Black Myth: Wukong has quickly captured the attention of gamers, soaring to the top of the Steam wishlist charts. Despite its release being a week away, anticipation is palpable. In the meantime, players can engage with the newly launched benchmarking tool, designed to help optimize game settings before the big day.
Benchmarking Tool Gains Popularity
This benchmarking tool is available for free on Steam and does not require a pre-order to access. Remarkably, it has already become the 18th most played 'game' on Steam, attracting over 60,000 players shortly after its release. The tool allows users to customize various game settings, enabling them to find the optimal configuration tailored to their specific hardware.
After testing the benchmarking tool on a high-end gaming rig—equipped with an RTX 4080, Ryzen 9 5900X, and 32 GB of DDR5 RAM—I achieved an impressive 70 fps at 4K resolution with all graphics settings maxed out, including ray tracing. The addition of DLSS in Balanced mode, along with Frame Generation, significantly enhanced performance.
For those using different setups, the tool supports various upscaling technologies such as DLSS, XeSS, and FSR. For instance, running the benchmark with high settings and XeSS enabled on Intel's Arc A770 yielded a modest 34 fps at 3440 x 1400. While this may not compete with Nvidia's top-tier cards, the upscaling options make it a playable experience.
It's advisable to run the benchmark multiple times for a stable score, as background processes can affect performance. After a few iterations, I found consistent results without any stuttering issues.
System Requirements and Launch Preparations
As the launch date of August 20, 2024, approaches, Nvidia has already released drivers for the game, while AMD and Intel have yet to follow suit. Gamers planning to install Black Myth: Wukong will need to prepare their systems, as the game requires a substantial 130 GB of storage space, ideally on an SSD. The following system requirements have been outlined:
Black Myth: Wukong system requirements (with DLSS/FSR/XeSS enabled)
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5 8400, AMD Ryzen 5 1600 | Intel Core i7 9700, AMD Ryzen 5 5500 |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, Intel Arc A750 |
| Storage | 130 GB (SSD recommended) | 130 GB (SSD recommended) |
While Black Myth: Wukong sets relatively low requirements for PC hardware, users of Intel’s Arc A770 may need to adjust settings to achieve optimal performance. As the gaming community eagerly awaits its release, the benchmarking tool serves as a valuable resource for fine-tuning setups in preparation for an exciting launch.
