So many slaps today. So many slaps for this little head of mine. Fan of the game on PS5, with nearly 200 hours at the controls of Aloy and her robotic gadgets, Horizon Forbidden West is for me the title that places the PS5 at the top. In performance or quality mode, the game is visually stunning, with incredibly rich characters and universe. I wasn't particularly expecting this PC version, because, in my distant thoughts (Forbiden West is already 2 years old), it was difficult to do better. But that was before having the PC version in my hands.
Place ! Has Aloy gained a little weight?
124 GB, or around thirty GB more than the PlayStation 5 version! It's already the housing crisis on my PCs, but here, we had to make choices, and a lot of housekeeping, to provide you with this test of the RTX 4000 mobile GPUs. Because that’s what this little article is about. Sony/NVIDIA communication gives pride of place to 4000 series GPUs, supporting DLSS, image generation, but also NVIDIA Reflex technology. A cocktail that allows you to explode both the FPS counter and your retinas.
On the visual side, NVIDIA or not, Horizon Forbidden West will literally turn your brain around either way. The finesse of the graphics in this PC version is far beyond what the PS5 can offer. But it doesn't stop there, since fluidity is also essential. I was able to test the game on 3 mobile GPUs from the chameleon firm: The RTX 4050 6GB from theErazer Crawler E40, the RTX 4060 8GB of theErazer Deputy P40, and finally the powerful RTX 4090 16GB of the Razer blade 16 (see the links for the complete technical sheets of these 3 laptops).
For the mobile RTX 4090, tests are carried out with the “Very High Quality” preset, regardless of the resolution. For the 4050 and 4060, I had to switch to the “Medium” preset, already visually very beautiful, for 4K resolution only (lack of RAM). DLSS is systematically positioned on its “Quality” setting in order to maintain an image without the slightest visual artifact (I was able to see some during rapid movements in DLSS Performance). It would be a shame to lose a bit of Aloy's hair.
NVIDIA provided me with a PDF with their own measurements, which differ from mine. It is in fact difficult, without a benchmark mode directly integrated into the game, to find precisely the in-game location where the manufacturer's benches are carried out. My measurements are taken from the introduction, as Aloy walks through a very dense forest.
DLSS and Frame Generation to get the most out of Horizon Forbidden West
Without further ado, here is the summary table of the benches carried out with FrameView.
| GPU | FULL HD | QHD | 4K | |||
| 1% Low | Average | 1% Low | Average | 1% Low | Average | |
| RTX 4050 6Go (Erazer Crawler E40) | 80 | 96 | 58 | 72 | 25 | 38 |
| RTX 4060 8Go (Erazer Deputy P40) | 94 | 107 | 70 | 79 | 30 | 45 |
| RTX 4090 16Go (Razer Blade 16) | 120 | 189 | 101 | 156 | 86 | 114 |
The results are rather positive, with entry-level cards capable of maintaining the 30 fps+ mark on a 4K TV. Personally, I preferred, on these machines, but to settle for a QHD, which allowed me to keep the “Very high quality” preset of the game AND to be above 60 fps. For the RTX 4090, no surprises, 4K and fluidity go hand in hand, the Razer Blade 16 remains the laptop PC of all superlatives and does not deflate against Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition.
Need the game? Gamesplanet is already showing it at -10%!
