VRAM usage and Concluding
Graphics memory (VRAM) usage
How much graphics memory does the game utilize versus your monitor resolution with different graphics cards and respective VRAM sizes? Well, let's have a look at the chart below compared to the three main tested resolutions. The listed MBs used in the chart are the measured utilized graphics memory during our testing. Keep in mind; these are never absolute values. Graphics memory usage can fluctuate per game scene and activity in games.
This game will consume graphics memory once you start to move around in-game, memory utilization is dynamic and can change at any time. Often the denser and more complex a scene is (entering a scene with lots of buildings or vegetation, for example) results in higher utilization. With your close to the max "Ultra" quality settings this game tries to stay at a five towards 8 GB threshold. In Ultra HD that rises quickly towards roughly 9~10GB. We deem 8GB a good default value for any mainstream graphics card. Raytracing eats away a bit more VRAM, roughly 150 MB of it when enabled.
Concluding
F1 is a big cash-cow for Codemasters and thus EA these days, the licensed F1 game each year is released at full price, and each year there are marginal changes. Good to see though is that the game this year offers full DLSS support as well as raytracing support.
For the latter, the shadows are really good, without too much performance loss. However, the reflections in this fast-paced game are trivial at best but do cost a lot of performance. If you own an RTX card you'll gain some extra perf by enabling DLSS of course. We're a bit disappointed that the game does not include AMD's new FidelityFX Super Resolution. In the end, though, Codemasters re-release the game year after year, and in that sense, it's more of the same. It's still a good game though we're afraid that we'll be seeing lots of micro-purchases in due time after the EA takeover, ruining this title.
Truth be told - the graphics are good but still somewhat common somehow. We feel the sweet spot is 2560x1440 and with a modern card Ultra HD aT 3840x2160. For the absolute F1 fans, Codemaster F1 2021 is second to none really, there is no other title so precise as this one.
One reason to opt for the game is ray tracing, which made it into the game for the first time. it does offer prettier shadows and reflections there. However, even without raytracing, the game looks a bit nicer than its predecessor. We'll say it out loud though, raytracing is hardly noticeable in fast-paced motion - and that's what a racing game really is. If you decide to not use raytracing, then the performance will be great, even a very mediocre card can deal with the game well. We do like what Codemasters did with the 2021 edition, it's a good PC game title that many can enjoy.
- Download the latest NVIDIA GeForce graphics game-ready driver (download).
- Download the latest AMD Radeon graphics Adrenalin driver (download).
- Sign up to receive a notification when we publish a new article
- Or go back to Guru3D's front page.
