Guerilla's highly acclaimed open world adventure Horizon Zero Dawn is finally coming to PC in a couple days. Originally for the PlayStation 4, this PC port brings a few new additions to the graphics options. So how well does Horizon: Zero Dawn perform on PC then? Are we looking at a good PC port? Or is it not very well optimized for the PC platform? We take a look at the PC performance benchmarks for Horizon Zero Dawn...

First of all, in this PC performance benchmark article for Horizon Zero Dawn, we benchmark a range of graphics cards going from the higher-end RTX 2080, the lower-end R9 380, as well as the mid-range GTX 1060 which is also the recommended GPU for 60fps High graphics settings in Horizon: Zero Dawn. Then we go through the FPS test results of each graphics card ran at 1080p, 1440p and 4K screen resolutions. From there we can see the performance of the recommended system requirement graphics cards and consider how well optimized Horizon really is.

Fortunately for us, Zero Dawn comes equipped with a pretty extensive in-game benchmarking tool. Not only does it give us the average, minimum, and maximum FPS achieved, it also displays the dedicated average, minimum, and maximum FPS for both the GPU and CPU. The benchmark tool itself also runs for about 3 minutes long.

As a side note, Horizon Zero Dawn's PC graphics settings presets come in the form of Favor Performance, Original, Favor Quality, and Ultimate Quality. Original is considered to be the original graphics settings for the PlayStation 4 version.

In addition, launching Horizon Zero Dawn for the first time will initiate a loading screen for optimizing your hardware. This can take anywhere from 8-25 minutes depending on your level of hardware installed, and may contribute to some performance anomalies and discrepancies. After this optimization screen is finished though it won't happen again unless you change out your system's hardware.

With that in mind, let's jump into the performance benchmarks for Horizon: Zero Dawn on PC...

Horizon Zero Dawn PC Graphics Settings

Check your PC can run Horizon Zero Dawn system requirements

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Horizon Zero Dawn minimum system requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-6300
• RAM: 8GB
• GPU RAM: 2GB
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 or AMD Radeon R9 290
• HDD: 100GB
• DX: 12

Horizon Zero Dawn Recommended System Requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
• RAM: 16GB
• GPU RAM: 4GB
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580
• HDD: 100GB
• DX: 12

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Horizon Zero Dawn RTX 2080 benchmarks and frames per second analysis performed on Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 | Intel i9-9900K | 16GB

Horizon Zero Dawn RTX 2080 PC Benchmarks 1080p

Average FPS for Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 in Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1080p

CPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1080p

GPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1080p

The FPS performance for the RTX 2080 in Horizon Zero Dawn at 1080p resolution is really good, able to achieve over 60fps even at Maximum graphics settings. So overall the RTX 2080 is perfect for playing Horizon Zero Dawn at 1080p.

Horizon Zero Dawn RTX 2080 PC Benchmarks 1440p

Average FPS for Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 in Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1440p

CPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1440p

GPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1440p

At 1440p, the RTX 2080's FPS performance for Horizon Zero Dawn is still really good. Even though it's not able to achieve over 60fps at the Maximum graphics settings, it was still a comfortable and enjoyable frame rate. If you want to stick to 60fps then you can choose a slightly lower graphics setting, but in the end the RTX 2080 is perfectly suitable for playing Horizon Zero Dawn at 1440p resolution.

Horizon Zero Dawn RTX 2080 PC Benchmarks 4K

Average FPS for Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 in Horizon Zero Dawn @ 4K

CPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 4K

GPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 4K

The RTX 2080's FPS performance in Horizon Zero Dawn at 4K resolution is not too great. It's still very much playable even at the Maximum graphics settings but is not preferable. Turn the quality down to Favor Quality or Original if you want a more stable and comfortable experience at 4K. The RTX 2080 still performs okay at 4K resolution, but is not recommended at the Maximum graphics settings.

Horizon Zero Dawn RTX 2060 benchmarks and frames per second analysis performed on Nvidia PNY GeForce RTX 2060 | Intel i7-5820K | 16GB

Horizon Zero Dawn RTX 2060 PC Benchmarks 1080p

Average FPS for Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 in Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1080p

CPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1080p

GPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1080p

The FPS performance for the RTX 2060 in Horizon Zero Dawn at 1080p is really good, able to reach past the 60fps mark even at Ultimate Quality. It does suffer from some mild stuttering resulting in some relatively low Minimum FPS scores, but nothing that distracted from gameplay too much. Overall, the RTX 2060 is perfect for playing Horizon Zero Dawn at 1080p and Ultimate Quality settings.

Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference between the RTX 2060 and RTX 2080's FPS performance. It's possible this has something to do with the initial hardware optimization when you launch the game for the first time, but more research is needed here and if you have any ideas as to why then let us know in the discussion area below!

Horizon Zero Dawn RTX 2060 PC Benchmarks 1440p

Average FPS for Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 in Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1440p

CPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1440p

GPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1440p

The RTX 2060's FPS performance at 1440p in Horizon Zero Dawn is pretty good, whilst it doesn't reach 60fps at Ultimate Quality settings it was still playable and enjoyable. If you want to play Horizon Zero Dawn at 1440p resolution then you can absolutely do so even at Ultra graphics, but if you want over 60fps you may have to tweak the settings a bit.

Horizon Zero Dawn RTX 2060 PC Benchmarks 4K

Average FPS for Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 in Horizon Zero Dawn @ 4K

CPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 4K

GPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 4K

At 4K, the FPS performance for the RTX 2060 is not too great, reaching just over 30FPS at Ultimate Quality. This is by no means unplayable, but is not exactly preferable for a game like this. Lower graphical settings were perfectly fine for this, but Ultra was not entirely comfortable. Overall, the RTX 2060 still performs pretty well at 4K resolution, but is not recommended at Ultimate Quality settings.

Horizon Zero Dawn GTX 1060 benchmarks and frames per second analysis performed on Nvidia MSI GeForce GTX 1060 | Intel i7-5820K | 16GB

Horizon Zero Dawn GTX 1060 PC Benchmarks 1080p

Average FPS for Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 in Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1080p

CPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1080p

GPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1080p

The FPS performance for the GTX 1060 at 1080p in Horizon Zero Dawn is surprisingly not too great. This is the recommended graphics card after all and is not even able to reach 60fps at Ultimate Quality graphics settings. Although 50fps is certainly not unplayable, but considering this was the recommended GPU it is disappointing.

I would say that based on these results a GTX 1070 is more likely the recommended choice of graphics card for Horizon Zero Dawn instead of the GTX 1060.

Horizon Zero Dawn GTX 1060 PC Benchmarks 1440p

Average FPS for Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 in Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1440p

CPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1440p

GPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 1440p

At 1440p the FPS performance in Horizon Zero Dawn with the GTX 1060 is not too great, but not awful. It's still certainly playable even at Maximum graphics settings, but not exactly the most comfortable. At least Favor Quality settings or lower is recommended with this graphics card at 1440p resolution.

Horizon Zero Dawn GTX 1060 PC Benchmarks 4K

Average FPS for Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 in Horizon Zero Dawn @ 4K

CPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 4K

GPU FPS results for Horizon Zero Dawn @ 4K

The GTX 1060's FPS performance at 4K in Horizon Zero Dawn is unsurprisingly not great, the only semblance of a playable frame rate is at the Lowest Quality setting. In the end, the GTX 1060 is not suitable for 4K gaming in Horizon: Zero Dawn.

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Conclusion

Overall, the PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn is relatively good, but whilst it can perform pretty well at times, it's clear that HZD is a pretty demanding PC port. With the recommended GPU GTX 1060 only able to reach 50fps at 1080p on Ultra graphics settings that's quite disappointing. But luckily, Horizon: Zero Dawn is still perfectly playable at this performance.

There is a saving grace here though, as an update is coming Thursday that will address some performance optimization and stability issues. There is no word on what exactly this update is expected to bring, change, or fix, but hopefully we can see some improvements there. Whatever the changes, we will update you on whether or not this patch affects the performance.

Hopefully this same update will fix some issues for the lower-end rigs which don't meet the minimum system requirements, as evidenced by the screenshots above. Either that or the new AMD driver will hopefully sort these problems out.

In it's current state though, if you want to play Horizon Zero Dawn at it's best then you will need at least something a bit more powerful than the 1060, perhaps a GTX 1070 would be a better choice here.

Horizon also seems to be quite heavy on the CPU and RAM, so you will absolutely need the recommended processor and 16GB of system memory to see the full benefits of performance here.