Home Gaming Watch Dogs Ultra and Low PC settings compared

Watch Dogs Ultra and Low PC settings compared

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wdsoon

I can tell you, with a degree of certainty, that Watch Dogs is a mighty fine looking game on the PlayStation 4. If you have a high-specced PC, it’ll look even better. But what about those packing specs on the lower end of the spectrum? How good is Watch Dogs going to look? Wonder no more.

The chaps at Digital Storm have done a comparison video, showcasing the differences between the game running on Ultra, and on Low settings.

You’ll have to watch it in full-screen at 1080p to see what little differences there are, but as you can probably tell from their examples, the differences are rather negligible. Even if you have a lower-end, but capable machine, you’re in for a fine experience. running on Ultra increases the textures resolution, so you’ll need a GPU with 3Gb of RAM attached to it. It’ll also afford you significantly better lighting and shadowing. 

The best comparison though – which isn’t in this video – is when the weather effects kick in. When it starts raining, especially at night, Watch Dogs is a visual treat.

So for the best Watch Dogs experience, gamers will need a system sporting an Intel Core i7-4770K with a GeForce 780 or similar., while those who just want to squeak past with the the minimum specs will need an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 or an AMD Phenom II X4 940, coupled with a Nvidia Geforce GTX 460, and AMD Radeon HD 5770 or equivalent.

As I said though; the game looks and plays great on a PS4, so those with the newer consoles won’t be left feeling depressed and inferior. In fact, the game appears to be just fine on the old consoles too.

Watch Dogs is out on PC, new and old consoles tomorrow.

Last Updated: May 26, 2014

75 Comments

  1. Alien Emperor Trevor

    May 26, 2014 at 08:37

    I’m patiently waiting to read the reviews. I hope this lives up to the hype because it looks like a fun game.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Space

      May 26, 2014 at 08:45

      Indeed, although I wonder where @eliminathan:disqus got his copy…..Arrrrr

      Reply

      • Kensei Seraph

        May 26, 2014 at 09:20

        Probably went to a friends house and played it there.

        Reply

      • DarrenR421

        May 26, 2014 at 12:20

        Saw the muppets at Makro Woodmead were already selling the PS3 and XBox versions of this on Friday last week..

        Reply

    • RinceofFuturePast

      May 26, 2014 at 08:47

      Indeed…

      Reply

    • MakeItLegal

      May 26, 2014 at 08:52

      Yes review first , and then for me ( as a pc gamer ) will wait for the first patche or two , and hear feed back from the community

      This far cry 3 bug took this off my day one purchase ( far cry 3 menu loads infinitely and the game came out what like 2 years ago )

      In short my faith in ubisoft has taken a blow since far cry 3 minor but game breaking bug

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        May 26, 2014 at 08:55

        What bug? That’s unlucky, I didn’t encounter a single bug when I played it.

        Reply

        • MakeItLegal

          May 26, 2014 at 08:59

          When I load up the first time , the menu gets stuck in a loop , sometimes 5 mins sometimes 10 mins sometimes for ever …. Either way I reboot , sometimes it woks sometimes it don’t

          Either way damage has been done ( for me atleast )

          Like I said , my faith in ubisoft pc ports is really low

          Couple that with the fact the AC 1 doesn work on my system , all the rest do … Well u get the picture

          Reply

    • Jedi JJ

      May 26, 2014 at 10:06

      It really does

      Reply

  2. ElimiNathan

    May 26, 2014 at 08:40

    I played Watch Dogs on PC this weekend, I won’t mention how …….
    Given I couldn’t access the multi-player features..
    Guys its a good game but not what I was expecting.
    The driving is really bad…
    The hacking is definitely the coolest thing but starts wearing off after a while.
    The question now is, do I go and spend R800 on the PS4 version. I’m hesitant

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      May 26, 2014 at 08:51

      Hehe you don’t need to mention how.

      Reply

      • ElimiNathan

        May 26, 2014 at 10:01

        Obviously take what I’ve said with a pinch of salt, having no multi-player is missing like half the game, I’m sure it will be ALLOT better with the online stuff

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          May 26, 2014 at 10:10

          Well not a lot of SP games are but maybe.

          Reply

      • Sageville

        May 26, 2014 at 14:42

        THROUGH THE POWER OF MAGIC!!!

        Reply

  3. Umar_Zero

    May 26, 2014 at 08:45

    The scene where he is standing by the red wall, it looks the same on low and ultra lol, can’t say I’m too hype for this game tbh….Personally I’m not feeling it that much. That said, I generally don;t like open world games besides Red Dead Revolver and Sleep Dags. But dat cap…Wow, much iconic!

    Reply

    • RinceofFuturePast

      May 26, 2014 at 08:51

      ICONICZ!

      Reply

      • Umar_Zero

        May 26, 2014 at 08:52

        Don’t think I will ever forget this one lol….Iconic…..*facepalm* Also, it looks like such a normal and simple cap

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          May 26, 2014 at 08:53

          ….but….but… it’s got that logo that looks like a stylised W & a dog head… it’s ICONIC!

