Assassins Creed Valhalla is out today, and the world of Vikings and clansmen are set to invade the lush green hills of England demanding all sorts of treasures and valuables, and AC Valhalla is no different when it comes to PC performance as it seems to be a very demanding title as evident by our PC performance report.
But how demanding is each individual graphics option and will Valhalla run on a low end PC machine? Which video settings impact frame rate the most? And which ones can we turn all the turn up with little FPS impact, and which ones should we turn all the way down for those juicy extra frames? Let's find out...
In this article we will take a look at which Assassins Creed: Valhalla graphics settings are the best to turn all the way up to Ultra and which ones can get us a little FPS boost for no real visual loss when we turn them off or down. We've compiled a list below of the most demanding graphics options in the game, so you can get a handle on what to expect when you adjust different graphics settings in Assassins Creed Valhalla to get the perfect balance of visual fidelity and FPS performance in game.
Below you will see every graphics option listed and benchmarked against a minimum graphics setting used as our baseline benchmark for Assassins Creed Valhalla. From there we see which graphics options have the highest performance impact on our hardware for the least visual improvement, and then we will see which options can be turned up to max and deliver the best visual improvement in Assassins Creed Valhalla. This information will give people with low end pc's the best chance to run AC Valhalla.
If you want to look at some more graphics benchmarks with various gaming graphics cards running Assassins Creed Valhalla then you can check out our Assassins Creed Valhalla PC Performance Benchmarks article instead, or you can have a look at the various Assassins Creed Valhalla PC Graphics Settings that we'll be discussing here in this article.
Assassins Creed Valhalla PC system requirements
Assassins Creed Valhalla PC performance report and graphics card benchmarks
For the performance cost result baseline we used the recommended GPU for 1080p 30fps gameplay GeForce MSI GTX 1060 graphics card, an Intel Core i7-5820K processor, and 16GB of DDR4 memory. To standardize the benchmark tests they were all carried out using the in-game Assassins Creed Valhalla benchmarking tool. This takes you on a tour of your small village in England, swooping in between huts and various NPCs before flying over a small river.
On the whole, we found this run to be pretty representative of the experience in-game, when considering graphics options compared to other graphics options and their relative performance impact.
If you see any significant discrepancy/difference between the benchmark tool FPS and actual FPS returned then please do share your findings in the comments below.
There's quite a few graphics settings available in Assassins Creed Valhalla, so we went through the 11 graphics options listed and tested each one in turn, recording the average frame rates for each and then comparing them to a baseline FPS that was recorded with all the graphics options either turned off or to their lowest settings.
Assassins Creed Valhalla baseline FPS
To give us a comparable FPS baseline for AC Valhalla Frame Rates achieved when all Warzone's graphics settings are on lowest or OFF.
| AC Valhalla | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
Assassins Creed Valhalla Graphics Options Performance Breakdown
The further to the right the bar goes, the more demanding the graphics option is.
What are the most demanding graphics options in Assassins Creed Valhalla?
Looking at the Assassins Creed Valhalla PC graphics settings FPS performance cost graph above, we can see that there are a few demanding settings. The most demanding is obviously the Anti-Aliasing option at a 12.04% FPS drop. Following close behind is Shadows at a 9.66% FPS drop.
Below that we have Environment Textures, Volumetric Clouds, and World Details all coming in at a 6.39%, 6.24%, and 5.79% FPS drop respectively.
After all that there isn't a huge amount of demanding options, or at least some options that aren't very demanding. For instance, Motion Blur is next but with only a 2.82% drop in FPS. Screen Space Reflections is another one at only 1.49% drop in frame rate.
Lastly, we have Character Textures, Water, and Depth of Field as the least demanding graphics settings at 0.74%, 0.45%, and 0.15% respectively.
So we can see that there is a decent range of graphics settings available in Assassins Creed Valhalla that can be customized to a great deal. There's a few demanding options that will most likely require your priority straight away when trying to optimize your performance and graphics quality and squeeze out a few extra frames whilst retaining decent image fidelity.
Assassins Creed Valhalla graphics settings VRAM usage at 1080p resolution with graphics options set to Ultra or turned On:
| Graphics setting | VRAM usage (MB) |
| Anti-Aliasing | +68 |
| World Details | +404 |
| Clutter | +0 |
| Shadows | +71 |
| Volumetric Clouds | +36 |
| Water | +0 |
| Screen Space Reflections | +0 |
| Environment Textures | +1205 |
| Character Textures | +139 |
| Depth of Field | +0 |
| Motion Blur | +0 |
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Assassins Creed Valhalla All Graphics Settings Benchmark Guide
Best Video Settings in Assassins Creed Valhalla
There's a decent selection of graphics settings available in AC Valhalla, and whilst it's not as much as other AAA games out there at the moment, there is a pretty good degree of adjustability for each setting that will allow us to properly customize and tweak the settings so we can get the perfect balance of FPS performance and graphical quality.
