smutty Myth : Wukongis an anomaly . The game isalready shatter Steam records , which is a pretty big accomplishment for a biz that has seemingly been a glorified technical school demo for the past four twelvemonth . It does n’t assist that the plot comes with some of themost demanding requirementswe’ve ever take care out of a modern secret plan . Black Myth : Wukongcan advertize your PC to its limit point , but if you ’re smart with your graphics configurations , you do n’t need one of thebest computer graphic cardsto run it .
For the past calendar week , I ’ve been stab and prodding every corner ofBlack Myth : Wukongto see how the PC variant works , what it ’s open of , and where the easy carrying out gains are . This secret plan will push your personal computer to its limit , and it ’s indisputable to become a staple in microcomputer computer hardware reviews . And that ’s because it finagle to press an insane stratum of ocular fidelity while still being a game that you’re able to , well , play .
Graphics tweaks are a must
If you were hop to jump intoBlack Myth : Wukong , toggle to the highest nontextual matter preset , and be on your room , I have bad news show for you . Even with anRTX 4090 , I ’m not able-bodied to jump into the game will all the skidder maxed out . There ’s a wad of room in the graphics options to optimize your public presentation , and discount the graphics options will only spite your experience in the biz . Similar toAlan Wake 2,Black Myth : Wukonglooks beautiful , even if you require to turn some options down to Low .
Above , you may see how the presets surmount with different artwork cards and resolutions . I used theRTX 4060for 1080p , theRX 7800 XTfor 1440p , and theRTX 4080for 4K. The carrying into action here is native , so upscaling is n’t turned on , and I did n’t sprain on ray trace , either . None of the GPUs I tested were able to hit 60 frames per second ( fps ) at their aboriginal resolution with the Cinematic or Very High preset . Even the in high spirits preset is too demanding without upscaling .
Still , it ’s clear where the fully grown performance amplification are . Cinematic and Very High are basically in lockstep , while the gains are much more pronounced between High , Medium , and Low . That provides some good counselling for how to optimize your performance in the game . Although there ’s a moderately large interruption in image timber between the Cinematic and Low preset , you’re able to still get a fantastic look-alike with much better performance with the right mise en scene tweak .
How I tweaked Black Myth: Wukong
After ply well 100 pass of the in - game benchmark forBlack Myth : Wukong , I arrived on two sets of urge setting depend on the resolution you ’re playing at . I have one do for 1080p and another for 1440p and 4K. That ’s mainly because of how upscaling works inBlack Myth : Wukong , and the special performance increase you ’ll see with upscaling at 1080p . More on that soon .
Starting with 1440p and 4 K , here are the configurations I commend :
I labor the graphics setting passably far , and that ’s mainly on the back of framing multiplication and upscaling inBlack Myth : Wukong . Most forward-looking GPUs will have entree to both , and with these higher resolution , the upscaling slider will provide more execution addition while maintain the optical quality as in high spirits as possible . Below , you could see how my optimized mount liken to the humble and Cinematic presets . There ’s more depth with the Cinematic preset , but my optimized setting are n’t far behind .
The post is unlike with 1080p . There are n’t a ton of performance gains with upscaling , so you ’ll postulate to bleed the game as airless to native resolution as potential . Because of that , I knocked down all of the art configurations one tier :
Regardless of where you settle , Black Myth : Wukongwill show a red exclamation pointedness next to any graphics options that exceed what it recommends . Unfortunately , that also applies to upscaling . Anything about a 66 % musical scale will throw up a flag that you ’ve exceeded the recommended configurations , regardless of how hefty your personal computer is .
Above , you’re able to see how much extra performance you ’re getting with these tweaks . Across all of the GPUs I tested and their respective resolution , I saw about double the frame pace with these configurations . This is how I ’m playing throughBlack Myth : Wukong , and I ’d suggest you do the same .
Upscaling required
I establish my recommended scope around upscaling , and for good reasonableness . Black Myth : Wukongbasically requires upscaling . exchangeable toAlan Wake 2andStarfield , there is n’t an choice to turn upscaling off . Instead , you get a resolve slider that goes from 25 % to 100 % , with 100 % pass the game at native answer and using the upscaler foranti - aliasing .
The game includes everything you could require . There’sAMD ’s FSR 3,Nvidia ’s DLSS 3 , and Intel ’s XeSS , as well as Unreal Engine 5 ’s Temporal Super Resolution ( TSR ) . If you have access to DLSS 3 , that ’s the upscaler I ’d recommend for both performance and prototype quality . FSR compromises image quality for better performance , while XeSS jug in carrying into action but is closer to DLSS with its image quality . TSR is okay , but it ’s a fallback pick if you ca n’t use one of the other upscalers .
Above , you could see how the upscalers bear up to native closure . This is at 4 K with the Cinematic preset , and the deviation become far more noticeable at lower resolutions . FSR , for instance , lose a lot of detail in the remote tree diagram and shows some nasty ghosting on the falling leave . XeSS maintains more detail , but it ’s aggressive holding moderate to shimmering , which you’re able to see on the primary grapheme ’s head . DLSS has these issues , too , make no error . But they ’re less pronounced overall .
Given that this is 4 yard , it ’s a just - case scenario for these upscaling utilities . Down at 1080p , FSR is downright unusable below 66 % render resolution , and XeSS looks dire below that tip . Even DLSS appear high-risk , as it sputter to re - create the incredibly detailed world ofBlack Myth : Wukongwith very little information to go on .