          Reply

          • Umar_Zero

            May 26, 2014 at 08:59

            You know whats more intriguing of Watch Dogs for me…what kind of hairstyle does Aiden have. Will that be the plot twits??He takes off his cap and he has a mullet….

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            May 26, 2014 at 09:01

            On old consoles he’ll have a bald head & on the new ones he’ll have a kickass ponytail like Steven Seagal because of TressFX!

          • Umar_Zero

            May 26, 2014 at 09:04

            ROFLOL…dat definitive hair!

        • RinceofFuturePast

          May 26, 2014 at 08:58

          Agreed. Who the hell said iconic?

          Reply

          • Umar_Zero

            May 26, 2014 at 08:59

            Apparently it became iconic via trailers and screenshots lol

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      May 26, 2014 at 09:18

      The biggest difference is really with weather and reflective or wet surfaces. The rest is pretty much the same tho as you said

      Reply

      • Umar_Zero

        May 26, 2014 at 09:19

        Yup, the lighting effects. Have you seen the comparison video with WD and GTA 4 on PC with Ultra settings?….GTA 4 holds up really well…even better sometimes….Rockstar really pays attention to the smaller things

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          May 26, 2014 at 09:20

          no. I haven’t actually?

          Reply

      • zeemonkeyman

        May 26, 2014 at 09:31

        No, if your computer can only play it at low you’re gonna have a bad time. It will play all choppy and fraked up, trust me! As a person who owns consoles and a PC I know that it is much better just going for the console version if your PC can’t handle a game at high to ultra with constant 45-60 fps.

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          May 26, 2014 at 09:42

          I own a PC and games on medium nowadays look almost exactly the same as high and usually come with a HUGE framerate benefit

          Let me take Crysis 3 for example.

          I can’t run it at Ultra because the avg frame rate is below 30. But put it down to high on 1080 and it sits around 40FPS. Drop it to 720p on high and I get the solid 60FPS vertical synced sweet spot. (65+ verticval sync off). When I drop it to low I get over 100FPS.

          If your PC can’t handle watchdogs at Ultra but can on low you will be fine. We are not talking about someone who is below the low settings mark. We are talking about someone who can handle low. They will be fine as long as their machine is maintained correctly and meet all the specs for low.

          Games nowadays scale far better when jumping between Ultra to low settings than in the past.

          Reply

          • zeemonkeyman

            May 26, 2014 at 10:02

            Get yourself a better card and start playing at ultra and I guarantee your opinion will change.

          • ErrolTheTerrible

            May 26, 2014 at 10:41

            Oh, if it was only the GFX card… I’ve got a GTX760 2GB card, which meets recommended spec, but the CPU is 7 years old, Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, aka Quad 2.4GHz. Below even minimum spec. Other games still run great, so WD can take a flying jump…

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 26, 2014 at 17:26

            I’m sure you should do alright then. You won’t be able to play on ultra due to CPU bottlenecking but I am sure you will still play with reasonably good graphics

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 26, 2014 at 17:25

            I have a 560Ti. I don’t need better right now.

            Yes I’ve played games on Ultra when I first bought my PC. Yes it was fun and cool. But I don’t need it. I do not need to always run games on Ultra all the time. It’s a waste of my money.

  4. Admiral Chief in Space

    May 26, 2014 at 08:46

    Cool comparison vid, glad to see both ends of the spectrum will have a good experience

    Reply

  5. Hammersteyn

    May 26, 2014 at 08:54

    Sure as hell hope this is worth the money.

    Reply

    • Umar_Zero

      May 26, 2014 at 09:00

      You getting ps4? How much is the PS 4 version?

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        May 26, 2014 at 09:07

        R760, but I’m trading in Second Son and Injustice for it as well, should drop the price a bit.

        Reply

        • Umar_Zero

          May 26, 2014 at 09:10

          Selling privately I hope? Someone on the forums sold their copy of SS for R400….

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            May 26, 2014 at 09:10

            Wow, yeah I should consider doing that.

          • Umar_Zero

            May 26, 2014 at 09:12

            Yeah…BT games trade ins are rip offs…but just a suggestion 🙂 The vicious cycle of life hey….trade in, buy, trade-in, buy…..Wish I could afford to collect

          • Brady miaau

            May 26, 2014 at 09:40

            you can. Just re-buy the game a year or so later, for a fraction of the price. (well not always a year, but you get the idea)

        • ElimiNathan

          May 26, 2014 at 09:55

          Hmm how much you looking at selling Second Son for ?

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            May 26, 2014 at 10:46

            Dunno, will see what BT Games offers, and then try to bargain with them. I will post it on http://sagamer.co.za marketplace, but I will let you know before that.

  6. Kromas

    May 26, 2014 at 09:00

    So you are telling me I wasted R9000 on a GFX card that makes very little difference in the latest games??!! Well at least Wolf looked great.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Space

      May 26, 2014 at 09:06

      LOL

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Space

      May 26, 2014 at 09:07

      If you feel you wasted money, be sure to donate to me then

      Reply

    • Maxiviper117

      May 26, 2014 at 09:12

      Get Arma 3, that game is like the new crysis in terms of performance hit. or Metro last light.