Below we've provided both a score for the performance impact as well as a priority score designed to recommend which graphics settings you should prioritize turning up (the higher the number, the better).
Obviously, these scores are subjective and we really do encourage you to share your own thoughts in the discussion area below on what you think are the best Assassins Creed Valhalla graphics settings to turn all the way up, or all the way down. But for now, let's jump in...
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AC Valhalla Graphics Quality Low Vs Ultra Comparison
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
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Anti-Aliasing
Anti-Aliasing High setting performance impact
Anti-Aliasing graphics option Low compared to High
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Anti-Aliasing | 59.2 | 53.4 | 64.7 | 48.5 | 44.3 |
Anti-Aliasing option range: Low/Medium/High
Performance impact: 5/5
Priority: 2/5
What does the Anti-Aliasing setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Reduces jagged edges to make world objects look smoother.
VRAM increase: +68MB
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World Details
World Details Ultra High setting performance impact
World Details graphics option Low compared to Ultra High
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| World Details | 63.4 | 56.7 | 72.5 | 46.2 | 37.8 |
World Details option range: Low/Medium/High/Very High/Ultra High
Performance impact: 3/5
Priority: 3/5
What does the World Details setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Provides different complexity levels for world details. Requires a game restart to apply this option.
VRAM increase: +404MB
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Clutter
Clutter Very High setting performance impact
Clutter graphics option Low compared to Very High
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Clutter | 66.2 | 59.9 | 72.4 | 51.4 | 40 |
Clutter option range: Low/Medium/High/Very High
Performance impact: 2/5
Priority: 4/5
What does the Clutter setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Allows tweaking quality levels and distance for clutter. It will affect multiple world ground details such as grass, rocks, etc. Requires a game restart to apply this option.
VRAM increase: +0MB
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Shadows
Shadows Ultra High setting performance impact
Shadows graphics option Low compared to Ultra High
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Shadows | 60.8 | 55.1 | 68.6 | 49 | 41.3 |
Shadows option range: Low/Medium/High/Very High/Ultra High
Performance impact: 4/5
Priority: 2/5
What does the Shadows setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Allows choosing between different quality levels and distance for shadows. Requires a game restart to apply this option.
VRAM increase: +71MB
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Volumetric Clouds
Volumetric Clouds Ultra High setting performance impact
Volumetric Clouds graphics option Medium compared to Ultra High
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Volumetric Clouds | 63.1 | 58 | 71.2 | 49.2 | 38 |
Volumetric Clouds option range: Medium/High/Very High/Ultra High
Performance impact: 3/5
Priority: 3/5
What does the Volumetric Clouds setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Allows tweaking Volumetric Clouds quality levels.
VRAM increase: +36MB
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Water
Water High setting performance impact
Water graphics option Low compared to High
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Water | 67 | 60.7 | 73.4 | 51 | 38 |
Water option range: Low/Medium/High
Performance impact: 1/5
Priority: 5/5
What does the Water setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Allows tweaking water quality levels and underwater effects.
VRAM increase: +0MB
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Screen Space Reflections
Screen Space Reflections On setting performance impact
Screen Space Reflections graphics option Off compared to On
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Screen Space Reflections | 66.3 | 59.6 | 73.1 | 51.9 | 47.6 |
Screen Space Reflections option range: Off/On
Performance impact: 2/5
Priority: 4/5
What does the Screen Space Reflections setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Allows disabling reflections on water surfaces.
VRAM increase: +0MB
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Environment Textures
Environment Textures High setting performance impact
Environment Textures graphics option Low compared to High
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Environment Textures | 63 | 56.9 | 68.1 | 47.5 | 34.6 |
Environment Textures option range: Low/Medium/High
Performance impact: 3/5
Priority: 4/5
What does the Environment Textures setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Allows tweaking environment textures resolution. Requires a game restart to apply this option.
VRAM increase: +1205MB
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Character Textures
Character Textures High setting performance impact
Character Textures graphics option Low compared to High
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Character Textures | 66.8 | 60.6 | 74.1 | 49.1 | 38.9 |
Character Textures option range: Low/Medium/High
Performance impact: 1/5
Priority: 5/5
What does the Character Textures setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Allows tweaking characters texture resolution. Requires a game restart to apply this option.
VRAM increase: +139MB
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Depth of Field
Depth of Field High setting performance impact
Depth of Field graphics option Off compared to High
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Depth of Field | 67.2 | 61.1 | 73.4 | 50.1 | 34.7 |
Depth of Field option range: Off/Low/High
Performance impact: 1/5
Priority: 5/5
What does the Depth of Field setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Distant objects appear blurry. Turn off for all objects to appear in focus. Use the Low settings to improve performance on higher resolutions.
