Editor’s notice: Dell India supplied the Alienware m16 R2, and Nvidia India supplied a PC copy of Black Fable: Wukong to IGN India for this efficiency overview.

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Black Fable: Wukong launched on August 20, 2024, amid a lot hype and anticipation, particularly given the sport’s beautiful visuals primarily based on Unreal Engine 5.

The sport delivers impressively on presentation, with distinctive character designs and a richly detailed world. At IGN India, we rated it 7.5/10, noting that whereas it excels in visuals and feels good to play, the gameplay, significantly the fight, lacks robustness.

On this overview, we’re specializing in the sport’s efficiency on a mid-range gaming laptop computer whereas testing out the assorted graphics applied sciences that Sport Science has added to the sport.

Black Fable: Wukong PC Necessities

Black Fable: Wukong steadily gained consideration since 2020 as extra teasers showcasing its visible prowess surfaced on the web. Here’s what it must run in your laptop.

Minimal system necessities

OS	Home windows 10
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 1600/Intel Core i5-8400
Reminiscence	16GB RAM
GPU	AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB/Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB)
DirectX	Model 11
Storage	130GB of obtainable house

Beneficial system necessities

OS	Home windows 10
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 5500/Intel Core i7-9700
Reminiscence	16GB RAM
GPU	AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT/Intel Arc A750/Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060
DirectX	Model 12
Storage	130GB of obtainable house

Black Fable: Wukong PC Benchmarks

For benchmarking, I used Alienware’s m16 R2 gaming laptop computer, a robust machine that allowed me to play on “Cinematic” current, the best graphical setting accessible. Here’s what the transportable gaming laptop computer packs underneath the hood.

Alienware m16 R2 gaming laptop computer specs

CPU	Intel Core Extremely 9 185H (24 MB cache, 16 cores, as much as 5.1 GHz Turbo)
GPU	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, 8 GB GDDR6
RAM	32GB, 2x16GB, DDR5, 5600 MT/s
Storage	1 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
Show	16-inches, QHD+ decision (2560×1600 Pixels), 240Hz refresh fee, 16:10 side ratio, 100% sRGB coloration gamut, 3ms response time, Superior Optimus, CV Plus, Nvidia G-Sync

I examined Black Fable: Wukong at 1920×1200 decision utilizing the “Cinematic” preset. This decision is the closest to 1080p on a 16:10 show.

Though the laptop computer can show and deal with 2K decision because of its QHD+ 2560×1600 display screen, I examined at 1080p because it’s essentially the most accessible and generally used decision for avid gamers in India.

The testing concerned varied upscaling applied sciences supported by Black Fable: Wukong, together with the Unreal Engine 5’s Temporal Tremendous Decision (TSR) and Nvidia’s Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling (DLSS) with and with out body era. I additionally tried AMD’s FidelityFX Tremendous Decision (FSR) with and with out body era to see how a lot of a efficiency increase these applied sciences present.

I used CapFrameX to seize the common fps, in addition to the 0.1% and 1% lows, to evaluate real-world efficiency. We used the in-game benchmark software, setting the scaling to 60% in all instances. Listed below are all the outcomes utilizing varied applied sciences.

TSR efficiency of Black Fable: Wukong

Upscaling and Body Technology settings	Common fps	Common 1% low fps	Common 0.1% low fps
TSR	40	28	17

We acquired a mean of 40fps on TSR with out utilizing any upscaling applied sciences or body era. That is on the decrease facet in comparison with the efficiency of different AAA video games we’ve got seen, equivalent to Ghost of Tsushima and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, each of which returned with 100+ common fps.

Nvidia DLSS 3 and Body Technology

The sport makes use of Nvidia DLSS (Model 3.7.1) upscaling together with body era. As famous above, we noticed a mean fps of 40 with no upscaling or body era settings enabled. This elevated barely to 47 with DLSS Extremely Efficiency, however nothing dramatic. Nevertheless, with body era turned on, the common fps shot previous 60 and even practically doubled in comparison with what DLSS Extremely Efficiency supplied.

Upscaling and Body Technology settings	Common fps	Common 1% low fps	Common 0.1% low fps
Nvidia DLSS Extremely Efficiency	47	37.9	32.8
Nvidia DLSS Balanced	43	34.3	29.3
Nvidia DLSS High quality	41	33.2	30.4
Nvidia DLSS Extremely Efficiency + Body Technology	80.2	38.1	14.3
Nvidia DLSS Balanced + Body Technology	68.3	50.4	35.3
Nvidia DLSS High quality + Body Technology	65.1	47.8	32.6

The common 0.1% low got here out fairly low when DLSS Extremely Efficiency was used with body era. The 0.1% figures had been constant for different assessments, as seen within the desk. An Unreal Engine 5 sport might be demanding, even for a laptop computer with a beefy RTX 4070 GPU. The low 0.1% common fps signifies that it will probably result in stutters and hitches, resulting in a irritating expertise in a fast-paced sport like this.