You ’re not getting a huge performance boost with upscaling at 1080p , either . you may see that with the RTX 4060 in the chart above . There are performance gain , but as you minify the internal resolution , those gains become less and less prominent . That ’s because you ’re put more strain on your CPU at this very abject internal resolutions , and the upscaling algorithms have to do more study to produce an image with very little data . It ’s simply not deserving pushing upscaling at this low of a resolution for the swop - off between operation and ikon timber .
Thankfully , that disappears at 1440p . I was n’t able to test DLSS here due to using the RX 7800 XT , but the amplification are much more marked moving between the dissimilar quality level . More significantly , the image quality does n’t whole fall apart when you push toward a 50 % internal render resolution .
Still , 4 K is where upscaling shine the most . devote how large 4 K is to start , you have a long ton of way to push the internal resoluteness down and still see performance gains . And image quality holds up since the upscalers have a mass of interior resolution info to work with , even when you push the result down .
Outside of upscaling , Black Myth : Wukongsupports frame contemporaries . You get DLSS 3 frame generation if you have an RTX 40 - series GPU , but also FSR 3 anatomy generation if you do n’t . alas , you ca n’t decouple the frame genesis from the upscaling . If you desire to use DLSS upscaling , for instance , you ca n’t habituate FSR 3 frame generation , and vice versa . Still , both tools turn splendidly , and they ’re a must - have you plan on execute withBlack Myth : Wukong‘s full beam tracing .
Tracing paths
Undoubtedly , the most demanding setting inBlack Myth : Wukongis fullray tracing , otherwise recognize aspath trace . This is where the full firing system uses ray tracing , and it ’s much more demanding than a typical beam tracing implementation . For the difference it make , look at the TV above .
The depth you accomplish with way trace in unbelievable . At first , the two TV take care alike , but the more you look at the minuscule shadows , mild luminance bleed , and subtle reflection , you win an grasp for how much course tracing is really doing . Still , Black Myth : Wukongisn’t dead with path tracing off . The game still take reward of Unreal Engine ’s software system - based Lumen , so you get some of the feeling of path tracing even with the setting handicapped .
You might desire to handicap path tracing , too . You mighthaveto disable it . As you could see from the benchmarks above , AMD graphics cards are basically out of the query here . And for Nvidia ’s latest GPUs , you are almost ram to use human body contemporaries to achieve a playable frame rate . route trace is extremely demanding , and althoughBlack Myth : Wukongprovides various character configurations , they are still very onerous .
Path trace look incredible inBlack Myth : Wukong , but there ’s one trouble . The game does n’t supportDLSS 3.5 , so you ca n’t utilize Ray Reconstruction . This AI - powered denoiser is incredible with path tracing , as we ’ve seen inCyberpunk 2077andAlan Wake 2.It ’s deserving sacrificing performance for path tracing with Ray Reconstruction at work . Without it , route tracing inBlack Myth : Wukongis nice to have , but you are n’t miss out on much if you turn the characteristic off .
8GB graphics cards are safe
I ’m well-chosen to account that 8 GB computer graphic cards are dependable inBlack Myth : Wukong , at least without path tracing . Even at 4 KB with the Cinematic preset , the RTX 4080 puff just 7 GB of video memory and 12 GB of system memory . Of course , that number jumps up well with way trace turn on , but you really should n’t turn on itinerary tracing with an 8 GB graphics card anyway .
I surmise the low VRAM utilization come down to the level of detail inBlack Myth : Wukong . peculiarly at lower graphics stage setting , the game ’s draw distance is exceedingly low . I ’ve only play through the scuttle hour of the game , so it ’s possible there are more open areas by and by that accent VRAM usance — I ’m not sure right now . assume the plot continues on a fairly linear pace , however , I do n’t expect 8 GB graphics cards will bunk into issues .
Crashing on 13th-gen and 14th-gen CPUs
Intel ’s instability fiascocontinues withBlack Myth : Wukong . Despite delivering itslong - await firmware update , Intel ’s 13th - gen and 14th - gen CPUs may still go down in the game with an “ out of video memory ” computer error . The developers say this can happen during shader compiling , and it hasposted a topic on Steamabout how to bypass the subject .
I was n’t able to re - make any crashes , but if you ’re have proceeds with a 13th - gen or 14th - gen CPU , this could solve the problem . Hopefully the developers are putting out the postal service for anyone who missed the microcode update , and users that have already upgraded can play without issuing .
Black Myth: Wukong on PC — the verdict
dim Myth : Wukongwill push your personal computer hard . There ’s no doubt about that . It can assess even hardware as brawny as the RTX 4090 , but it does n’t have to . There ’s a gross ton of range in the art preferences , as well as all of the latest PC gambling technical school . The game is fairly well optimise , too , run swimmingly on a variety of ironware and descale to accommodate CPU and GPUs of unlike level .
Still , it ’s not perfect . Ray Reconstruction is a missed chance , and the graphics menu , despite being robust , does n’t always guide on users in the right direction . The focussing on upscaling can be problematic , too , particularly for player campaign 1080p monitor . The developers could leash off the Cinematic background more , making it clear that this level is truly restricted for the most gamey - end hardware .
