Crimson Desert on M1 Max: 1080p Benchmarks
Testing Crimson Desert at 1080p across all six quality presets with and without MetalFX and frame generation on the M1 Max. Fails to hit 60fps on any setting.
In the first part I established that Crimson Desert runs on the M1 Max but the experience isn't compelling. Now let's look at the actual numbers. All tests were performed at 1080p on an external monitor using a static scene during the first minute of gameplay, with foliage and trees swaying under moonlight.
Testing Methodology
I tested every quality preset the game offers: Minimum, Low, Medium, High, Ultra, and Cinematic. For each preset I measured average FPS across four configurations:
- No upscaling or frame generation (native)
- MetalFX Quality (no frame generation)
- MetalFX Performance (no frame generation)
- MetalFX Performance with frame generation
The MacBook Pro was plugged in with lid open, connected to an external 1080p 120Hz monitor.
The Numbers
Crimson Desert at 1080p on the M1 Max (MacBook Pro 14)
| Preset | No FG / No MFX | MFX Quality | MFX Perf | MFX Perf + FG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 25 | 27 | 29 | 52 |
| Low | 21 | 25 | 27 | 49 |
| Medium | 16 | 20 | 21 | 40 |
| High | 15 | 18 | 20 | 38 |
| Ultra | 12 | 15 | 18 | 33 |
| Cinematic | 10 | 13 | 15 | 28 |
All tests at 1080p on an external monitor. FPS measured during a static scene in the intro sequence. MFX = MetalFX, FG = Frame Generation.
Without any upscaling, even the Minimum preset only manages 25fps at 1080p. That's below the 30fps floor that the official spec sheet targets for the M2 Pro at 720p. The M1 Max simply doesn't have the rasterization throughput for this title at native resolution.
MetalFX helps, but not dramatically. Quality mode adds a couple of frames, Performance mode a few more, but the gains are modest compared to what frame generation provides. The MFX Performance + FG column is the only one that breaks 30fps consistently, peaking at 52fps on Minimum.
So it's playable with Frame Generation?
No, not really.
Those 52fps on Minimum with frame generation look playable on paper, but as I noted in the first part, the experience doesn't match the numbers. Frame generation inflates the counter but doesn't solve the underlying frame pacing problem. The interpolated frames introduce their own latency and the result is a game that reports reasonable framerates but feels sluggish and inconsistent to control.
This is the fundamental issue with the M1 Max and Crimson Desert, the baseline level of performance is too low for a playable experience, either the CPU performance is inadequate, the GPU is too weak, or architectural limitations prevent it from performing like later M-series chips. I think the reason for the poor performance is a combination of all of these factors.