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More than two years after its sacking on PS5,Horizon Forbidden Westis now useable on PC . The original game , Horizon Zero Dawn , has become a keystone for performance testing on PC , and it ’s one of the pillars of our GPU reviews . The sequel ups the ante in a big manner with more computer graphic option and a more demanding world overall .
I ’ve been playing the game over the preceding week , bore down on the best options , comparing DLSS , FSR , and XeSS , and testing the bounds of functioning . Horizon Forbidden Westlives up to the measure set by the original release , though weaker GPUs with only 8 GB of memory will struggle with gamey graphics configurations and resolution .
PlayStation Studios
Best settings for Horizon Forbidden West PC
Horizon Forbidden Westhas a gross ton of graphics choice . After digging through them , here are the best configurations forHorizon Forbidden Westto Libra the Scales carrying out and effigy tone on microcomputer :
This is a start full point . InHorizon Forbidden West , you’ll see your artwork changes update in real prison term as you adjust preferences — no restarts required . This is the list I ’d start with , but by all odds take the metre to adjust further for your own personal computer . Tweaking is n’t a rough-and-tumble inHorizon Forbidden Westas it is in other PC releaseslikeDragon ’s Dogma 2 .
Above , you’re able to see how my urge setting heap up against the Very High and Very Low presets . You ’re draw most of the quality of the Very High preset with significantly dialed - back options and with a massive execution bump to boot .
Some of the setting here are tricky . For example , the Texture Quality scene does n’t refer to just texture . It improves the quality of the terrain , as well . you may see this in action if you stand under a bouldery patch of demesne and cycle through the option . The gamey preferences add more details to the texture but also make the terrain more complex in its geometry .
In increase , the Screen Space Reflections setting does n’t relate to reflection quality . alternatively , it ’s a draw length — how far the reflections are cast — for reflections . you’re able to see how that make a difference in the video above . For stage setting like these , I opted for the lowest setting possible without turning off the graphical feature instantaneously .
Horizon Forbidden West PC system requirements
Sony ’s releases on PC let in several different levels of system requirements , along with performance estimates for each . Similar to agame likeRatchet and Clank Rift Apart , you have four tier forHorizon Forbidden West , and they ’re a good representation of the carrying into action you may require .
There are two big government note here . The first is VRAM . As I ’ll turn over into in the next section , GPUs with 8 GB of VRAM will struggle with this plot . you could see that from the recommend tier and up , all of the GPUs start with 8 GB of VRAM , topping out with the 20 GB available in theAMD RX 7900 XT .
The other preeminence is storage blank . Horizon Forbidden Westrequires a ton of space at 150 GB , but more importantly , it need an SSD . We ’ve seen this several time with premature PlayStation 5 ports to personal computer . biz plan for Sony ’s console require an SSD , andHorizon Forbidden Westis no exclusion .
Is an 8GB GPU enough for Horizon Forbidden West?
Horizon Forbidden Westwill gainsay 8 GB artwork cards , particularly if you ’re playing at a eminent solving . After running through the initial sphere of the game at 4 K with the Very gamy preset , I clear out at over 12 GB of VRAM employment . Even modern GPUs like theRTX 4060with 8 GB of VRAM will encounter some issues withHorizon Forbidden West , peculiarly when push beyond 1080p .
gratefully , there are ways to reduce VRAM usage . Using the urge setting above , I was able to get down to 8.1 GB of VRAM utilisation at 4 K — a very good improvement considering how high of a resolution I was playing at . The two primary culprit here are Shadow Quality and Texture Quality . As refer , Horizon Forbidden Westuses the latter place setting for both texture point and geometry complexity , so turn these configurations down can improve performance on 8 GB graphic card quite a bit .
You ’re not give up much with the Medium background for Texture Quality , either . you may see in the video above that the Medium Setting looks very close to the Very eminent context , while the Low setting await the bad by far .
If you ’re running an 8 GB GPU , you ’ll know if you ’re running into VRAM problems if you experience stuttering in the game . Typically , this will happen as you ’re lean around the unfastened world . The two things you could do to improve performance are plow down Texture Quality and Shadow Quality , as well as shorten your resolution . deform on an upscaling feature like DLSS or FSR can help , too .
How to fix stuttering in Horizon Forbidden West
I did n’t experience severe stuttering when testingHorizon Forbidden West , but there are still some theme of stutter online . I surmise the main perpetrator is VRAM . 8 GB GPUs will believably work into stuttering issue at higher resolutions and options , so if you ’re using a GPU like the RTX 4060 orRX 6600 XT , you ’ll need to ferment down some nontextual matter scene .
In picky , Texture Quality and Shadow Quality hog a lot of VRAM , so cutting in these areas can help . Resolution is big factor , as well — you ’ll shinny to execute the game at 1440p with an 8 GB GPU . Resolution grading can help here , but you ’ll need to conflate it context cut in Texture Quality and Shadow Quality .
Make certain to set up the in vogue driver from Nvidia , AMD , or Intel , as well . All three trafficker have drivers with explicit sustenance forHorizon Forbidden West , so you ’ll need to establish the current drivers to get the most out of the biz .
DLSS, XeSS, and FSR in Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Forbidden Westsupports a buffet of performance - boosting features . The star of the show isNvidia ’s DLSS 3 , which combine Super Resolution upscaling with Frame Generation , the latter of which is only available on RTX 40 - serial publication GPUs . If you do n’t need a performance boost , you have admittance toNvidia ’s Deep Learning Anti - Aliasing , as well . This is an Nvidia - promoted personal computer sack , so it should n’t amount as a surprisal that DLSS is out in full force .
You have other options , though . AMD ’s FidelityFX Super Resolution2.2 ( the latest adaptation ) is available in the game , along with Intel ’s XeSS . I would put the choice in that order of magnitude , too . DLSS is the best , FSR comes in second , and XeSS is in last place .
you may see why in the video above . FSR 2.2 bring around the sputtering unstableness we see ingames likeStarfield , but it ’s very gentle . The loss of item is in particular notable inForbidden West , where dull vegetation and violent wind often disclose the limitations of AMD ’s upscaling tech . Still , it ’s near than XeSS in the game .
XeSS look better close to the camera , maintaining a similar horizontal surface of detail as DLSS , but look in the distance , and you ’ll see the job . There ’s a distracting play , and it ’s not just present on o.k. point like we sometimes see with FSR . It ’s across the whole scene when anything get too far from the camera , even at 4K.
I would deflect XeSS in the game , at least right now . DLSS and FSR provide a heavy functioning improvement , and although FSR is soft overall , it ’s not distracting like XeSS is .
