Shadow of the Tomb Raider Graphics Settings Benchmark & Optimization Guide

[@Hardwareunboxed]

As many of you seem confused, the charts are NOT in FPS, they are in percentages. So NO, Vega 64 does NOT perform the same as the 2080 Ti. Also, today's video is available as a source quality download for our Patreons: www.patreon.com/posts/max-quality-of-21652191

[@skrauthauser]

Shadow of the framerate

[@Zeus.thunder]

@irthiza You too!

[@ibslice]

I've been waiting for a video from you guys like this and I sure wasn't disappointed. Fantastic! Edit: to add one suggestion. Include fps as well as percentage.

[@brookbaker9862]

PSA for everyone discussing Vega vs 2080 ti here and other framerate questions: THESE ARE NOT RAW FRAMERATE GRAPHS. THEY ARE PERCENTAGE CHANGES OVER MAXIMUM SETTINGS WHICH ARE NORMALIZED AS THE 100% VALUE IN EACH GRAPH.

[@rewind841821]

but but but but we want FPS not this !

[@Akash77133]

This is an absolutely amazing Video Thanks a lot Tim :) EDIT: will be very happy if u upload this kinds of videos often

[@archangel7052]

I need to increase FOV please help!!

[@klurikon3004]

@@archangel7052 if you go into the registry editor to edit the game's configuration files , there is an option to change fov but I tried it but nothing happens in game 😥

[@archangel7052]

@@klurikon3004 Yep...I tried it too but got black screen on startup.

[@klurikon3004]

@@archangel7052 do you start with launcher cuz it changes the settings to original values btw you can start without launcher by selecting properties of a shortcut .exe go in the target row where after " leave a space and type -nolauncher and press ok

[@maximilianoaarav2178]

i guess im asking the wrong place but does anybody know a trick to log back into an instagram account..? I was stupid lost the account password. I love any tips you can offer me.

[@TheRacePig]

Regarding the screen space contact shadows, they're used for much smaller shadows that would otherwise break up (which is why you could only see it on the little rock in the corner). It's probably the most subtle graphics effect in the game, but it has the most noticeable effect in cutscenes since details on characters are mostly where the shadowing system doesn't have enough detail.

[@Gripen90]

Superb video. I love tweak guides for making games run better with minor quality tweaks you'd wouldn't notice when gaming. I'm going to copy these settings for some extra free performance.

[@Jomenaa]

God I just love when people do these kinda videos/posts! I like tweaking around A LOT but don't really have time to individually check which settings are most taxing! I would love to see more of these :) I guess using one NVidia and one AMD card gives pretty good image on how things work for other tier cards too :P

[@Physionic]

You guys crush the competition. Fantastic work, guys.

[@fallshimjager1]

16:35 this is the quality content I subbed for, nice work Tim! Nice breakdown of the settins, keep up the good work Hardware Unboxed team!

[@larryplympton9727]

I really liked the analysis of how each quality feature affected the performance, and would love to see more of this on a card by card basis for major games. I realize this is a metric ton of work and you guys more than likely don't have the time to do so, but it is extremely informative. Thank you for the video sir.

[@noakberglund8150]

These type of videos are amazing. Best hardware channel on youtube for in-depth reviews! Keep it up

[@GamerInVoid]

You should do this kind of video for all upcoming Titles like AC Odessey , Hitman 2 , Just Cause 4 etc . Great concept !

[@Vanilla_Jo]

Settings @ 15:49

[@mub_263]

Thank you!

[@SwordQuake2]

16:35 you can never see enough.

[@kraithaywire]

Fantastic video! More of this, please!

[@atecep]

Great addition to the channel. Keep this series

[@madbliffe3933]

rlly rlly awesome channel, u explain every setting, show it in comparsion and show benchmark. You earned my subscribe !

[@grrdondon]

+1 for this type of videos! As they are as practical as they can get and are a real timesaver if you don't want to test all the settings in games yourself. Like, for an example, I recently wanted to optimize settings for Bf1 as a pure ULTRA preset isn't a smooth option for 64player mp match on i5-6600 and r9 380x and this type of vidoe would have been quite handy! :) I would suggest adding timestamps of sorts, and definetiley for the perfect settings part :D

[@Labyriiint]

Yeah i just got a New pc and this is so good to watch, when im starting a game i just wanna play and not mess around with settings constantly.

[@CORVETTE_DUDE_CHANNEL]

Thanks so much for creating this great content, I find it very useful for optimizing the game performance without giving up graphics quality!

[@SnaxxNZGaming]

Awesome video. I have done a few of these test myself and know how much work (and especially time) goes into testing EVERY setting. I don't envy you when you come across a game that has a butt load more settings and no in game benchmark.

