How Well Does The Elder Scrolls Online Run On Your PC?

By Don Woligroski
published

Test System And Graphics Hardware

As always, we strive to represent game performance across a wide range of graphics hardware. We include cards ranging from the low-end Radeon HD 6450 and GeForce GT 630 GDDR5 to the powerful Radeon R9 290X, HD 7990, GeForce GTX 780 Ti, and 690.

We all know that boards like the Radeon HD 7990 require a substantial amount of power, so XFX sent us its PRO850W 80 PLUS Bronze-certified power supply. This modular PSU employs a single +12 V rail rated for 70 A. XFX claims continuous (not peak) output of up to 850 W at 50 degrees Celsius.

We've almost exclusively eliminated mechanical disks in the lab, preferring solid-state storage for alleviating I/O-related bottlenecks. Samsung sent all of our labs 256 GB 840 Pros, so we standardize on these exceptional SSDs.

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Header Cell - Column 0 Test System
CPUIntel Core i7-4770K (Haswell), Overclocked to 4.4 GHz @ 1.2 V
MotherboardASRock Z87 Pro3 LGA 1150, Intel Z87 Express
NetworkingOn-Board Gigabit LAN controller
Memory8 GB Corsair Vengeance LP (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1866, Model CML8GX3M2A1866C9B1866 MT/s 9-10-9-27 2T @ 1.5 V
GraphicsGeForce GT 630 512 MB GDDR5GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2 GB GDDR5GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2 GB GDDR5GeForce GTX 660 2 GB GDDR5GeForce GTX 760 2 GB GDDR5GeForce GTX 770 2 GB GDDR5GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3 GB GDDR5GeForce GTX 690 4 GB GDDR5Radeon HD 6450 512 MB GDDR5Radeon R7 240 1 GB DDR3Radeon R7 250X 1 GB GDDR5Radeon R7 260X 1 GB GDDR5Radeon R9 270 2 GB GDDR5Radeon R9 280 3 GB GDDR5Radeon R9 280X 3 GB GDDR5Radeon R9 290X 4 GB GDDR5Radeon HD 7990 6 GB GDDR5
SSDSamsung 840 Pro, 256 GB SSD, SATA 6Gb/s
PowerXFX PRO850W, ATX12V, EPS12V
Software and Drivers
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 8 Pro x64
DirectXDirectX 11
Graphics DriversAMD Catalyst 14.2 Beta 1.3, Nvidia GeForce 335.23 WHQL
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Benchmarks
The Elder Scrolls OnlineCustom Tom's Hardware Benchmark, 40-second Fraps run, Stonetooth, Betnikh
Don Woligroski
181 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Djentleman
    760 is the highest tier nvidia card you used for 1080?
    Reply
  • Immaculate
    Now that this pipe dream is released, where is a Fallout 4 acknowledgement?
    Reply
  • templarklimek
    I'm running it at 4K and in ultra it's very smooth with an I7 and titan black. Having said that I don't plan on staying a subscriber. They got my 80.00 bucks to start and that's it. I can't get over the subpar graphics although I realize it's an MMO and can't have the best graphics going for it. Nor does it have the attention to detail, depth, and immersive ness that I expect in an elder scrolls title. I've gone back to skyrim and all the mods. Skyrim at 4k is a work of art. The MMO seem faked with monsters just keep respawning out of thin air and no real meaning or placement in the world around you. Again I understand it's a MMO and not a detailed single player game. What worries me is how will this affect the Elder Scrolls single player? Are they gonna blow that off?.. ;(
    Reply
  • sarinaide
    Am now tempted to get this, just hope it doesn't flop like SWTOR and D3 did.
    Reply
  • blackmagnum
    FUS RO DAH!
    Reply
  • SchizoFrog
    I played during the final open BETA test and that was enough for me to decide this wasn't for me... and I was gutted by that decision.Any populated area is complete chaos with people, horses and more just spawning out of nowhere all around you. The only way not to get annoyed and distracted is to blank out most of what is going on around you which is a complete contradiction from what is supposed to be an immersive MMO.More than that though is that I found the intro sparse and almost none existent, I felt lost and had no real idea of where I should go, what I should do whren I got there nor why I should do any of it.As for the graphics, it looked good but nothing to blow me away and certainly there was nothing that I felt was better than Skyrim on the same rig, even without Skyrim's mods running. I just want to also add what this article doesn't cover in that your personal PC hardware may well run the game very smoothly but as with any other online game, it's smoothness is more down to the internet connection of yourself and those you choose to game with. From my experience, a fibre connection is an absolute must for smooth gameplay.
    Reply
  • jankeke
    How is the user interface on this ? Is it as bad as in Skyrim ?I am wondering if I should try this game but if the interface is "console-like", it would certainly speak against it.
    Reply
  • Drejeck
    played this game in the beta invitational. it sucks bad just because it changes the gameplay to the boring, old fashion, 1 2 3 4 key skill/spell. i've quit wow because of that, even D3 and GW2 failed at that. The only games I liked nowadays for the combat system are Tera and Neverwinter. TES is nice because you play it like an FPS, and with the gamepad was really nice. just because of this I can judge it a total fail. I've played 3 hours before removing the game. is something changed meanwhile? i want it more action. like a Reckoning Online. no ones roleplays online anymore, the DAoC era is gone.
    Reply
  • Zombie615
    I watch some people play this live on twitch an being a fan ever since Morrowind I have to say I'm not that impressed or interested. There is a part of me that wants to give it a try but there is a bigger part of me saying don't fall for this money pit. $15 a month isn't really the issue speaking of money... it's just the fact that it cost something every month in general. I love the elder scrolls series but I've never been a fan of MMORPG. It takes too much dedication to feel accomplished in a game of this genre an with that said it takes away from the instant gratification I got playing the other games in this series.It should have just been a multiplayer release an not an actual MMORPG. Like just a single player storyline type of thing but with the option to let a group of friends join you. Kind of like Diablo 3 or Dead Island I guess you could say.The PVP idea IMO is trash. A duel arena against other people using your character from your current campaign would had sufficed. Though there is nothing I can say that will change anything so there you have it Zenimax.... You lost another faithful fan on this title. Hopefully you will announce a fallout 4 (offline) title soon or your next Single Player Elder Scrolls title. If not you can count me out forever.
    Reply
  • AMD Radeon
    why Radeon 280X performance falls below GTX 760?
    Reply