify motherboard, and of course we've used the latest display drivers bachelor from AMD and Nvidia.

During the week prior to the game's release, we ran a poll asking what would be the minimum sustained frame charge per unit yous'd accept in a game like Cyberpunk 2077 considering the stunning visuals. The respond was an overwhelming number of you maxim threescore fps or improve. Over 60K readers/viewers responded to the pool and only 7% of voted proverb 45 fps was adequate, and a mere 4% willing to settle on a panel-similar 30 fps experience. With that in listen, permit's get into the results.

Benchmarks

Ultra Settings

Starting with the 1080p Ultra results we run across for that desired 60 fps experience you'll crave a Radeon VII, RX 5700 XT or a GeForce RTX 2070, and even then nosotros're talking about almost 60 fps on average with 1% lows below 50 fps.

For a more than consistent lx fps experience you'll want an RTX 2080, 2080 Super, 3060 Ti or the new Radeon RX 6800 from AMD.

If you're willing to settle with 40 to 50 fps, anything from the GTX 1660 Ti upwardly to the RX 5700 will work. Obviously Cyberpunk 2077 is a very demanding game equally information technology'south a visually impressive open globe game, so the numbers yous see here aren't unexpected, and of form, we'll looking at performance using the medium quality preset shortly.

Before we motion on to the 1440p examination results, it's interesting to notation that even though Cyberpunk 2077 is an Nvidia sponsored title and has been highly optimized to take advantage of Nvidia's hardware (at least the PC version has) the game runs very well on Radeon GPUs at launch, which is great. The Radeon RX 5700 XT, for case, is able to edge out the RTX 2070 and 2060 Super and while information technology has been matching the 2070 Super in most new AAA titles, the fact that information technology still beats its primary competitor in the 2060 Super is a good result.

The RX 6800 also beats the RTX 3070 by a 9% margin and although it does cost 16% more at MSRP, that's notwithstanding a good outcome in an Nvidia sponsored title. We're also seeing a situation at 1080p where the 6800 XT beats the RTX 3080.

At present for those of yous hoping to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p with the visual quality settings cranked upwards, while also achieving sixty fps, you lot'll want to make certain you have at least a Radeon RX 6800 and in today's market that's not an easy production to detect, every bit is the example for all the GPUs towards the height of this graph.

Here the Radeon 6800 XT slips behind the RTX 3080, though it was just v% slower. The new 6900 XT was able to lucifer the RTX 3080. And so the super expensive RTX 3090 was 11% faster than the 3080, which is a pretty typical functioning uplift at this resolution, which means Nvidia's flagship graphics card was good for 81 fps on average.

For those of you comfy with a 40-50 fps feel, the new GeForce RTX 3060 Ti will suffice, or the previous generation flagship RTX 2080 Ti. From AMD you'll need a Radeon VII for only 40 fps on average, while the 5700 XT dropped down to 36 fps.

A 60 fps experience using ultra quality settings simply isn't possible right at present, as fifty-fifty the RTX 3090 was practiced for just 44 fps on average. This is how we played the game initially and while it did look visually stunning, aiming wasn't a fun experience. For u.s.a. this frame rate isn't actually playable, or at least not to a degree where nosotros find ourselves enjoying the game. Of course, GeForce RTX owners will desire to enable DLSS for a (much) improve experience, only as we noted, we'll be covering that in better detail in our follow upwards article.

AMD has yet to release their DLSS-like engineering science, and then short of downscaling with paradigm sharpening, in that location'southward no way to get that 4K paradigm quality with playable frame rates using a Radeon GPU.

Ultra vs. Medium Quality

Earlier we movement into the medium quality testing, we should mention that comparing image quality between the medium and ultra presets at 4K using the RTX 3090, we honestly couldn't tell the difference in some areas of the game. In others, ultra does offering slightly better shadow quality and lighting effects, but it'south subtle and you lot have to be looking for those differences.

The section of the video shown hither belongs to the benchmark pass, as this is obviously highly relevant to the numbers being shown. In brusque though, you're looking at around a 40% operation uplift with the medium preset for a small downgrade in paradigm quality, at least in our opinion.

Medium Settings

Switching to the medium quality preset at 1080p, we encounter that for sixty fps you lot tin get away with a GTX 1660 Ti or Radeon RX 5600 XT, which is a surprisingly low requirement, though we are only at 1080p. All the same under these conditions, y'all can get over forty fps with a GTX 1650 Super or 5500 XT, both of which were underwhelming previous-generation upkeep GPUs.

