Gaming Performance Fa-Fo
For our testing, we will focus on the 1080p gameplay experience for every game. However, we will test at several different game quality preset settings, from Low to Medium, to High to Ultra as the performance demands. This will give us a clear picture of how the Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G up and down game quality settings. We will also turn on the highest quality mode of FSR upscaling in the games that support it, at each graphics setting. This means we will have several graphs, per-game, to show and we will divide them up in alphabetical order on each page as you go through the review.
Far Cry 6
Far Cry 6 came out in 2021, about 3 years ago now, but this game does have involved graphics, though typically not the most intensive to run now. The AMD Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G are able to provide a playable experience at the “Low” quality preset without needing upscaling. The 8700G is 120% faster than the 5700G and the 8600G is 97% faster. The difference between the 8700G and 8600G is 12%. Turning on FSR does add to the performance, on the 8700G it improves performance by 32%, and on the 8600G 34%.
The game is still playable on Medium quality preset on the 8700G without upscaling, and playable on the 8600G as well and more so with FSR. The 8700G is 127% faster than the 5700G and the 8600G is 100% faster. The difference between the 8700G and 8600G is 13%. Turning on FSR improves performance by 32% on the 8700G and 35% on the 8600G.
At the High-quality preset things start to get rough for the 8600G, but FSR does allow it to be smooth at 60FPS. The same is also true for the 8700G, you’d probably want FSR on with that as well at these settings for the smoothest performance. The 8700G is 132% faster than the 5700G and the 8600G is 105% faster than the 8600G. The difference between the 8700G and 8600G is 13%. FSR adds about 33% more performance.
At Ultra quality only the 8700G with FSR is really playable here. The 8700G is 137% faster than the 5700X and the 8600G is 105% faster. The difference between the 8700G and 8600G is 15%.
Forspoken
Forspoken came out at the beginning of 2023 and is a very demanding game, so we aren’t surprised with the results beyond the Low setting in this game. In the above graph, we are using the “Low” preset, which also inherently turns on FSR Upscaling at the Performance setting, not quality, so this is the lowest form of FSR upscaling image quality, but to use the preset it is always enabled. With it enabled, we can see that the 8700G and 8600G are playable. The 8700G is 121% faster than the 5700G and the 8600G is 100% faster. The difference between the 8700G and 8600G is 10%.
Now, when we move just one step above the low-quality setting, which is the “Standard” quality setting, it tanks performance big time, even when we enable quality FSR. This game is not playable on these new APUs beyond low quality in this game. The 8700G is 137% faster than the 5700G and the 8600G is 109% faster.
Forza Horizon 5
Forza Horizon 5 came out in 2021 but is still receiving updates, and does support all the upscaling techniques. This game performs extremely well on the new Ryzen 8000G APUs. It is not playable on the 5700G at Low but it is more than playable on the 8700G and 8600G at Low. The 8700G is 135% faster than the 5700G and the 8600G is 103% faster. The difference between the 8700G and 8600G is 16%. FSR adds small improvements at this lower setting.
Moving up to “Medium” quality the 8700G and 8600G are both again still playable in this game, and above 60FPS. The 8700G is 126% faster than the 5700G and the 8600G is 97% faster. The difference between the 8700G and 8600G is 15%, and FSR adds a small 9% bump in performance.
Even at “High” quality Forza Horizon 5 is playable on the 8700G and 8600G with smooth performance. The 8700G is 133% faster than the 5700G and the 8600G is 103% faster. The difference between the 8700G and 8600G is 15% and FSR is once again a small factor.
When we move up to the “Ultra” setting, we find the 8700G and 8600G to not be playable, even with FSR. The 8700G is 137% faster than the 5700G and the 8600G is 105% faster. The difference between the 8700G and 8600G is 15%.