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Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Benchmarked

A paradise for pirates. Ubisoft offers a new scenario for the holiday season with Assassin's Creed IV. We analyzed the performance and show you what GPU you need to raise the black flag.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

For the original German article, see here.

Graphics

Assassin's Creed IV is a very good title in regard to the graphics. Compared to other action titles Black Flag has a very high texture quality and both the water and light effects fulfill the expectations of a title from 2013. We are especially impressed by the high level of detail, which has been noticeably raised for Black Flag. The in-house AnvilNext engine, which - in a different form - was also used for Assassin's Creed III, creates a rich flora on the screen. The first level takes place on an idyllic island and is a tutorial at the same time. It reminds us of the current Tomb Raider in terms of graphics and level of detail. 

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

But there is also criticism with Black Flag. Some objects just pop up without a soft transition. It is rather absurd when other characters just appear out of nothing and suddenly disappear again. Ubisoft should put some work into this and the somewhat awkward (facial) animations. Some more pixels here and there would have been nice as well.

We want to praise the clear layout of the graphics settings that are always accessible; you can even change all the settings without a restart. There are numerous technical features like volumetric fog, ambient occlusion (SSAO or HBAO+) and the so-called god rays. While you can just activate or deactivate some options, you can choose between (Very) Low up to (Very) High when it comes to the quality settings. The developer deserves credit for the high number of anti-aliasing modes. Besides the less complex post-FX versions SMAA and FXAA you can also use the more demanding MSAA, EQAA (AMD) and CSAA or TXAA (Nvidia) respectively. 

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

One reason for AMD's slight disadvantage compared to its main rival is that Black Flag is a member of Nvidia's TWIMTBP program. We can also see a negative impact on the performance from the Enduro technology with AMD notebooks (compare HD 8970M and GTX 680M, for instance). We did not determine any serious technical issues during the benchmarks; we only encountered graphical issues with Intel GPUs in some settings (probably a problem with the driver).

Low Settings
Low Settings
Medium Settings
Medium Settings
High Settings
High Settings
Ultra Settings
Ultra Settings
Low Settings
Low Settings
Medium Settings
Medium Settings
High Settings
High Settings
Ultra Settings
Ultra Settings

Benchmark

Looking at the hardware requirements we can see that the benchmark is on an average level. There are certainly less demanding and also more complex levels in the game. We use the tool Fraps to record a one minute run through Havana (from the docks to the center of the town and back, see video). An average result of 30 fps or more indicates playable settings.

Results

Black Flag is hardly playable with Intel GPUs like the 4000 or 4600. The frame rate does not reach 25 fps, even with the lowest settings and 1024x768 pixels. The AMD Radeon HD 7660G and slow low-end GPUs like the GeForce GT 630M are basically insufficient for Assassin's Creed IV as well. Normal details and 1366x768 pixels require at least a mainstream GPU like the GeForce GT 640M.

Are high settings and anti-aliasing important to you? Then you should at least have a notebook with a high-end GPU like the GeForce GTX 670MX or GTX 765M. Only the GeForce GTX 780M is currently powerful enough for a combination of 1920x1080 pixels, maximum details, HBAO+ and 4x MSAA (we do not look at dual GPU solutions at this point).

The hardware requirements are quite high, but still reasonable when you consider the visual quality. By the way, more than 60 fps are not displayed, even with deactivated VSync.

Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
    1920x1080 (Very) High / On / HBAO+ (PhysX off) AA:4x MS     1366x768 High / On / SSAO (PhysX Off) AA:2x MS     1366x768 Normal / Off     1024x768 (Very) Low / Off
HD Graphics 4000, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
3.6 (0min) fps ∼6%
7.4 (0min) fps ∼12%
17.4 (0min) fps ∼28%
23.6 (0min) fps ∼29%
Radeon HD 7660G, A10-4600M, Samsung SSD 830 Series MZ-7PC0128D/EU
AMD Pumori Platform A10-4600M
4.4 (1min) fps ∼7%
10.7 (8min) fps ∼17%
20.5 (14min) fps ∼33%
25 (16min) fps ∼31%
HD Graphics 4600, 4702MQ
Schenker M503
4.7 (0min) fps ∼8%
8.9 (0min) fps ∼14%
18.4 (0min) fps ∼29%
24.8 (0min) fps ∼31%
GeForce GT 630M, 3720QM
Asus N56VM
5.2 (4min) fps ∼9%
10.6 (8min) fps ∼17%
18.1 (13min) fps ∼29%
23.8 (17min) fps ∼29%
Iris Pro Graphics 5200, 4750HQ, Intel SSD 525 Series SSDMCEAC180B3
SCHENKER S413
7.5 (6min) fps ∼13%
14.8 (12min) fps ∼23%
28.5 (21min) fps ∼45%
35.8 (25min) fps ∼44%
GeForce GT 640M, 2637M, Lite-On LMT-256M3M
Acer Aspire M3-581TG
9.5 (6min) fps ∼16%
18.5 (16min) fps ∼29%
32.1 (26min) fps ∼51%
40.3 (26min) fps ∼50%
GeForce GT 750M, 4702MQ
Schenker M503
10.8 (0min) fps ∼18%
23.4 (0min) fps ∼37%
38.1 (0min) fps ∼60%
51.9 (0min) fps ∼64%
GeForce GTX 660M, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
13.6 (0min) fps ∼23%
26.4 (0min) fps ∼42%
45.3 (0min) fps ∼72%
57.2 (0min) fps ∼70%
GeForce GTX 670MX, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
16.3 (0min) fps ∼27%
31.8 (0min) fps ∼50%
50.2 (0min) fps ∼80%
61 (0min) fps ∼75%
GeForce GTX 765M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
18.4 (0min) fps ∼31%
35.4 (0min) fps ∼56%
58.8 (0min) fps ∼93%
61.7 (0min) fps ∼76%
GeForce GTX 675MX, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
21 (0min) fps ∼35%
39.8 (0min) fps ∼63%
59.4 (0min) fps ∼94%
61.4 (0min) fps ∼76%
GeForce GTX 770M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
24.9 (0min) fps ∼42%
44 (0min) fps ∼70%
61.4 (0min) fps ∼97%
61.7 (0min) fps ∼76%
GeForce GTX 680M, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
26.2 (0min) fps ∼44%
47.2 (0min) fps ∼75%
60.6 (0min) fps ∼96%
61.5 (0min) fps ∼76%
Radeon HD 7970M, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
26.7 (0min) fps ∼45%
40.9 (0min) fps ∼65%
42.4 (0min) fps ∼67%
44.6 (0min) fps ∼55%
Radeon HD 8970M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
27.7 (0min) fps ∼46%
45 (0min) fps ∼71%
46.8 (0min) fps ∼74%
49.7 (0min) fps ∼61%
GeForce GTX 780M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
35.6 (0min) fps ∼59%
58.3 (0min) fps ∼93%
61.6 (0min) fps ∼98%
62 (0min) fps ∼76%
GeForce GTX 660 Ti, 3770K
Desktop-PC
37.3 (0min) fps ∼62%
61.2 (0min) fps ∼97%
61.8 (0min) fps ∼98%
62.1 (0min) fps ∼76%
Radeon R9 280X, 3770K
Desktop-PC
42.8 (0min) fps ∼71%
61.7 (0min) fps ∼98%
61.7 (0min) fps ∼98%
61.7 (0min) fps ∼76%
GeForce GTX 680, 2600K, Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB MZ7PD256HAFV-0Z000
Desktop GTX 680, Intel Core i7-2600K
43.1 (34min) fps ∼72%
58.9 (44min) fps ∼93%
59.8 (46min) fps ∼95%
61 (48min) fps ∼75%

Verdict

Assassin's Creed IV is perfect for cold winter evenings. Thanks to the good graphics you will quickly feel at home in the virtual Caribbean. You do, however, need powerful hardware; many options cannot be used without a good GPU and you will have to live with many dropped frames. 

