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This new game will make your gaming PC sweat

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black myth wukong benchmark
Game Science

Black Myth: Wukong is coming out next week, but ahead of the game’s release, developer Game Science has put out a dedicated benchmark tool. The free app, which is available on Steam now, will push even the best graphics cards to their limits, and I took it out for a quick spin to see how demanding the game really is.

The short answer is extremely demanding. As you can see from my initial run below, I was only able to achieve an average of 22 frames per second (fps) in the benchmark at 4K with maxed-out settings. That’s with the most powerful gaming hardware available right now, pairing an RTX 4090 GPU with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

Benchmark results from Black Myth Wukong at max settings.
Digital Trends

That may seem way too low, but Black Myth: Wukong includes path tracing. Native performance, especially at 4K, is on the level of a game like Alan Wake 2. Game Science clearly intends players to use some form of upscaling and frame generation in the game. It supports DLSS 3, FSR 3, XeSS, and Unreal Engine’s own TSR. After turning on DLSS 3 to a 60% render resolution (Balanced mode) and flipping on frame generation, I achieved a much better result.

Benchmark results for Black Myth Wukong with frame generation.
Digital Trends

This is a scripted benchmark, and although Game Science says it should represent your expected performance, variability in configurations and gameplay scenarios might lead to different results in the actual game. In a post announcing the benchmark, the developer says the results are being collected to help the development team identify potential issues before the game’s release on August 20.

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The benchmark is separate from the main game, and you don’t need to purchase the game to download the benchmark tool. If you’re interested, I’d highly recommend downloading the benchmark to see how your PC holds up. The game is extremely demanding as my results show, but the benchmark tool gives you full access to the graphics settings, including DLSS 3, FSR 3, XeSS, and TSR.

System requirements for Black Myth Wukong.
Game Science

Despite being so demanding, Black Myth: Wukong has relatively tame system requirements, as you can see above. Game Science says you can get by with a GTX 1060 if you turn down your settings, which is shocking. At the high end, you’ll need an RTX 4080 Super, which isn’t surprising. During my runs, Black Myth: Wukong sucked down 13.5GB of VRAM, and the RTX 4080 Super comes with a 16GB pool to satisfy the demands of the game.

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I’ll be running more graphics cards through the benchmark leading up to the game’s release, testing various settings and configurations to see what you need for stable performance. From my initial impressions, however, it looks like Black Myth: Wukong is stable and comes with a lot of performance headroom through the graphics menu. We’ll see if that impression holds up when the game proper is here.

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Jacob Roach
Jacob Roach
Lead Reporter, PC Hardware
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
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A character gearing up for battle in Black Myth: Wukong.

Black Myth: Wukong is an anomaly. The game is already shattering Steam records, which is a pretty big accomplishment for a game that has seemingly been a glorified tech demo for the past four years. It doesn't help that the game comes with some of the most demanding requirements we've ever seen out of a modern game. Black Myth: Wukong can push your PC to its limits, but if you're smart with your graphics settings, you don't need one of the best graphics cards to run it.

For the past week, I've been poking and prodding every corner of Black Myth: Wukong to understand how the PC version works, what it's capable of, and where the easy performance gains are. This game will push your PC to its limits, and it's sure to become a staple in PC hardware reviews. And that's because it manages to push an insane level of visual fidelity while still being a game that you can, well, play.
Graphics tweaks are a must
If you were hoping to jump into Black Myth: Wukong, toggle to the highest graphics preset, and be on your way, I have bad news for you. Even with an RTX 4090, I'm not able to jump into the game will all the sliders maxed out. There's a lot of room in the graphics options to optimize your performance, and ignoring the graphics settings will only hurt your experience in the game. Similar to Alan Wake 2, Black Myth: Wukong looks beautiful, even if you need to turn some settings down to Low.

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A character gearing up for battle in Black Myth: Wukong.

Black Myth: Wukong isn't quite a Soulslike, but it is still a challenging game with more bosses than you can count. Overcoming those will be your main objective, but there are a lot more things to do and see off the beaten path. You'll be rewarded with experience, materials, and other goodies to upgrade The Destined One with, but also those tantalizing Trophies and Achievements. Completing every challenge a game has for you is a badge of honor, and with 81 in Black Myth: Wukong, only the most dedicated warriors will be able to earn them all. We can't help you beat the bosses themselves, but can give you the full list of every Black Myth: Wukong Trophy and Achievement.
All achievements and trophies in Black Myth: Wukong

There are technically spoilers ahead, but not really. What we mean by that is Black Myth: Wukong's Achievement and Trophy descriptions aren't very, well, descriptive. Most won't help you fathom how to get them or where to even look, so referring to specific guides for anything you're missing from the list below will be best.

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A character gearing up for battle in Black Myth: Wukong.

There are a ton of things to keep track of in Black Myth: Wukong. You have your basic skill tree, plus equipment, Spirits, weapons, armor, and even health gourd to manage as you make your way through the majestic landscapes. Relics show up less frequently than anything else but can have the biggest impact on your experience. This makes them just as important to the gameplay as they are to the narrative. You will only get five across the entire game, each with three distinct perks to pick from. You can only use one per Relic, though, so let us give you a quick primer on every Relic perk in Black Myth: Wukong and how you get them.
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Craving Eyes

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