Far Cry 2 Dissected: Massive Amounts of Performance Data
by Derek Wilson on November 21, 2008 5:30 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Testing with AnandTech's Custom Demo
Our custom ~1200 frame demo is more stressful than the RanchSmall test. It doesn't feature any fire and AI is disabled. The sequence is partly running through some trees and partly running through a field. We designed the test to try and mirror some of the aspects of gameplay the built in demos didn't cover well. Because we wanted to run without AI, we didn't engage in any firefights, but this does a good job of showing another side of Far Cry 2 performance.
Aside from playing through much of a game before we test, we also like to test a few different internal benchmarks to get a feel for the numbers. Obviously we can't run everything before we commit to testing, but we try and do what we can. When using built in benchmarking tools, we also tend to favor our own tests just to avoid the possibility that a graphics chip maker would optimize for our benchmark. We don't see that as a large problem in the industry today (though it has happened before), but it's better to be safe when you can to try and maintain objectivity. And thus this will be the test we favor going forward with Far Cry 2.
With the exception of our 2560x1600 test, the Radeon HD 4870 1GB leads all single GPU configurations including the GeForce GTX 280. At 2560x1600 the 280 pulls ahead by a little more than 5%, but the fact that the 4870 is much cheaper and puts up that hard of a fight in this test is quite impressive. On the other hand, except at the lowest resolution the Radeon HD 4870 512MB card trails the GeForce GTX 260. As we saw with the built in tests, the extra 512MB of RAM makes a huge difference in Far Cry 2 with RV770.
The Radeon HD 4850 leads the slightly more expensive GeForce 9800 GTX, while the 9800 GT carries the slight advantage over the Radeon 4830. The Radeon 4670 crushes it's direct competitor (the 9600 GSO) and matches the performance of the more expensive 9600 GT at playable resoluitons. As with our other tests, while the now sub $80 4670 is capable of low res play with Ultra High quality DX10, spending less money means that you will need to drop the settings down to Very High or High quality (though you really shouldn't need to go lower than that).
The cheapest playable card at 1024x768 with these settings is the Radeon HD 4670.
The cheapest playable card at 1280x1024 with these settings is the Radeon HD 4670.
The cheapest playable card at 1680x1050 with these settings is the GeForce 9800 GT.
The cheapest playable card at 1920x1200 with these settings is the Radeon HD 4850.
The cheapest playable card at 2560x1600 with these settings is the GeForce GTX 260.
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JonnyDough - Sunday, November 23, 2008 - link
You should never buy a card for one game. If you're basing your purchase decision on just Far Cry 2 then you're a fool with more money than brains. Speculate about other games you're going to be playing in the future, and any others you currently own as well. THEN and only then should you be choosing a graphics card to purchase. If you buy the GTX 260 and then it doesn't run new games for the next year, then you essentially wasted your money. This is why it pays to stay well behind the curve. Buy a $100 card and $30 games, instead of a $300 card and $60 games.SiliconDoc - Saturday, November 29, 2008 - link
i GUESS YOU REPLIED TO HIM BUT DIDN'T READ WHAT HE WROTE jHONNY" lastly - driver issues. i dont JUST play farcry2. i play other games. just seems - and maybe im wrong and maybe things will change - that nvidia either avoids problems with games and/or fixes them better/more quickly than amd does. i dont want to have to wait or mess with things to get my game working. i want it working when i install it. "
I see - " i don't JUST play farcry2" - as well as "avoids problems with games "
So that would go beyond clearly and into DEFINITELY and beyond that and into ABSOLUTELY indicate he already stated he plays more than "just one game".
I guess you were agreeing 100% with him ? Well, it wasn't clear but in case you weren't...
Also, if someone buys a videocard for JUST ONE GAME - because that's al they play - why then they ARE NOT an idiot as you stated - they in fact do it because THEY PLAY JUST ONE GAME.
So nixay to thatay as well.
Next time instead of making incorrect rips, just say " you're correct I agree".
Thanks
kr7400 - Tuesday, December 2, 2008 - link
Can you please fucking die? Preferably by getting crushed to death in a garbage compactor, by getting your face cut to ribbons with a pocketknife, your head cracked open with a baseball bat, your stomach sliced open and your entrails spilled out, and your eyeballs ripped out of their sockets. *beep* bitch
I would love to kick you hard in the face, breaking it. Then I'd cut your stomach open with a chainsaw, exposing your intestines. Then I'd cut your windpipe in two with a boxcutter. Then I'd tie you to the back of a pickup truck, and drag you, until your useless *beep* corpse was torn to a million *beep* useless, bloody, and gory pieces.
Hopefully you'll get what's coming to you. *beep* bitch
I really hope that you get curb-stomped. It'd be hilarious to see you begging for help, and then someone stomps on the back of your head, leaving you to die in horrible, agonizing pain. *beep*
Shut the *beep* up f aggot, before you get your face bashed in and cut to ribbons, and your throat slit.
You're dead if I ever meet you in real life, f ucker. I'll f ucking kill you.
I would love to f ucking send your f ucking useless ass to the hospital in intensive care, fighting for your worthless life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po0j4ONZRGY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po0j4ONZRGY
I wish you a truly painful, bloody, gory, and agonizing death, *beep*
Souka - Friday, November 21, 2008 - link
Yeah... newegg.com has the evga part for $220 w/free ship and farcry 2.So in 6-9 months, when a new game comes out and you need more GPU horsepower, you can go pickup a 2nd video card for SLI action ...for perhaps $125-150...
phatmhatg - Friday, November 21, 2008 - link
maybe a silly question...but will i be able to sli a core 192 with a core 216? my guess is no...SirKronan - Saturday, November 22, 2008 - link
YES. You will be able to SLI a 192 core with a 216 core.Mr Roboto - Saturday, November 22, 2008 - link
It's going to utilize only 192 SP's on both cards though. So if you own a 260 192 and plan to SLI two of them it makes no sense to buy a 260 216.SirKronan - Saturday, November 22, 2008 - link
Why wouldn't you? Unless you're silly and put the new 216 core in the secondary slot ... With the new 216 in primary position, titles that don't scale will see the minimal, but still positive gains of the 216 over the 192, and you're still getting a lot of extra cores for your SLI boost in the titles that do scale:http://forums.slizone.com/lofiversion/index.php?t2...">http://forums.slizone.com/lofiversion/index.php?t2...
I would probably get an original 260 just because of current prices right now, but there's nothing wrong with the 216. nVidia did good on this one.