[@CptJoshami]

Those types of videos are so cool and not enough people are doing them. I love you guys so much for being the best source of information

[@limingtogunawan4756]

This channel deserves 1M subs. Btw, I think “4k doesn’t need anti-aliasing” isn’t completely correct, it depends on ppi in that monitor, you may need AA if you are using 55 inch tv even in 4k.

[@gamerro25]

I have a 75” 4K tv and yes you need AA even at 4K

[@seaofrage]

I play on a 4k projector at 92 inches. Taa is a must in *some games like kindom come deliverance where there is a ton of vegetation. Games like divinity os 2, path of exile, older games like fear, max payne etc dont need any aa at all. Makes very little difference. That being said it seems newer games tend to need more aa due to more fine detail.

[@NimbusTLD]

Awesome work, thanks Tim! I just bought SotTR today and was looking for exactly such a guide to help me tweak my graphic settings. Thanks for doing all the hard work for me :)

[@II2old4thisII]

Awesome job! This video is GOLD! Keep these, Graphics Settings Optimization Guide, videos coming!

[@jduron2068]

please continue this segment to all the games in the future, very helpful indeed... thanks a lot!

[@Hardwareunboxed]

Cheers, we've done quite a few since this one.

[@SuprSi]

Thanks Tim, that saved me a lot of time I didn't want to spend to find this out myself. Cheers!

[@RemusDs]

This is gold, thank you for all the work on this guides!

[@youssefwael8278]

This is the BEST video for settings guide I ever saw ....do more of those please 😀....I use gtx 1060 and it is starting to struggle with new games so I really need such videos to adjust my settings ...thank alot 😍

[@vishalmakhu007]

Hi Tim. I love these performance analysis videos you make. Please keep doing this amazing work. This is literally one of the few comments I ever leave on videos. But the amount of work you do deserves a tip of the hat and a thank you.

[@WookieeRage]

Thank you. This did significantly improve my FPS. Much appreciated.

[@TheVillainOfTheYear]

This is excellent content. Please do more of these ASAP.

[@FocusAmbientMusic]

Amazing video Tim but could would be nice to have a comparcion with the more affordable mid range cards (1060 e 580) Never the less thanks and keep up the good work.

[@Tech_Enthusiast_001]

Awesome stuff. This is what i have to do for all my gaming friends, like all the time. No idea why they can't do it themselves, but pointing to a video would be easier for me. Keep doing this!

[@MarceloTezza]

Wow, that was an amazing video, very detailed. Congrats!

[@ale.wist.]

very very useful. I hope you do others. thanks!

[@Nick_Kearney]

Tim, can you please test graphics settings in Forza Horizon 4 when it comes out on Friday?

[@Astraldymensions]

I would usually expect this kind of video to come out of Digital Foundry but you guys managed to make something unique and just as valuable. Very well done

[@seawingo]

Got a little voicecrack at 1:22 there Tim? 😂

[@HaydenGreen7]

seawingo lmao

[@pedrogarciahuerta7304]

xD

[@patohernandez1637]

Great job as always!

[@wizzgamer]

Thanks for this guide will be using these tips to get the best performance from my Geforce 970.

[@cloaca1234]

I love these series of videos!

[@plebreton01]

Fantastic video. More of this would be great :)

[@saevaveritas8744]

Did anyone else notice the woman in the distance at 14:36-14:47 in the "off" side is gliding? The model is frozen and sliding on the ground.

[@Tacticalpanic]

this videos are utterly amazing , it saves me so much time. and in a single player i'm less likely to want to play around with settings compared to an E-sports title.

[@TJCCBR47]

This is pure gold! thx for this!

[@lions7staso]

Thank you for the content ! The channel needs this kind of a material. Please continue to do it for future games too, even if they are not too big and high end AAA. Keep the good work going. GG.

[@krm83000]

Thanks for this guide, I instantly knew I had to sub ^^ I run an old MSI R9 280x GPU 3GB (I know I must upgrade but, you know, priorities...) with a Ryzen 2600, 16 Gb DDR4, 500 GB Samsung EVO SSD on a MSI X470 mobo and it's still playable with your recommended settings @ 1080p res, with lowest fps down to 40, not too bad for such an outdated GPU and mostly high settings, IMO still looks and plays amazing !

[@dm55]

This is exactly what I wanted to know. Thanx

[@AdamBoozer]

Subscribed. Please do more of these.

[@Hardwareunboxed]

Thanks mate, working on it. Here's the playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PL7m5C6_P_lnXQhO8YRLfVVMSGo0UwDIne

[@nooneknows19]

I feel this is one of the only tech channels where I don’t see much or if any hatred.

[@hairybarofsoap6995]

Wholesome video, thanks for that!

[@vaghatz]

great video! This helps a lot you dont have the top card but you want the best quality you can get

[@tonyd3192]

Thanks Tim! Great video. I am getting mostly above 60 FPS with a GTX 1060 6 GB at 1080p on settings similar to your recommendations. I experience drops to 55-57 FPS in areas crowded with NPCs, so I can't wait to try a test run with motion blur OFF to eliminate those pesky sub-60 frames drops!

