Originally posted by Nightweaver20xx:

I have a RTX 2080 Super and almost all the settings turned to max, but I did not think that a game this rudimentary looking would cause my GPU to heat up more than Red Dead Redemption II, which is the only other game that heats it up that much. I don't know if there's some ridiculous lighting models or shaders at work in Valheim (because it does look amazing despite the pixelation), but I think that's too warm. My system should be able to easily handle Valheim without heating up that much.

Rudimentary - common mistake.

People assume polygons is what makes it a "modern game". Like 5 mil polygons on Lara Croft's butt.
In fact, the most performance draining things are shaders, and this game has plenty of them:
- Tons of screenspace reflections for wet surfaces(including during rain).
- Ocean is the most impressive piece. Pretty cool shader.
- Ambient occlusion.
- Accurate shadows.

With enough shaders, you can put ANY GPU on its knees. So, don't be make a mistake and treat amount of polygons as the only thing that makes the game modern.