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Sleeping Dogs Benchmarked

Asian GTA. With Sleeping Dogs, the publisher Square Enix releases a serious rival of Grand Theft Auto. The open world game is set in Chinese Hong Kong and features a never-before used scenario as well as an exciting story about the Triad. In this review, you will read how current notebook GPUs perform in the game.
Sleeping Dogs Logo (Square Enix)

The heading ”Asian GTA” is not at all meant as derogatory – on the contrary. After having played a couple of hours, we can say that Sleeping Dogs must not hide behind the amazing role model. The multi-platform title is based on the familiar and beloved mix of combat scenes, action-oriented missions, and vehicle use.

Description

As we mentioned, Sleeping Dogs is set in the metropolis of Hong Kong. This rarely used place in PC games makes for the ideal setting of an adult gangster story. The detailed screenshots prove that the developer has put proper effort in the implementation of the game.

Shortly after the start, the main character strolls through a densely populated shopping street, on which a sort of street festival is taking place. Here lavishly decorated stands alternate with bright neon signs. The colorful reflections on the wet pavement give the scene a great lighting effect. It's a shame that the richness decreases noticeably in some backyards and side rooms. The linear Max Payne 3 achieves a higher quality here. Nonetheless, the action title scores points with a successful atmosphere. The cool soundtrack and professional (English) voice-over do the rest to put the player under the spell.

But who is actually personified in Sleeping Dogs? The gamer steps in the shoes of Wei Shen, a – as we soon discover – cunning undercover cop. The goal: The infiltration of the Triad “Sun On Yee”. In the early stages, the leader Winston Chu has problems with “Dogeye”, who wants to claim a part of the territory for himself.

The main character is actually a policeman.
The main character is actually a policeman.
He must infiltrate the Triads.
He must infiltrate the Triads.
The gangster bosses do not talk good about each other.
The gangster bosses do not talk good about each other.

After several intro videos, a heated pursuit and a couple of dialogs, things get quickly to the point – in the true sense of the word. Wei Shen fights the other gang members and so, soon learns the fight moves/controls. The tough confrontations do have a certain esthetic. The movement is usually quite smooth and generally the fights have a beautiful choreography. Of course one could argue about the brutal finishing moves (in Germany the title will arrive censored), which are sometimes certainly borderline. 

Since the fights feel somewhat slower than in other action hits such as Darksiders II or Batman: Arkham City, we can imagine that the melee battles will get tiresome after some time and develop a repetitive nature.

Some places are extremely detailed.
Some places are extremely detailed.
Things get heated during fights.
Things get heated during fights.
The game world is quite impressive.
The game world is quite impressive.

The role-playing part seems to further motivate in the long term. Sleeping Dogs contains various primary and side missions, which emphasize one or the other gameplay elements. At the end there is a brief rating, which informs the player of their skills and progress. In addition to the traditional rewards (money, items, etc.) the player receives experience points in specific categories (for example Triad or Cop). At a level-up, new skills and upgrades await the player. Fashionable gamers can even clothe the main character. The range extends from shoes through necklaces to headgear.

You can level-up through the experience points.
You can level-up through the experience points.
Sleeping Dogs offers numerous side missions.
Sleeping Dogs offers numerous side missions.
The character dresses up before the fights.
The character dresses up before the fights.

In order to not run unnecessarily through the areas, the main character has a mobile phone, which lists contacts, messages, and police reports, among other things. Consequently, the most important is the garage, which is used to store an owned vehicle. While we are on the subject of vehicles: The wheels are controlled with the mouse and keyboard, but often inaccurately. Another weakness is the sub-optimal and sometimes wobbly camera.

There's nothing better than a modern smartphone.
There's nothing better than a modern smartphone.
The police reports provide background information.
The police reports provide background information.
Great: The vehicles can be repainted.
Great: The vehicles can be repainted.

Benchmark

Square Enix deserves praise for the integrated benchmark. The roughly two-minute sequence provides a nice glimpse into the game world, the cultural environment, and the capabilities of the engine. Thanks to the changing scenes, the graphics card is loaded at varying rates. Since the frame rate drops during graphically intense passages (motorcycling, car driving, etc.), 30 or even 40 fps are desired as a result of the benchmark.

Settings

For a multi-platform title, Sleeping Dogs offers a surprisingly high number of settings. We ran our benchmark with the four presets; Low, Medium, High, and Extreme, which are located in the main menu, under the Display Options. In addition to the brightness, you can also adjust the size of the interface and the resolution. Full-screen mode and the 3D mode can also be (de)activated.

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

Even more options can be found in the advanced graphics menu. Thus the player can, among others, change the V-Sync, the hardware-hungry anti-aliasing, the motion blur, the shadow quality, and the world density. The high-resolution textures were unfortunately not available for download at the time of this review – at least not in Germany (Steam error message).

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

Technically, Sleeping Dogs is still a bit unpolished. A change in the settings often leads to errors and crashes. The title works rather poorly with NVIDIA GPUs. Despite the latest Beta drivers (ForceWare 304.79) the game sometime hung when starting up or loading.

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

Otherwise the engine is relatively good - we were particularly impressed by the fancy character models and the high-quality lighting. Even at medium details, the game is properly enjoyable.

Although you can barely notice the difference between high and ultra settings, the resource consumption increases significantly. As our benchmarks show, for the Extreme settings you would need an absolutely top of the line desktop GPU (or SLI respectively CrossFire). At low settings, the game is suited even for low-end graphics cards, but the reduced effects diminish the atmosphere considerably.