[@tedthemechanix1]

Awesome Guide as Always :D

[@Dracossaint]

THANK YOU FOR THIS! Someone has been needing to do this for a solid minute. The amount of benchmarking this took must've been unreal even with only two cards. In the future I think mid-range cards make the most sense for stuff like this. If someone has a high-end card their more likely to know how it'll scale vs someone having low to mid range card to the high end (I get that vega64 is arguably mid-range, but it's a different type of card as a whole so it dosn't help considering it's a Nvidia heavy title?) G e GTX 1060 6gb or GTX 1070 and rx 580

[@deritz9901]

Very nice and detailed. This game in particular has a lot of graphics options, very nice to see them and what they do to performance.

[@ChroniclesofAJ]

great video on the graphic settings

[@ReinaldoTrindade]

This was a freaking good video!

[@tradewinds2008]

Amazing Presentation. Thanks for all your hard and detailed work..

[@lugaidster]

Amazing content. May I suggest you consider a 1080ti as well? Or cards that aren't meant to run everything on maximum preset like the 2080ti?

[@xxVLADI22]

I hope you keep making more videos like this one 👍

[@jobbus22]

I like this. Do please make more this kind of videos for upcoming titles.

[@KrastyoKrastev]

Amazing video - thank you a lot! Will test the recommended settings once I go back home. Couple of days ago I build my first pc since 2011 and I choose ryzen 5 1600 af and rx 5700 sapphire pulse ( i already flashed rx 5700 xt pulse bios on it). I got 80 fps on 1440p on almost everything maxed out (expect antialiasing). Very satisfied :)

[@ViolenVaymire]

This series ended up being great and is the first thing i go to whenever i first install a newer game. Shame this isn't a widely known series.

[@JamesBayzon]

This is really helpful. Pls do this to every AAA games

[@CORVETTE_DUDE_CHANNEL]

One recommendation is to add "4k" in the video title since it was not mentioned until a few minutes into the video and many of us are specifically looking for 4k benchmarks and don't have the patience or time to watch the video to confirm it is something we want to fully watch.

[@agustinisuarif3011]

More video like this please. Nice guide.....

[@sadystic1]

Thanks so much for this. I wasn't too sure what was destroying fps for very little visual improvement so I just cranked everything to the max on 4k with a 1080ti and was getting an average of 48fps. With your recommended settings I've improved my average to 60fps and the game looks just as good as it did before. Please do one of these for the upcoming assassin's Creed Odyssey please!

[@waterandtrees471]

so with these settings will i get stable 60 fps on 1060 6 GB ..1080p ?

[@sadystic1]

rohan yadav I can't say that you are guaranteed to get that but I'd imagine it'll be close

[@waterandtrees471]

@@sadystic1 I was planning to buy this game.. My friend got avg 53 fps on ultra.. 1080p with 1060 6 gb.. But I only like playing games on 60 fps.. What do you think can these settings increase 7 fps.. So I can get 60..?

[@sadystic1]

rohan yadav I gained 12 fps myself. So yeah I'm sure it can

[@soapa4279]

It's so annoying when developers do that. "Highest" settings or "Ultra" settings but still with a few things turned off so you have to find them manually to get the "Maximum" settings. Anyway great video!

[@dml09]

Great video. I came to pretty much the same conclusions, so my custom settings are almost exactly the same. I have to say motion blur surprised me a bit, because I noticed a sizeable hit to performance even without moving, something I don't recall experiencing in other games. I generally like the smoothing effect of a decent motion blur implementation, but the cost to frame rate is just too high for me. Perhaps they could have added an intensity and quality option as in DOOM 2016, so as to allow a smaller level of motion blur for less of an impact on performance. I find it quite interesting that the level of detail and shadow quality settings provide very little performance gain in the scheme of things. Looking at "ultra" vs. "low" level of detail, a lot of assets have a reduction in quality at "low" but not that many seem to be removed entirely. With the game so densely detailed as it is, this is possibly why performance doesn't improve much. This perhaps has a knock-on effect to shadows, since with so much detail being drawn there are a lot of shadows being cast.

[@Diego.Ferreyra]

are you planning to update this video with the new RTX shadows features? these guides are great!!!

[@notme7285]

Ty for the video ! Go for more !

[@janmejayrathore217]

This VIDEO is a DREAM... PLEASE LAUNCH these kind of videos... It feels like first u guys read our minds, and then u make a video. And as always, we love it... Please make more videos like this for new games like Forza Horizon 4

[@Ukyo82]

Good idea for videos, but next time test with lower video cards because on this high end not so important you can put on max and still having very good fps, optimization guide will be helpful on lower video cards like GTX 1060 or RX 580 and etc

[@VascovanZeller]

100% agreed - it's at the mid and low range that these choices hurt.