      Reply

      • Kromas

        May 26, 2014 at 09:54

        Arma 3 max GFX Breaking Point mod runs crisp and clear at ultra. Metro does not however.

        Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      May 26, 2014 at 09:16

      Just max Crysis 3 or Arma3

      Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      May 26, 2014 at 09:45

      Which card?

      Reply

      • Kromas

        May 26, 2014 at 09:53

        R9290x

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          May 26, 2014 at 17:26

          ATI? Yeah you wasted your cash 😛

          #trollol

          Seriously though. That’s a mad card

          Reply

          • Kromas

            May 26, 2014 at 18:14

            ATI has less driver issues for me than NVIDIA. Also TressFX. Also cheaper than a Titan yet kicks its arse out of the water. The fans can get pretty loud though but that is why I have 5.1 surround sound 😛

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 27, 2014 at 08:43

            Seriously? Less driver issues? Last I had an ATI card every release would break something? I have only fantastic things to say about nVidia’s regular driver releases.
            Guess it all depends on hardware config and luck of the draw though hey.

            But yeah it is cheaper than the Titan. But aren’t the 780 and 9290x the same price? I haven’t checked in a while

    • Ryanza

      May 26, 2014 at 09:49

      The Witcher 3 is coming. Now you just prepared for ubersampling.

      And the card should last you well over 5 years.

      Reply

  7. Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

    May 26, 2014 at 09:11

    Massive difference when raining. The reflective wet surfaces are where there’s a big, noticeable change. Other than that most everything looks pretty much the same save some textures.

    What would be really nice to see is Low settings compared with the PS4 visuals.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      May 26, 2014 at 09:12

      Oh please god no.

      Reply

      • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

        May 26, 2014 at 09:16

        Serious. It’d be interesting to see. I’m pretty sure the playstation would look better vs the low. But I’d be interested to see exactly where it lines up between Low and Ultra

        Reply

        • Umar_Zero

          May 26, 2014 at 09:18

          Gonna be on par with PC ultra

          Reply

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 26, 2014 at 09:19

            No. I’m sure I saw a vid comparing PC ultra to PS4 and they were not the same. PS4 couldn’t handle all the additional effects and textures.

          • Umar_Zero

            May 26, 2014 at 09:23

            LOL just Kidding, I know won’t be the same

          • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

            May 26, 2014 at 09:28

            Watch Dogs PC – High = PS4.

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 26, 2014 at 09:43

            Cool thanks

    • MakeItLegal

      May 26, 2014 at 09:50

      That sounds like a flame bait …. These comments are Gana light up faster than malema in parliament

      Reply

  8. Tulipdame

    May 26, 2014 at 09:25

    Man I am so excited! But I gotta wait for a week, give or take. Ordered mine for Xbox One from Amazon Uk. Little depressed as I am still waiting for my Wolfenstein too. Damn you, i-parcel! They seem useless and incompetent. Lets hope not.

    Reply

  9. zeemonkeyman

    May 26, 2014 at 09:25

    I’m way more excited for Mario Kart 8!

    Reply

  10. MichaelMatusowsky

    May 26, 2014 at 16:06

    Only difference I saw in video: reflection/shadow quality and the fact that ultra ran at a visibly slower frame rate (I gather around 30 FPS whilst low was at about 50 FPS).

    Reply

  11. Abbie Clarrk

    May 26, 2014 at 17:59

    Are you a daredevil? I dare you to see this … CAUTION!! weak hearts DONT! go here http://goo.gl/fqY2RK

    Reply

  12. 1whiteguy

    May 26, 2014 at 18:08

    Getting this bad boy at midnight thanks to my 780 GTX I’ll be getting it for free… I can’t wait. Looks like a fun game.

    Reply

  13. Shannen Allison

    May 27, 2014 at 01:43

    I play this game alot because http://goo.gl/fwuuZK

    Reply

  14. Baldev Singh Gill

    May 27, 2014 at 03:59

    MY SPECS ARE:
    ASUS MOTHERBOARD P8 Z77 VLK
    RAM : 8GB
    VIDEO CARD : GTX 650
    am i able to run watch dogs??

    Reply

    • john

      May 27, 2014 at 07:31

      Yes

      Reply

  15. Morkatog

    May 27, 2014 at 12:28

    Works for me on my rig with msaa2x, graphics at ultra (shadows / reflections etc. low):

    Q6600 quadcore clocked to 2.7GHZ
    8GB DDR2 clocked at 900 Mhz
    HD68750 2GB version clocked at 925Mhz (gpu) and 1150Mhz (mem)

    Using Razer Game Booster for that little extra.

    Reply

  16. poulsen

    May 30, 2014 at 01:27

    Enjoying the game on my PC, all ultra settings and the game runs like a charm ! i5 4670k + AMD R290x 4gb + 8 GB of system RAM on Windows 7 64bit, full SSD. Built it specially for this game @1200€

    Reply

  17. Praveen

    July 9, 2014 at 09:36

    I have a laptop with i5 3rd gen processor , 4gb ram and 1gb nvidia graphics..will this game work on my machine ???

    Reply

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