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

Results

While the combination of maximum details and 1920x1080 pixels is reserved only for luxury GPUs such as the GeForce GTX 680 or the Radeon HD 7970 (Desktop!), 1600x900 pixels and high details are also playable with a mobile high-end card (for example GTX 675M). For 1366x768 pixels the GeForce GTX 660M or higher should suffice. The middle preset requires an all-rounder such as the GeForce GT 630M or the Radeon HD 7660G.

Entry-level GPUs on the level of the Intel HD Graphics 4000 will have to be satisfied with lower details and greatly reduced resolution (1024x768) – and the game still stutters sometimes.

Benchmark-Tabelle Sleeping Dogs

Verdict

If you like open-world titles in the style of GTA, you should definitely give the Hong Kong adventure a chance. Sleeping Dogs is gorgeous and provides a solid mix of elements from various genres. Thanks to familiar key strokes you can quickly immerse yourself in the unfamiliar scenario. Although, you should not expect a new action reference, since the game does not come even close to perfection.

We consider the introduction a success.
We consider the introduction a success.
The large world should ensure a high playtime.
The large world should ensure a high playtime.
Sleeping Dogs definitely does not belong in children's hands.
Sleeping Dogs definitely does not belong in children's hands.

Test Systems

Most of the notebooks were supplied by Schenker Notebooks (mysn.de):

·        XMG P502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 660M, GTX 670M, GTX 675M & GTX 680M, 8 GB RAM)

·        XMG A502 (Core i5-3360M, GeForce GT 650M & HD Graphics 4000, 8 GB RAM)

·        Xesia M501 (Core i7-2630QM, GeForce GT 630M & HD Graphics 3000, 8 GB RAM)

NVIDIA driver: mostly 304.79 Beta. AMD driver: 12.4 (Desktop) and 12.8 (Notebook). Intel driver: 8.15.10.2696.

From left to right: Schenker XMG A502, Xesia M501 & XMG P502
From left to right: Schenker XMG A502, Xesia M501 & XMG P502

Table

The following list will be constantly updated.

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
 Sleeping Dogs (2012)
low
1024x768
Low Preset
Normal AA
med.
1366x768
Medium Preset
Normal AA
high
1366x768
High Preset
High AA
ultra
1920x1080
Extreme Preset
Extreme AA
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
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 >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon 760M
AMD Radeon 680M
AMD Radeon HD 6775G2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
149.35n10
58.1n11
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 >Sleeping Dogs
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
21.7
15.5
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX
41
30.1
10.3
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 >Sleeping Dogs
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 >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6730M
Qualcomm Adreno 225
AMD Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5
40.3
30.2
10.9
5.1
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 >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
AMD FirePro W4190M
AMD Radeon 540X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M
143.35n2
70.85n2
17.15n2
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M
AMD Radeon Pro 460
AMD Radeon HD 6540G2
AMD Radeon HD 6545G2
AMD Radeon HD 6870M
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
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 >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6550M
NVIDIA T600 Laptop GPU
NVIDIA GeForce 920MX
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
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 >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
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 >Sleeping Dogs
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
42
29
15
5
ATI Mobility Radeon X800
ATI Radeon IGP 340M
ATI Mobility Radeon X700
ATI Radeon IGP 320M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GT 430
NVIDIA GeForce 8400M G
NVIDIA GeForce 830M
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 320M
NVIDIA GeForce MX450
NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M
NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation
NVIDIA GeForce 825M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GT 625M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
94.1
66.1n2
30.18n2
7.1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M
57.7n5
41.6n5
24.3n5
6.8n3
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M
79
58
25
6
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M
66
49.4
19.5
NVIDIA Quadro P5000
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M
48.4n2
37.05n2
15.15n2
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 >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 Max-Q
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PowerVR GXA6850
PowerVR GX6450
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PowerVR GM9446
PowerVR GE8322 / IMG8322
PowerVR SGX544
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
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
106.1
77.8
34.7
5
AMD FirePro W2100
AMD Radeon HD 6370M
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
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
168
123
67
22.5
AMD FirePro M3900
AMD FirePro M4100
AMD Radeon 530
AMD FirePro M2000
AMD Radeon HD 6770M
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6790
AMD FirePro M6000
AMD Radeon Pro W6800
NVIDIA RTX A4500 Laptop GPU
AMD FirePro M5100
143
108
47
13
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI
182.8
92.5
AMD Radeon HD 6645G2
AMD Radeon HD 6760G2
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS
ATI Radeon HD 5850
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop)
78.85n2
NVIDIA Quadro P3000 Max-Q
AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
84.3
AMD Radeon HD 6870
164
121.3
71.6
23.1
AMD FirePro W7170M
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6430M
AMD Radeon HD 6380G
AMD Radeon R6 (Kaveri)
30
22.1
11
AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo)
AMD Radeon HD 7310
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI
159.9
62.8
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M
150.95n2
106.5n2
32.95n2
AMD Radeon HD 6620G + HD 7450M Dual Graphics
AMD Radeon R5 M335
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon PRO W6600M
AMD Radeon R5 M430
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 150M
AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire
127.25n2
112n2
62.55n2
PosModel< PrevNext >Sleeping Dogs
low med. high ultra
PowerVR SGX545
AMD Radeon HD 8970M
124.5
90.1
58.45n2
26.8n2
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, 2012-09- 9 (Update: 2021-05-18)