Exclusive: SLI Head-to-Head: Monarch Micro-ATX vs. Shuttle SFF

Battlefield 2 1.12 Performance

Battlefield 2 performance was tested with the 1.12 patch. (We will hopefully update to the latest patch soon, though it doesn't seem to affect performance all that much.) The demo file is from the Operation Clean Sweep map and includes camera angles from a variety of vehicles. This was my first chance to test SLI performance in Battlefield 2, and I had heard previously that the results were wrong in such a configuration. I tested extensively to make sure that the results were correct, so let's see what we can find out.

(Note: During testing, the Revenge system had difficulty completing tests when running a single graphics card, especially with the 6800 GS. I could play the game for a couple of hours with no difficulties, but the benchmark would exit without reporting a score during many single GPU tests. Since I could play the game, this isn't a major problem, but several scores are missing for the Hornet system.)

All of the equivalent setups score reasonably close together, though once again, the Shuttle system comes out on top by a few percent. More important by far is the fact that Battlefield 2 is extremely CPU limited when running high quality mode. The single graphics card results come out on top at the lower resolutions, due to the small amount of CPU overhead associated with SLI. As for high-end graphics cards, even with the mighty FX-57 processor, a single 7800 GTX KO card is CPU limited up until 1600x1200 with 0xAA or 1280x1024 with 4xAA. If you find that hard to believe, all you need to do is look at the difference between the 3800+ and the FX-57 when running 7800 GTX KO SLI: the FX-57 is 20 to 29% faster in all tested resolutions! Even the 6800 GS SLI setup gets a decent benefit from the faster FX-57 processor: 14 to 21% depending on resolution and AA settings.

This is not to say that having two fast graphics cards is a bad idea for Battlefield 2, but you will definitely experience diminishing returns. If there's any game that could seriously benefit from additional processor power right now, it's Battlefield 2. Hopefully, DICE and Electronic Arts can put some effort into creating a dual core optimized version in the future.