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Test Systems

Our three most important test devices are courtesy of Schenker Technologies (mysn.de):

  • W503 (Core i7-4700MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 765M, GTX 770M, GTX 780M, Radeon HD 8970M & HD Graphics 4600)
  • M503 (Core i7-4702MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 750M & HD Graphics 4600)
  • XMG P502 (Core i7-3610QM, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 660M, GTX 670MX, GTX 675MX, GTX 680M, Radeon HD 7970M & HD Graphics 4000)

A further thank you goes to Micron for providing the 480 GB Crucial M500, on which Windows 7 Professional 64-bit is installed.

GPU drivers used: Nvidia 331.82 WHQL, AMD 13.11 Beta 9.2, Intel 10.18.10.3345

From left to right: Schenker M503, XMG P502 & W503
From left to right: Schenker M503, XMG P502 & W503

Overview

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
 Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)
low
1024x768
(Very) Low / Off
med.
1366x768
Normal / Off
high
1366x768
High / On / SSAO (PhysX Off)
2x MSAA
ultra
1920x1080
(Very) High / On / HBAO+ (PhysX off)
4x MSAA
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low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
Qualcomm Adreno 304
AMD Radeon Pro 560
Qualcomm Adreno 302
AMD Radeon HD 6850M
AMD Radeon HD 6830M
AMD Radeon HD 6310
AMD Radeon HD 6320
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon 760M
AMD Radeon 680M
AMD Radeon HD 6775G2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
NVIDIA RTX A5500 Laptop GPU
AMD Radeon Pro 455
AMD Radeon Pro 555X
AMD Radeon HD 6650M
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
AMD Radeon Pro 5300M
AMD Radeon HD 6680G2
AMD Radeon HD 6690G2
AMD Radeon HD 6480G + HD 7450M Dual Graphics
AMD Radeon HD 6250
AMD FirePro W5130M
AMD Radeon HD 7430M
AMD Radeon HD 7350M
AMD Radeon HD 7370M
AMD Radeon HD 7340
AMD Radeon HD 7290
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6200
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Laptop)
Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen)
NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS
Nvidia RTX 1000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
Intel UHD Graphics 630
NVIDIA GeForce 920M
Intel HD Graphics 2500
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX
NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT SLI
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6250
NVIDIA RTX 3500 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
NVIDIA RTX 3000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
NVIDIA Quadro T2000 Max-Q
NVIDIA Quadro T1000 (Laptop)
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PowerVR SGX543MP3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M SLI
PowerVR SGX535
NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
NVIDIA Titan RTX
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6730M
Qualcomm Adreno 225
AMD Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5
AMD Radeon HD 6480G
AMD Radeon Graphics (Ryzen 7000)
AMD Radeon 780M
AMD Radeon 630
AMD Radeon 625
AMD FirePro M8900
AMD FirePro W5170M
AMD Radeon 520
AMD Radeon HD 6630M
AMD Radeon HD 7500G
AMD Radeon HD 6450M
AMD Radeon HD 6290
AMD Radeon 740M
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD FirePro W4190M
AMD Radeon 540X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M
AMD Radeon Pro 460
AMD Radeon HD 6540G2
AMD Radeon HD 6545G2
AMD Radeon HD 6870M
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6530M
AMD Radeon HD 7640G
AMD Radeon HD 6950M
AMD Radeon HD 7640G + HD 7610M Dual Graphics
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6550M
NVIDIA T600 Laptop GPU
NVIDIA GeForce 920MX
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q
NVIDIA Quadro P4200
AMD Radeon HD 6620G + HD 7670M Dual Graphics
AMD Radeon HD 6520G + HD 7450M Dual Graphics
AMD Radeon HD 6550D
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
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PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon Pro 555
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 GT
AMD Radeon Pro 5600M
AMD Radeon Pro 560X
AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16
AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20
AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100
NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
AMD Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire
