Our 8K PC test system built by Chillblast Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S
Case Fans: Noctua NF-A14 PWM Chromax 140mm
Processor: Intel Core i9-9900K, 8 cores / 16 threads
Graphics processor: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
Storage: 500 GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 PCIe
Secondary storage: 2 TB Samsung 860 QVO
Power: Corsair RM850x 80 PLUS Gold 850W PSU
Case: Fractal Design Vector RS tempered glass
RAM memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB DDR4 3200 MHz
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp UP3218K Watch Dogs: Legion is available now, allowing players to recruit almost any NPC in the game to help free nearby London from its oppressors. As our review points out, it's too much like an open-world game from Ubisoft, but it's fun to own, and on PC there are plenty of graphics settings, including ray tracing and grappling. supports ultra high definition resolutions. Along with the Nvidia RTX 3090, we now also have a GPU that offers decent 8K performance. In our Nvidia RTX 3090 vs RTX Titan smackdown, we found that the RTX 3090 does a decent job of running games like Doom Eternal and Death Stranding at monstrous 7680 x 4320 resolutions. Replicating much of London with realistic graphics (check out our video below to see its accuracy), the RTX 3090 will really have its work cut out for it. especially since Ubisoft is sadly not better known for its PC ports. So without further ado, let's see how well the RTX 3090 performs in Watch Dogs: Legion at 8K.
Since we're bullish here at TechRadar, we went ahead and put Watch Dogs: Legion on the ``Ultra'' setting at 8K and ran the benchmark. The results were not good. The RTX 3090 managed an average of 22 frames per second (FPS), dropping to just 16 frames per second during a heated firefight. The landmark, it should be noted, runs through a bustling Camden Market scene at night, complete with puddles, neon lights and rain. It is certainly intensive, as these results show. Also, although these settings were "Ultra", it did not mean that all graphical effects were turned down completely. Ray tracing reflections, for example, have been disabled. We set the ray tracing reflections to their lowest setting, "medium", and ran the test again. The visual improvement is immediately noticeable, with ray tracing making puddles appear much more realistic, accurately reflecting the world around them. The same can be said for the metal containers and chrome surfaces on the set, which had realistic reflections. It was particularly impressive with the bumpy metal surfaces. The effect instantly gave the game world a more realistic feel, but absolutely tanked FPS, with the game now averaging 12 FPS. Fundamentally unplayable. However, as we've seen with games like Death Stranding in 8K, Nvidia's DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) technology uses the power of the GPU to intelligently upscale games to a higher resolution using AI and technology. machine learning. The idea is that you can improve performance without too noticeable a visual difference compared to native resolutions. We turned on DLSS under 'Performance' and instantly performance was better, averaging 30fps, allowing us to enable ray tracing at a respectable mid frame rate. . However, while 30FPS may be fine for people playing on older Xbox Ones and PS4s, anyone who paid $1,499 (£1,399, around AU$2,030) for the RTX 3090 won't be happy.
![Watch Dogs: Legión]()
(Image credit: Ubisoft) Upgrading DLSS to ``Ultra Performance'' helped again, giving us an average FPS of 41FPS, and by disabling ray tracing we hit 51FPS. It's close to the magical 60FPS performance at 8K we're looking for, but falls short of it, and it means sacrificing ray-tracing reflections, which is a shame because it's seriously impressive. But what if we lowered the overall graphics to "Very High"? Well, with DLSS set to "Ultra Performance" and ray tracing reflections set to "Medium", the RTX 3090 managed 46FPS at 8K. So not quite. However, turning the ray tracing on, we managed to achieve 60FPS at 8K. It's a remarkable achievement given the ultra-high resolutions, and the game still looks pretty good in that setting. However, the loss of ray-traced reflections is a real disappointment. Without them, the world of Watch Dogs: Legion seems much flatter.
![Watch Dogs Legion]()
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Can you get 8K and ray tracing?
So is there a way to play 8K with ray traced reflections and acceptable frame rates? First, we lowered the setting to "High" while keeping DLSS on "Ultra Performance" and ray tracing reflections on "Medium". Unfortunately, the average FPS dropped back from 60 FPS to just 49 FPS, which shows just how intensive ray tracing really is. Going down to the ``Medium'' graphics settings, the RTX 3090 hit 54FPS and dropped that down to 57FPS. It's the closest you'll get to 60FPS at 8K with ray tracing turned on. You get this realistic lighting effect, but it costs a lot, the overall graphical quality of the game suffers. This means you can play Watch Dogs: Legion in 8K with ray tracing enabled, but would you? Probably not. However, by turning off ray tracing, you can get a very good 8K gaming experience. However, we were really impressed with the ray tracing effects, so much so that we preferred to go to 4K and play it back with a mix of really high and high settings, just to have the ray tracing. Ultimately, this shows that the RTX 3090 is definitely a powerful GPU where 8K gaming is possible, but ray tracing is too intense right now. This is also another highlight for DLSS - it's really impressive how much of a difference this technology makes to frame rates, and that means 8K gaming is really a possibility. Today's best Ubisoft Watch Dogs: Legion deals Watch Dogs Legion Season Pass... Watch Dogs Legion - Xbox One... Watch Dogs Legion 7250 WD watch...