VRAM increase: +0MB
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Motion Blur
Motion Blur On setting performance impact
Motion Blur graphics option Off compared to On
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[slide your cursor over the images to compare. Click to enlarge]
| Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS | 1% Low | 0.1% Low | |
| Baseline | 67.3 | 61.2 | 73.9 | 48.5 | 14.1 |
| Motion Blur | 65.4 | 59.1 | 72.4 | 51.8 | 47.5 |
Motion Blur option range: Off/On
Performance impact: 2/5
Priority: 1/5
What does the Motion Blur setting do in Assassins Creed Valhalla? Disable or enable blur-effects while in motion.
VRAM increase: +0MB
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Conclusion
Assassins Creed Valhalla graphics settings performance results and conclusion - Looking at the results above we can see that Assassins Creed Valhalla has a pretty decent selection of graphics settings, with a few of them a little demanding that should be your first port of call when prioritizing graphics options to turn down for extra FPS.
For example, Anti-Aliasing should be the first one to turn down, though due to it's limited amount of customizability the next few options should be your next priority like Shadows, Environment Textures, Volumetric Clouds and World Details.
Apart from that, the rest of the options have a very minor FPS performance impact when turning on or up to the Maximum graphics settings. Options like Clutter, Water, Screen Space Reflections, Character Textures and Depth of Field can generally be left on the Maximum settings as they have little performance impact.
Motion Blur does not have a huge impact on FPS performance, but is completely down to personal preference whether to enable or not.
Though a question that will surely be on a lot of gamers lips: with some graphics setting adjustments, will AC Valhalla be able to run on a low end PC? If you move the big performance hitting graphics settings like Anti-Aliasing, Shadows, Environment Textures, Volumetric Clouds, and World Details down to Off or Low and keep the resolution at 1080p, then it feels like you could run AC Valhalla on a low-end GPU as long as it has 4GB of VRAM. As Assassins Creed Valhalla seems to be very dependent on your GPUs video memory for smooth performance.
This was echoed in our PC performance benchmarks article where the R9 380 (the minimum required GPU for 1080p 30fps gameplay on Low graphics preset) was barely able to reach 30fps on Low graphics settings due to it's limited 2GB VRAM. The minimum required VRAM for AC Valhalla is 4GB, so make sure your card can meet these specs in order to run Assassins Creed: Valhalla on a low end PC.
Overall, Assassins Creed: Valhalla has a decent selection of graphics options that can be customized for optimal balancing between FPS performance and graphical quality. There are a few settings that will help when wanting to squeeze out some extra frames.
So that's it for the most important graphics options in Assassins Creed Valhalla. Now it's over to you guys! We would love to hear your thoughts on what graphics settings you turn all the way up for little performance impact, and which options you turn down to get some extra frames. So let us know!
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PC Specs
I miss the old Eagle Vision, when we have to use every way of sneaking or slaughter everyone to get to the objective area and actually looking for it.
The new system of using these birds is cool tho, but just not as good imo.
PC Specs
Thanks for this, so useful.. KUTGW!
PC Specs
why is dof a priority 5/5?
its litterly a motion blur
PC Specs
dof is not motion blur lol
PC Specs
it makes things bluru that shouldnt be bluru
PC Specs
Got a suggestion for GD for their Graphics options articles:
You could make a "GD optimized settings" where you share the exact graphical options that you have selected for a nice looking game, but without the fancy "useless" options that tax your system too much for little gain (how Hardware Unboxed does)
Just a thought
PC Specs
I know I say it nearly every time but. I love these break downs! It's so useful when you have to dial in some settings, someones already done all the work for you. Keep at it!
PC Specs
i agree :) it helps a lot :D
PC Specs
Looks like they fixed the enormous cost of Volumetric Clouds from Odyssey, though it's still substantial.
Thanks for the breakdown, that will help get better FPS.
PC Specs
Motion blur and depth of field are always the first 2 things I turn off.
Not for performance, but really out of preference.
Never understood why anyone would want more blur. Especially at the cost of performance.
Am I the only one? Because they do seem like popular features in most games.
PC Specs
You're not the only one, especially for motion blur. For depth of field it really depends how it is implemented, though most of the time is it really not worth the performance cost and just makes stuff look weird in a lot of games.
PC Specs
I used to think motion blur is stupid. But that was in a time when motion blur was badly done. Then devs started using per object motion blur. And than actually makes sense and does add to some perceived intensity in certain high action situations. I used to say "that's not how our eyes work", which was true before per-object motion blur. Test - wave your hand in front of you fast. Motion blur!
PC Specs
i turn off that as well - and some other setting like water reflections - i wont care about that because ill be swimming to get somewhere - not sit and look at the water for like 5 mins haha
PC Specs
Definitely. Things like water reflections and even shadows I do use, but generally on a low level.
PC Specs
By this logic you might as well play on all low, because you'll be running around, not stopping to look at stuff.