AMD Radeon HD 6990M
AMD Radeon HD 6970M
AMD Radeon HD 6970
AMD Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire
ATI Radeon HD 5570
AMD Radeon HD 7660G + HD 7670M Dual Graphics
ATI Mobility Radeon X800
ATI Radeon IGP 340M
ATI Mobility Radeon X700
ATI Radeon IGP 320M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GT 430
NVIDIA GeForce 8400M G
NVIDIA GeForce 830M
39
27.2
15.1
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 320M
NVIDIA GeForce MX450
NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M
NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation
NVIDIA GeForce 825M
37.6
29.2
15.4
NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GT 625M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M
37.55n2
28.35n2
15n2
6.2
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M
33.3
23.7
13.3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M
NVIDIA Quadro P5000
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M
NVIDIA Quadro P3200
AMD Radeon HD 6720G2
AMD Radeon HD 6515G2
AMD Radeon HD 6510G2
PowerVR GE8300
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 (Laptop)
Qualcomm Adreno 205
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 Max-Q
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 Max-Q
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PowerVR GXA6850
PowerVR GX6450
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PowerVR GM9446
PowerVR GE8322 / IMG8322
PowerVR SGX544
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon R5 M420
AMD Radeon HD 6520G
AMD Radeon HD 6470M
AMD Radeon HD 6750M
AMD Radeon HD 6490M
AMD Radeon 660M
AMD FirePro W4170M
AMD FirePro W2100
AMD Radeon HD 6370M
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6350M
AMD Radeon HD 6330M
AMD Radeon 620
AMD Radeon 610
AMD Radeon 610M
AMD FirePro W4100
AMD FirePro M5950
AMD FirePro M4000
AMD FirePro M6100
AMD FirePro M3900
AMD FirePro M4100
AMD Radeon 530
AMD FirePro M2000
AMD Radeon HD 6770M
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6790
AMD FirePro M6000
AMD Radeon Pro W6800
NVIDIA RTX A4500 Laptop GPU
AMD FirePro M5100
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI
AMD Radeon HD 6645G2
AMD Radeon HD 6760G2
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS
ATI Radeon HD 5850
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop)
NVIDIA Quadro P3000 Max-Q
AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
AMD Radeon HD 6870
AMD FirePro W7170M
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6430M
AMD Radeon HD 6380G
AMD Radeon R6 (Kaveri)
AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo)
AMD Radeon HD 7310
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M
60
60
55.1
29.8
AMD Radeon HD 6620G + HD 7450M Dual Graphics
AMD Radeon R5 M335
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon PRO W6600M
AMD Radeon R5 M430
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 150M
AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire
PosModel< PrevNext >Assassin´s Creed IV: Black Flag
low med. high ultra
PowerVR SGX545
AMD Radeon HD 8970M
49.7
46.8
45
27.7
AMD Radeon HD 6640G2
AMD Radeon Pro 450
AMD Radeon HD 6620G
Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580
(-) * Smaller values are better. / n123 Number of benchmarks for this median value / * Approximate position

 

Legend
5Stutters – This game is very likely to stutter and have poor frame rates. Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, average frame rates are expected to fall below 25fps
May Stutter – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, stutters and poor frame rates are expected.
30Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 58fps
May Run Fluently – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, fluent frame rates are expected.
?Uncertain – This graphics card experienced unexpected performance issues during testing for this game. A slower card may be able to achieve better and more consistent frame rates than this particular GPU running the same benchmark scene.
Uncertain – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game and no reliable interpolation can be made based on the performances of surrounding cards of the same class or family.
The value in the fields displays the average frame rate of all values in the database. Move your cursor over the value to see individual results.
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Florian Glaser, 2013-11-27 (Update: 2021-05-18)