Assassin's Creed: Mirage has been released on all major platforms, giving players a glimpse of 13th century Baghdad, the heart of the Abbasid Caliphate. We tested the Anvil-based title with the latest NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, and compiled the results below. Ubisoft's latest game requires relatively modest hardware, with the official PC specs recommending a GeForce RTX 3080 (10GB) or Radeon RX 6900 XT (16GB) for 4K Ultra.
As for the processor, it is recommended to use a Core i5-11600K based on Rocket Lake, a mid-range chip from 2021. A six-core Ryzen 5 5600X can also do the trick. You'll need 16GB of dual-channel memory for optimal performance, as well as 40GB of SSD storage.
Test bench
- Motherboard: ASUS Z790 Maximus Hero.
- CPU: Intel Core i9-13900KF.
- Memory: 16GB x2 @ 6000MT/s CL38.
- POWER SUPPLY: Corsair RM1000e.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage – 1080p GPU Benchmarks
Assassin’s Creed Mirage runs pretty well on most GPUs. The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti ($399) averages 106.7 FPS at 1080p, with rates of 84 FPS and 35.5 FPS (1% and 0.2% respectively). Although it is the most expensive ($449), the Radeon RX 7700 XT performs less well than the RTX 4060 Ti with a gap of 10%.
At the high end, the GeForce RTX 4090 finishes first with an average of 178 FPS at 1080p and a minimum of 124 FPS. The GeForce RTX 4080 comes in second, averaging 164.7 FPS and lows of 122 FPS and 34 FPS, respectively. Interestingly, the Radeon RX 7900 series GPUs achieved the same results, with the 7900 XTX producing weaker results. Both average over 130 FPS with a 0.2% low of 22.8 FPS for the XTX.
According to the gaming time variability graph, the RTX 4090 offers the smoothest performance, followed by the RTX 4080 and RX 7900 XT. The RX 7900 XTX has the worst framerate times, right next to the RX 7700 XT. Regardless, all six GPUs experience occasional stutters (time deltas over 8ms and 12ms), especially the Radeons.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage 1440p GPU Benchmarks
At 1440p, the game becomes more GPU intensive, but the ranking in the table remains unchanged. The GeForce RTX 4090 comes out on top with an average refresh rate of 161.6 FPS and a 0.2% low of 66 FPS. The RTX 4080 is the second fastest GPU with 0.2% averages and lows of 135.6 FPS and 56.8 FPS, respectively.
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX and 7900 XT continue to display the same performance at 1440p, with significantly greater drops for the former. They display an average of 113.6 FPS and 111 FPS, with a minimum of 86 FPS. At the bottom of the table, the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti continues to lead the RX 7700 XT with an average of 81 FPS and a 1% minimum of 65 FPS.
The playing time variance graph is the same as before. The Radeon RX 7900 XTX performs better, but its performance is lower than that of the 7900 XT. The Radeon RX 7700 Unfortunately, periodic stutters persist on all GPUs.
The Radeon RX 7900 XT faces a number of stutters in the first half of the benchmark, but its performance is about the same as the RTX 4080 in the second half.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage 4K GPU Benchmarks
The game is fully GPU-bound at 4K, with all six cards producing playable frame rates. The GeForce RTX 4090 averages 111.7 FPS and 89.6 FPS for low 1%. The RTX 4080 does not reach the 100 FPS mark, with an average of 88 FPS and a minimum of 73 FPS.
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX outperforms the 7900 XT with an average of 76 FPS and a 1% low of 60.6 FPS. On the low end, the RTX 4060 Ti and RX 7700 XT average close to 45 FPS, with the former producing significantly better bass.
The four high-end cards produce generally smooth graphics with some micro-shake. As explained above, this phenomenon is more pronounced in the case of Radeon cards, notably the RX 7700 XT. The RTX 4080 and 4090 offer the smoothest experience with the least stuttering.
The GeForce RTX 4090 exhibits more but fewer stutters, while the Radeon RX 7900 XTX experiences mild, intermittent stuttering throughout the benchmark.
A processor bottleneck?
NVIDIA cards behave strangely. A look at the GPU busy times reveals an interesting anomaly. Several times during the test, the game appears to be stuck on the CPU while the GPU is idling. These moments are very brief but constant throughout the test. What's even stranger is that the intensity is much higher in 1440p and 4K, while 1080p is largely free of it.
4K Ultra
1080p Ultra
This behavior can only be reproduced on NVIDIA cards, indicating that it is likely the result of driver overload. We don't have any GameReady drivers for Mirage yet.
Power and efficiency
When it comes to power efficiency, the GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs are in a class of their own. AMD's Radeon RX 7000 cards are power hungry, with the 7900 XTX reaching 413W. The much more powerful RTX 4090 maxes out at 366 W and the even faster RTX 4080 does not exceed 244 W.
The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti consistently beat the Radeon RX 7700 XT in all three resolutions. It does this while consuming 66% more energy. The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti caps at 136W while the Radeon RX 7700 XT reaches 214W under intensive load.