[@sadystic1]

At full max settings with a 1080ti on 4k I was only averaging 48 fps as per the in game benchmark. With these settings I am now averaging 60fps and the game looks just as good. I agree he should incorporate lower tier cards but that doesn't mean this doesn't apply to high end cards as well

[@Ukyo82]

sadystic on 1080p or 1440p will be over the 60 fps at all time with those cards....., who have 4k monitors anyway, sure not masses, most people play on 1080p

[@sadystic1]

Ukyo82 that doesn't mean this kind of test is unjustified. Just because YOU don't play in 4k does not mean that someone who does cannot benefit from this like I did. I already agreed that using lower tier cards would be nice since many people have those cards but don't think that since u play in 1080p that's the only test they should do

[@Ukyo82]

sadystic I agree with that, I not tell this test is bad or something, I just mention it be good if they make tests with more lower cards too, what will be more usable to most people

[@arnob216]

I really like this kind of videos. Please keep on making these.. Adding a 1060/580 to the review will be superb but it will be time consuming, but will look forward to that as well :)

[@pawatpipat6682]

Great content dude

[@anmolagrawal5358]

Excellent video!!

[@keomagrant6520]

Please do more videos like this, thank you!

[@midnight11and66]

great video! I am gonna copy the settings

[@spacecy]

I'm using MSI GTX 1080 Ti, 8700K stock, playing on 1440p. The game was on the highest settings with TAA. I was getting 82 average fps in the in-game benchmark. I disabled motion blur, depth of field, set screen space contact shadows to normal (no visual difference vs high) and left level of detail to ultra (only gained 1-2 fps if set on high). The in-game benchmark went up to 90-91 fps.

[@AbdhullaWashiu]

Great video it was very useful in helping optimizing my game.

[@christopherczving4295]

This is great content and something I always look for when new games release, especially when they are this pretty. Thanks annd keep it up

[@ironmaiden5658]

Bloody hell boys. Your works are phenomenal. You do all the hard work for us and we only need 18 minutes to get the best out of this game. This is going to be a very popular segment for you. Thanks for this one Tim. Can't wait to see the BF5 stats when the game is available.,

[@R2D2trashcan]

If anyone is interested in the GTX 1060 performance, I used this guides settings at 2560x1080 (ultrawide) and got 53fps in the benchmark. In game its slightly more forgiving and I often got in the high 50s and rarely dipped into the 40s and the game looks amazing. I would think a standard 1080p monitor would get even better performance but someone wanting to play at 1440p 16:9 would want a better card IMHO. This video was really helpful BTW well played Hardware Unboxed.

[@Zecifer]

Very helpful video, the only thing missing is the performance difference when using Classic Lara models!

[@zrustyz7341]

Great vid as usual

[@themusesquad8554]

Great job. Cant wait to see the same video with RTX see the performance impact. Hope it wont be like 70% like it sounds from recent reviews

[@lucasferes3519]

Awesome explanation dude, i've been playing at max settings on a GTX 1080. I even tested DX 11 and 12 and finally a game that runs better on DX 12. The only option i lowered a bit was the AA cus SMAA x4 is too heavy, the third option is great already.

[@MachokRomeo]

Thank you I love the channel

[@brianjones2663]

Watching this from 3 years ago I see how far HUB has come. One of the graphs shows the 1% lows as one fps higher than average lol. I can't believe in 3 years we have come so far

[@Goonzoo25]

Great work, thank you:)

[@NoobsAlwaysCry]

Really good idea for a video. I would recommend using mid range cards, because people who buy high end cards usually just crank everything to ultra. Mid range cards would give us a more real world scenario.

[@hiphophead8053]

I love this idea of testing , and hopefully next time we can also have some data on more budget friendly options like a GTX 1070 or 1060. Good job Tim, saves alot of time for gamers.

[@kennethryberg]

Very nice . I like this type of vid. Reminds me of Digital Foundrys analysis, but with Hardware Unboxed data in the mix. Which is good! Thx

[@AllThatJazOfficial]

Are you guys planning on doing a Phanteks Evolv X case review? Pc case gear has them

[@tarcal87]

DX11 vs 12 is the biggest game changer actually. If your FPS tanks in crowded places, you are on 11, change to 12 to double your fps in some scenarios..

[@HandleIsNewAndBad]

Aside from performance, which setting increases power consumption the most? Anti aliasing seems to increase consumption by 10-20%.

[@jaroramos8057]

Thank you sir í just buy it yesterday 👍

[@L0rd_0f_War]

Thank you for this awesome comparison series checking out individual settings and their performance impact. Please keep this up for more games. Tim you are doing an awesome job with the HDR comparisons and some really interesting videos lately. Keep up the good work.