The 5700 XT performed better relative to the GeForce competition using these dialed down quality settings, sitting directly betwixt the 2060 Super and 2070 Super.

The newer RTX 3060 Ti and RX 6800 were faster over again as you'd expect, pushing well over 100 fps, getting upwardly around 120-125 fps. For me personally, we notice 90 fps ideal, input feels good at that frame rate, so the 5700 XT works well. Indicate is though, with these dialed downwards, but still visually appealing quality settings, the game plays very well at 1080p on rather modest hardware.

Moving to 1440p ways gamers will crave at least an RTX 2070 Super for 60 fps with the medium quality settings. The Radeon Vii and 5700 XT autumn simply brusque, though passable for someone after 60 fps on boilerplate. The new RTX 3060 Ti offers a much better experience, though the gains over the previous-gen $400 role, the 2060 Super are disappointing.

In our RTX 3060 Ti review nosotros found the GPU to exist 50% faster than the 2060 Super on average, notwithstanding here it'southward just 34% faster and that would have been 1 of the weakest margins we saw in our review roofing xviii new and popular titles. The RX 6800 does a footling better relative to the bill of fare information technology's replacing, the 5700 XT, offering 56% more than operation and in our day one review featuring xviii games, it was on boilerplate 52% faster.

Finally at 4K, it's possible to push up over sixty fps and even achieve shut to a threescore fps 1% low when using an RTX 3090. The RTX 3080 was also good for 60 fps on boilerplate, equally was the Radeon RX 6900 XT, while the 6800 XT managed just over 50 fps.

For the RTX 3070 and slower GPUs, we'd recommend dialing the resolution dorsum to 1440p for a much smoother gaming experience.

Preset Scaling

Hither's a wait at preset scaling performance with the 6800 XT and RTX 3080 at 1440p. Both saw a 42% functioning uplift when going from ultra to medium. Every bit we just saw when looking at a wide range of GPUs, that kind of performance uplift makes a huge difference to the lower-end models.

The visual deviation between high and ultra is minimal, at least in the sections of the game we've compared. Medium seems similar a great compromise though, then you have low, which is noticeably worse than medium. The game still looks skilful on the low setting however, so those of you with older or budget GPUs are in for a real treat even at lower quality settings. This is something we may end up benchmarking with older GPUs afterwards on if there'due south enough involvement.

What We Learned

That'south how Cyberpunk 2077 performs on mod GPUs, and we've gotta say given how visually breathtaking the game is, the functioning is justified for an open-earth title. If you're willing to compromise ever so slightly on prototype quality with the medium preset, then the game becomes very playable on surprisingly mid-range hardware like the Radeon RX 5700 XT or RTX 2070. Granted, these are notwithstanding $400 GPUs, but the 5700 XT is very reasonable given what we're seeing here.

With the new wave of GPUs hitting shelves, of form, it's the RTX 3060 Ti you want to buy at this toll bespeak, which achieves a comfortable 71 fps at 1440p with the medium quality settings. Again, remember we'll look at how the 3060 Ti handles ray tracing with and without DLSS in our follow upwards benchmark review, forth with many more GPUs.

We're as well dandy to expect at CPU performance every bit the game appears to be very demanding on that regard. For case, we saw up to 40% utilization with the 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X, and out of interest we quickly tried the 6-core Ryzen 5 3600 as that'south a very popular processor. We're happy to study gameplay was yet shine, though utilization was high with physical core utilization up around fourscore%.

RAM usage isn't farthermost in Cyberpunk 2077, and when not constrained past VRAM, you're looking at around vii to 8GB of system retention used by the game, which is reasonable and it means you lot should be fine for a smooth experience with 16GB of RAM. The section of the game we tested saw VRAM usage peak at vi.5GB at 1080p, 7GB at 1440p, and 8GB at 4K, just look those figures to increase with ray tracing enabled.

Overall, Cyberpunk 2077 is a great looking next generation game that appears to scale very well to suit a broad range of hardware. If you're not satisfied with the operation your old GPU is delivering, then hopefully this article has been helpful in steering you towards your adjacent upgrade, presumably some time side by side yr when nosotros'll actually be able to buy graphics cards again.

Shopping Shortcuts:
  • Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 on Amazon
  • Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 on Amazon
  • Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 on Amazon
  • AMD Radeon RX 6800 on Amazon
  • AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT on Amazon
  • AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen 9 5900X on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen five 5600X on Amazon