After two years of eagerly waiting, God of War Ragnarok PC is finally available worldwide. Initially a PlayStation exclusive, GOW Ragnarok has been made available with a PC port by Jetpack Interactive. This is the same studio that created the God of War (2018) PC port, and it ran great at first. Well, after getting a copy from Sony, we were curious about it as well. So, I was able to fully assess the game's performance. Let's talk about all of this in our God of War Ragnarok PC performance review.
God of War Ragnarok: A Brief Overview
As everyone knows, God of War Ragnarok is a direct sequel to the God of War (2018) game. So, the story of the father-son duo, kratos and atreusAs they continue their journey through the realm of Norse mythology, they face the consequences of their past actions. Along the way, they must also outsmart a prophesied apocalypse, RagnarokTogether.
So, grab your Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos, as we are set to embark on an expanded and exciting campaign even more so than the prequel. So, whether you are a long-time fan of the God of War franchise or a newcomer, you are guaranteed an epic Norse saga.
God of War Ragnarok PC Performance (Tested)
Before we discuss the performance of each resolution, here are the specifications of the PC we used to test the game:
Test setup:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D @4.20 GHz
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti Super
Ram: 32 GB
SSD: Samsung 990 Pro 1TB
An important thing to remember here is that I Dual chamber PC cabinet with reverse fan. Thus, the temperature of CPU and GPU may be slightly higher than what you find. Additionally, the area I live in has a hot climate which can also be taken into consideration.
We have tested the PC performance of God of War Ragnarok at all the resolutions available to us, such as 1080p, 1440p, and 2160pWe ran the game at the highest possible settings, i.e., Ultra settings basically, as well as with DLSS and Frame Gen enabled to show you the best of both worlds. That said, here are the full results of our performance evaluation:
God of War Ragnarok PC: 1080p (FHD) Ultra Settings
We have a strong setup here, so God of War Ragnarok ran silky smooth at 1080p on Ultra settings, as expected. During our tests, we got a stable performance 130-140 fps running natively. During this run, the GPU temperature remained at about 60-64 Celsius and the usage was approximately 83-90%Since the game is GPU-bound, the CPU temperature was around 60 Celsius and the utilization was 28%.
As you can see, the game performed quite well and I had no issues running FHD.
| FPS | native | DLSS (quality) + frame generation on |
|---|---|---|
| average | 125 | 190 |
| Maximum | 140 | 200 |
| minimum | 113 | 150 |
While it already ran smoothly, I enabled DLSS and frame generation in Quality mode to see how much I could improve performance. To my surprise, the FPS skyrocketed touch 200 fpsAs a result, you can feel the real ease of battle and the GPU temperature remained below 65 Celsius, but in this case the utilization increased to 99%.
God of War Ragnarok PC: 1440p (QHD) Ultra Settings
I started my first game at the native 2K resolution with Ultra settings and was happy to see the game running without any issues. Average FPS 144. However, as soon as I finished the prologue and entered Svartalfheim (a graphically intensive area), the FPS dropped 95-100 range. This in itself is not a big problem and the temperature of the GPU increased 69-70 Celsius, and GPU usage was 99-100% All the time.
Fortunately, we have DLSS and frame generation to enhance the performance in this case. As soon as I turned them on, I started feeling a huge difference in performance, but there was a slight drop in quality. Now I was feeling that 150 fps GPU temperature remains fairly stable 65-67 and GPU usage was still the same 99%,
| FPS | native | DLSS (quality) + frame generation on |
|---|---|---|
| average | 95 | 150 |
| Maximum | 104 | 190 |
| minimum | 88 | 130 |
Also during QHD testing both with and without DLSS, CPU usage remained down 30% where the temperature was constant 67-70 Celsius,
God of War Ragnarok PC: 2160p (UHD) Ultra Settings
Next, we cranked the settings up a notch to 4K resolution at Ultra settings. Going up to 4k caused us to back off in terms of performance. At the native 2160p resolution without any upscaling, we were at around 4K on average. 75 fps. However, GPU temperature and usage remained at the same level as before, 68 Celsius And 99-100% Use.
Now this is perfect for enjoying the highest resolution, but I wanted to further improve the performance with DLSS and frame generation. As soon as I set DLSS to Quality and also enabled FG, I was back to Continuous 115-120 average FPSThe temperature of the GPU was around 65-66 Celsius, And usage stayed up 99%,
| FPS | native | DLSS (quality) + frame generation on |
|---|---|---|
| average | 80 | 115 |
| Maximum | 88 | 130 |
| minimum | 75 | 106 |
In the basic as well as DLSS + FG enabled tests, the CPU temperatures were 57-62 Celsius and usage was within limits 16-25%,
God of War Ragnarok PC: Playable Settings
As you can see from the data above, the game runs great in native resolution, and that too at the highest possible settings. So if you want visually rich gameplay, you can play in your native resolution and turn on frame gen to further improve performance. I didn't notice any kind of input lag or unresponsiveness during my run.
Fortunately, you don't have to restart every time you change the settings. Thus, you can easily play with each setting to get the desired performance.
| FPS | Native+ frame generation on |
|---|---|
| average | 120 |
| Maximum | 145 |
| minimum | 114 |
When I was calculating the average 100 fps At 1440p and ultra settings, I enabled Nvidia's frame gen alone to increase the game's smoothness. As a result, I got an average 120 fps On GPU Temperature 67 Celsius and use 100%CPU usage remained below 25% and since I have a fairly power consuming and hot CPU, it was well under 25%. 65 Celsius,
God of War Ragnarok PC verdict: Should you pick up the axe?
Without a doubt, God of War Ragnarok is a nearly flawless PC port just like its predecessor. Although I didn't face any issues in the performance department, I did find some visual glitches. For example, the leaves of the trees in Midgard turned completely black at the end of the prologue.
Also, the QTE button HUD looked blurry at times. Thankfully, things returned to normal once I restarted, and they didn’t spoil my experience. Thus, minor glitches and bugs can be annoying but as we speak, the developers are simultaneously releasing patches to address these minor flaws.
Apart from these minor issues, I didn't face any serious issues. Jetpack Interactive has done a fantastic job with the PC port and you can experience the journey of Kratos and Atreus without any hindrances.
The advanced warfare can be felt as spectacular as ever and the revamped visuals are a treat to the eyes. Thus, you can play the game seamlessly at a stable FPS (with occasional drops).
I have already completed the game twice on my PS5, but I must admit that the game looks even more amazing, especially the combat, thanks to the AI upscaling technology. This game is a masterpiece and is 11/10 in my books, so I wholeheartedly recommend it to every gamer to experience this fantastic and explosive ride.
