DOOM Eternal PC Low vs Ultra Nightmare Graphics Comparison

Written by Chad Norton on Tue, Mar 17, 2020 1:57 PM
System Requirements Optimum 1080p PC Build Low vs Ultra Screenshots GPU Performance Chart CPU List That Meet System Requirements GPU List That Meet System Requirements

DOOM Eternal is quite a demanding game, as seen by our other articles like the DOOM Eternal Performance Benchmarks and Most Important Graphics Options. And we've also seen from the Official System Requirements that some graphics cards might require you to lower the settings to Medium to get that 60fps target on 1080p. If you were worried about sacrificing graphical quality, then we've got you covered. Here's a look at how different Low, Ultra and Ultra Nightmare graphics settings really are from each other.

First of all, I'd just like to say that even on Low settings, DOOM Eternal looks really great. Where other games might have a severe difference between Low and Ultra (bordering on unplayable with Low graphics settings), DOOM Eternal stills beams with life. Heaven and Hell have never looked so good.

(slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge)

See here, for instance, whilst Ultra Nightmare definitely looks better, the Low settings still look good. It's not some blobby, blurry mess like the world's made of clay. Low settings still look great. I mean the textures and resolution of the gun don't even change (in fact, I'm 100% sure it's not changing at all). Okay, okay, I know this isn't the best picture to show off. So let's look at some more substantial differences...

Now we can see some of the big differences here. On Low settings the textures aren't very clean (as evidence of the strange shadow textures on the ground) and the lighting looks a bit flat and drab. But whilst Ultra Nightmare definitely looks better, once again the Low settings aren't that bad, particularly when you realise that you're going to be moving so much that you'll barely get a glimpse of the floor.

Now we can see the reflections in action here, obviously with the reflections turned off the environment doesn't look as great, and the shadows are all over the place. But the textures on the walls and medpack don't look that different.

Here again we can see that the shadows all over the place on Low settings. The textures don't change very much though, as you can see by the hole in the pillar right in the middle. The only noticeable difference, in terms of textures, is the big crack on the concrete beam to the left.

Well, that about covers it for now. The good news is that if you have to play on lower settings, you won't be missing out on that much. If you are having to use lower settings, you can check the Most Important Graphics Options article to see if there are any options you can turn up a little without impacting your performance that much.

Login or Register to join the debate

Rep
34
Offline
15:13 Mar-18-2020

Is it just me or on ultra it still looks like a game from 2012-2013.

1
Rep
272
Offline
admin approved badge
16:56 Mar-18-2020

Sorta, but I think it'll look better when seen on a big screen and in motion. The Earth level interiors are also a bit bland, compared to some other spaces I've seen, which may add to the bad perception.

0
Rep
80
Offline
admin approved badge
21:12 Mar-17-2020

are pics reversed or something, every single pic to me looks better at low, or do you really need 2/4k display to see anything?

2
Rep
15
Offline
14:08 Mar-17-2020

There is almost no difference between ultra and low, at least not enough for me to care.

6
Rep
23
Offline
15:50 Mar-17-2020

i thought the same at first when i looked at them on my phone but when i booted up my pc and started scrolling left and right at full 27" 1440p monitor i can say that the difference is so big and the low one looks terrible at least for me, the difference is so huge especially in lighting, shadows and anti-aliasing

4
Rep
15
Offline
18:21 Mar-17-2020

Yeah, all I can see is the difference in lighting and shadows.

2
Rep
272
Offline
admin approved badge
12:10 Mar-18-2020

Gone are the days when games were developed with proper LODs and stuff. Now it's all the same base reading (consoles) and the PC just gets some extras like reflections and shadows...

1

Can They Run... |

| 60FPS, High, 1080p
Core i7-11700K 8-Core 3.6GHz Radeon RX 6600 8GB 16GB
| 60FPS, Ultra, 1080p
Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Radeon RX 570 MSI Armor 8GB 16GB
| 60FPS, High, 1080p
Core i5-9600K 6-Core 3.7GHz GeForce RTX 2060 Super 8GB 16GB