So this week I noticed Baldur’s Gate 3 had a new patch talking about better shadows and lighting. Looked nice in the screenshots. But me being me, I just gotta know what that shiny stuff costs my poor graphics card. Can my PC handle it? Time for a quick and dirty test.
Getting Started
First thing I did was download the patch. Obvious step, right? Took a while, just grabbed a coffee. Then I fired up the game. To keep things fair, I went back to my save file just outside the Druid Grove. Lots of trees, rocks, sunlight beams – figured it would really push the shadows and light stuff.
Set everything to Ultra for my graphics options. My baseline. I know my PC usually chugs a bit here anyway. Launched FRAPS to track the FPS numbers – simple tool, gets the job done for quick checks.
The Baseline Test
Okay, ran around the same little area for a minute with the OLD settings – the pre-patch look. I did:
- Stood under big trees watching the leaf shadows.
- Walked into shaded caves near the river.
- Swung the camera around fast to stress things.
Kept an eye on FRAPS. FPS bounced around like usual. Felt… normal. Like my PC coughing politely. Numbers mostly hung out between 62-78 FPS in that spot. Jotted down an average – maybe around 69 FPS. Not super smooth for me, but playable.
The New Shiny Stuff
Time for the upgrade. Restarted the game real quick – gotta make sure those changes actually kick in properly. Loaded the same save. Immediately noticed the lighting felt different. Sunlight felt warmer? Shadows seemed deeper under some rocks. Hard to describe, but it looked fancier, I guess.
Ran the exact same route again:
- Stood under same trees.
- Ducked into same caves.
- Whipped the camera around again like a crazy person.
Glued to FRAPS again. And yeah… saw the hit right away. Little drop in the numbers. The FPS counter wasn’t dropping off a cliff, but it was definitely lower than before. Felt a tiny bit less smooth.
The Raw Numbers
Okay, cut the chatter. What did my little unscientific jog around the Grove show?
- Old Settings Average: Hovering ~69 FPS (nice). That was my baseline.
- New “Improved” Settings Average: Slipped down to ~63 FPS. Consistent drop in my tests.
So roughly a 6 FPS loss on average in that specific area running Ultra everything.
My Take
Honestly? A bit disappointed. The visual upgrade? Yeah, maybe it’s there? But I gotta squint to really tell the difference during actual play. It wasn’t “wow amazing” level for me. But the cost? Yeah, my frames took a small hit. Six frames might not sound huge, but on my setup, which is already pushing it in Ultra, going from 69-ish down to 63-ish? You feel that little extra stutter during busy fights or panning the camera fast.
If you’ve got a beast rig? Go nuts, crank it up. Won’t hurt as much. But if you’re like me, flirting with playable framerates on high/ultra already? That “improvement” might just not be worth the frames it eats up. Seems like yet another pretty setting you gotta pay for. Turned it off after my test.