Black Flag Resynced on ROG Xbox Ally X

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced on the ROG Xbox Ally X

Quick take

ROG Xbox Ally X at 1080p and 25W, focused on FSR Performance and FSR Balanced with frame gen.
Benchmark (RTGI on, FSR Performance): Handheld Low 62 FPS average, Medium 56, High 51 at 25W, and Medium 48 at 17W.
Turning RTGI off only gains a handful of FPS. I think it's worth leaving on.
No major stutters or issues no matter what I did with settings. Frame times stay nice and smooth.
My custom settings keep the game above 40 and look really good.

It's finally time for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, and Black Flag is one of my favorite games ever, especially when it comes to Assassin's Creed. This one's been great. Ubisoft sent me a copy on the Ubisoft launcher a couple of days before this video, and I've been playing for about 48 hours, messing around with it on the ROG Xbox Ally X.

Test setup

ROG Xbox Ally X (Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme), Ubisoft Connect version of the game
1080p. I really don't need to turn it down, and there's no reason to bother unless you want to use less upscaling.
25W, with one 17W run in the benchmarks so you can see the difference
AMD FSR Performance, plus FSR Balanced with frame gen
The game's handheld presets (Handheld Low, Medium and High), plus my custom settings later on
Ray traced global illumination (RTGI) on, with an on vs off comparison
8GB VRAM (labeled in the video)

The game has a lot of settings and presets to play with: handheld presets, the regular presets from Ultra Low, Very Low, Low, Medium, High and Very High up to Ultra High, and any kind of custom in between. There's a lot of room to play here and adjust it how you want.

Benchmark results

The built-in benchmark at 1080p with FSR Performance and RTGI on (138-second runs, results screen shown in the video):

Preset	TDP	Avg	Min	Max	1% low	0.1% low
Handheld Low	25W	62	23	96	44	32
Handheld Medium	25W	56	21	85	40	29
Handheld High	25W	51	22	75	36	26
Handheld Medium	17W	48	17	71	32	24

Black Flag Resynced benchmark results on ROG Xbox Ally X at 1080p FSR Performance RTGI on: 62, 56 and 51 FPS average at 25W, 48 at 17W — Benchmark results, 1080p, FSR Performance, RTGI on: Handheld Low 62 FPS average and Handheld Medium 56 at 25W (top), Handheld High 51 at 25W and Handheld Medium 48 at 17W (bottom).

RTGI on vs off

RTGI only affects the game by a handful of FPS most of the time, and I do think it's worth leaving on. If you want even more FPS, turning it off is one more place to get it. These side-by-sides run Handheld Medium, FSR Performance at 25W with RTGI on (left) and off (right):

Black Flag Resynced on ROG Xbox Ally X, RTGI on at 48 FPS vs RTGI off at 53 FPS, 1080p Handheld Medium, FSR Performance, 25W — Nassau, Handheld Medium, 25W. Overlay reads 48 FPS with RTGI on (left) and 53 with RTGI off (right).

Black Flag Resynced on ROG Xbox Ally X at sea, RTGI on at 65 FPS vs RTGI off at 72 FPS, 1080p Handheld Medium, FSR Performance, 25W — Out at sea, same settings. Overlay reads 65 FPS with RTGI on (left) and 72 with RTGI off (right).

Gameplay: Handheld Low preset

In no case did I run into any major stutters or issues. It's pretty smooth, frame times are nice, and it really didn't matter what I did with settings: it stays nicely GPU bound and smooth regardless of the frame rate or upscaler you're targeting. Overlay readings at 1080p, Handheld Low, RTGI on, 25W:

Black Flag Resynced on ROG Xbox Ally X at 60 FPS, 1080p Handheld Low, FSR Performance, RTGI on, 25W — Running around on land, FSR Performance. Overlay reads 60 FPS.

Black Flag Resynced ship boarding on ROG Xbox Ally X at 59 FPS, 1080p Handheld Low, FSR Performance, RTGI on, 25W — Boarding a ship, FSR Performance. Overlay reads 59 FPS.

Black Flag Resynced on ROG Xbox Ally X with frame gen at 78 FPS, 1080p Handheld Low, FSR Balanced, RTGI on, 25W — FSR Balanced with frame gen, on land. Overlay reads 78 FPS.