AMD FSR and Body Technology

Black Fable: Wukong additionally helps AMD body era expertise – FidelityFX Tremendous Decision (FSR) (Model 3.1) for upscaling. Throughout my testing, I discovered that AMD FSR was visually worse in comparison with DLSS. Whereas it delivered comparable efficiency, body era didn’t fare as properly. We consider this problem stems from a buggy implementation of FSR 3.1.

This was fairly evident as the sport saved crashing every time we used FSR 3 with High quality preset with out body era.

Upscaling and Body Technology settings	Common fps	Common 1% low fps	Common 0.1% low fps
AMD FSR 3 Extremely Efficiency	44.9	26.8	7.7
AMD FSR 3 Balanced	43.3	25.8	8.3
AMD FSR 3 High quality	NA	NA	NA
AMD FSR 3 Extremely Efficiency + Body Technology	41.5	33.5	22.3
AMD FSR 3 Balanced + Body Technology	39	33.1	31.7
AMD FSR 3 High quality + Body Technology	33.1	28.2	27.2

Ray Tracing

Black Fable: Wukong affords ray tracing with three presets: low, medium, and really excessive. We used the very excessive preset to check the capabilities of the RTX 4070 cell GPU.

Ray tracing efficiency had its highs and lows relying on the settings, however general, ray tracing in Black Fable: Wukong didn’t impress. Whereas points of the expertise had been respectable, it didn’t essentially look higher. As an alternative, it simply appeared… totally different. Personally, I most popular having it off, each for efficiency and aesthetic causes. The desk under reveals ray tracing outcomes.

Notice that the sport crashed a number of occasions when testing FSR 3 at High quality preset with ray tracing enabled and no body era.

Upscaling and Body Technology settings (with ray tracing enabled)	Common fps	Common 1% low fps	Common 0.1% low fps
Nvidia DLSS Extremely Efficiency	55.7	41.2	34.2
Nvidia DLSS Balanced	38.4	25.9	14.7
Nvidia DLSS High quality	33	25.9	23.4
Nvidia DLSS Extremely Efficiency + Body Technology	85.8	60.9	42.8
Nvidia DLSS Balanced + Body Technology	63.5	42.5	26.4
Nvidia DLSS High quality + Body Technology	55.1	34.6	20.3
AMD FSR 3 Extremely Efficiency	43	33.3	30.9
AMD FSR 3 Balanced	36.3	28.2	25
AMD FSR 3 High quality	NA	NA	NA
AMD FSR 3 Extremely Efficiency + Body Technology	41.8	31.8	23.2
AMD FSR 3 Balanced + Body Technology	35	28.1	26.9
AMD FSR 3 High quality + Body Technology	22.7	17.4	15.3

As might be seen within the desk, there’s a slight inconsistency (marked daring within the desk) with common 0.1% low fps for Nvidia Balanced with ray tracing enabled. There may be undoubtedly some room for additional enchancment regarding the optimisation of the sport engine.

Efficiency Evaluation

Black Fable: Wukong is sort of demanding, and also you’ll want respectable {hardware} to run it. That stated, even PCs and laptops from 2021 with an RTX 3060 can handle it, particularly with AMD’s body era, because the older Nvidia GPUs do not assist body era. However the sport gained’t look nice, and since visuals are a giant promoting level, Black Fable: Wukong is just not one the place you need to compromise on graphics for gameplay alone.

Ideally, an Nvidia 40-series GPU is the best way to go, as Nvidia’s body era expertise works properly, giving a fairly respectable FPS increase. Alienware’s m16 R2 that we examined the sport on has the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, which proved to be virtually sufficient for Black Fable: Wukong.

The Verdict

Black Fable: Wukong helps a number of upscaling and body era applied sciences, providing gamers flexibility to optimise efficiency. Nevertheless, the execution isn’t flawless, so your outcomes could range. The sport is demanding and requires upscaling to attain 60 fps on most mid-tier {hardware}. This solely goes to point out that options equivalent to body era have turn out to be vital quite than only a nice-to-have factor in video games. Fortunately, there’s a free benchmark software accessible, which is sort of correct, so you’ll be able to see if the sport will run in your machine earlier than buying.

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Rayan Sayyed is a employees author for IGN India with a major concentrate on Asian leisure spanning from anime, manga, video games to movies and dramas from the East. You may attain out to him at rayan_sayyed@ign.com, or discover him on Twitter @rayanaver and Instagram @rayansayyed