Sailing in Black Flag Resynced on ROG Xbox Ally X with frame gen at 95 FPS, 1080p Handheld Low, FSR Balanced, RTGI on, 25W — FSR Balanced with frame gen, sailing the Jackdaw. Overlay reads 95 FPS.

My custom settings

Later in the video I switch to the custom settings I've been using, which bump things up a little more, like player-only hair strands, which I like to have on, and medium textures. They keep the game above 40 and look really good. Everything else from the screens in the video:

Setting	What I used
Resolution	1920x1080, no FPS limit, dynamic resolution off
Upscaler	AMD FSR, Performance (frame gen off, or FSR Balanced with frame gen)
Raytracing Mode	Standard (RTGI on)
Raytracing Quality / BVH Quality	Low
Character Quality	Very Low
Hair Strands	Player Only Low
Post Effects / Particles Quality	Low
Water Quality	Medium
Texture Resolution Quality	Medium
Loading Distance / Geometry Quality	Low
Micropolygon	Medium
Screen Space Effects / Light Source Quality / Shadow Quality	Low
Cloud Quality / Fog Quality	Low
Terrain Quality	Medium
Scatter Density / Deformation	Low
Terrain Texture Quality	Medium

Black Flag Resynced display settings on ROG Xbox Ally X: AMD FSR, Performance, frame generation off — Display settings: AMD FSR on Performance, frame generation off.

Black Flag Resynced custom settings on ROG Xbox Ally X: Raytracing Mode Standard, Raytracing and BVH Quality Low, Character Quality Very Low, Hair Strands Player Only Low — Raytracing Mode Standard, Raytracing and BVH Quality Low, Character Quality Very Low, Hair Strands Player Only Low.

Black Flag Resynced custom settings on ROG Xbox Ally X: Post Effects Low, Particles Low, Water Medium, Texture Resolution Quality Medium, Loading Distance Low, Geometry Quality Low — Post Effects and Particles Low, Water Medium, Texture Resolution Quality Medium, Loading Distance and Geometry Quality Low.

Black Flag Resynced custom settings on ROG Xbox Ally X: Cloud and Fog Low, Terrain Quality Medium, Scatter Density and Deformation Low, Terrain Texture Quality Medium — Cloud and Fog Quality Low, Terrain Quality Medium, Scatter Density and Deformation Low, Terrain Texture Quality Medium.

Overlay readings with my custom settings at 1080p, RTGI on, 25W:

Black Flag Resynced on ROG Xbox Ally X at 46 FPS, 1080p custom settings, FSR Performance, RTGI on, 25W — Custom settings, FSR Performance, running through town. Overlay reads 46 FPS.

Black Flag Resynced naval combat on ROG Xbox Ally X at 43 FPS, 1080p custom settings, FSR Performance, RTGI on, 25W — Custom settings, FSR Performance, at the helm in naval combat. Overlay reads 43 FPS.

Black Flag Resynced cannon fire on ROG Xbox Ally X with frame gen at 79 FPS, 1080p custom settings, FSR Balanced, RTGI on, 25W — Custom settings, FSR Balanced with frame gen, firing the cannons. Overlay reads 79 FPS.

Verdict

There's plenty here to show how the game runs, and you're going to enjoy Black Flag Resynced on the ROG Xbox Ally X. I'm having really no problems with it, and there's plenty of room to adjust it wherever you want, from the handheld presets for higher frame rates to my custom settings for a better-looking game that stays above 40.

FAQ

How does Black Flag Resynced run on the ROG Xbox Ally X?

At 1080p, 25W, FSR Performance and RTGI on, the built-in benchmark averaged 62 FPS on Handheld Low, 56 on Handheld Medium and 51 on Handheld High.

Should you turn off RTGI on the Xbox Ally X?

I think it's worth leaving on. In my side-by-sides it was only about 5 to 7 FPS lower than with RTGI off.

How does it run at 17W?

Handheld Medium at 1080p with FSR Performance and RTGI on averaged 48 FPS in the benchmark at 17W, vs 56 at 25W.

Want more handheld tests?

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