Shadow of Mordor

The final title in our testing is another battle of system performance with the open world action-adventure title, Shadow of Mordor. Produced by Monolith using the LithTech Jupiter EX engine and numerous detail add-ons, SoM goes for detail and complexity to a large extent, despite having to be cut down from the original plans. The main story itself was written by the same writer as Red Dead Redemption, and it received Zero Punctuation’s Game of The Year in 2014.

For testing purposes, SoM gives a dynamic screen resolution setting, allowing us to render at high resolutions that are then scaled down to the monitor. As a result, we get several tests using the in-game benchmark. For low end graphics we examine at 720p with low settings, whereas mid and high end graphics get 1080p Ultra. The top graphics test is also redone at 3840x2160, also with Ultra settings, and we also test two cards at 4K where possible.

Shadow of Mordor on ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB ($560)Shadow of Mordor on MSI R9 290X Gaming LE 4GB ($380)Shadow of Mordor on MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2GB ($245)Shadow of Mordor on MSI R9 285 Gaming 2GB ($240)Shadow of Mordor on ASUS R7 240 DDR3 2GB ($70)Shadow of Mordor on Integrated Graphics

4K:

Shadow of Mordor on ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB ($560)Shadow of Mordor on MSI R9 290X Gaming LE 4GB ($380)Shadow of Mordor on MSI R9 285 Gaming 2GB ($240)

Gaming: GRID Autosport Power and Overclocking
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  • lopri - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link

    It's not Zen but it's their own chips of the past years. They even admit that the IPC is unchanged from Sky Lake, so the only way to sell this chip as something new is by jacking up the "official" clock frequency.
  • Bullwinkle J Moose - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link

    How is preventing anyone from securing their own computer an upgrade?

    How is limiting what you can do on your computer an upgrade?

    It is now legal for the FBI to hack into ANY computer ANYWHERE as long as you are using Windows 7/8 or 10, but I can stop them with XP

    So how is this an Upgrade?

    Security trumps your definition of "upgrade"
  • Murloc - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link

    they don't prevent you from using linux, BSD or even your own custom OS and securing your computer.
  • jimbo2779 - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link

    What does any of this or your other posts have anything to do with the processor reviewed.

    Can you go post this in a comment section about win vista - 10 so the rest of us aren't subjected to it.

    This article is about a cup not Windows.

    Thanks.
  • Bullwinkle J Moose - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link

    because Windows XP IS Secure if you know what you're doing!

    and my Windows software IS compatible with Windows, not Linux
  • eldakka - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link

    And most software that requires windows XP and is on 10-year old hardware will run just fine under an emulation environment (e.g. wine) on Linux. Or even inside a Windows XP VM running on a linux host OS.

    Emulation is of course much slower than native, but running an emulator on current generation hardware will still be faster than running native on that 10-year old hardware.

    That way you can get a modern operating system with support for modern hardware, without the windows 8/10 spyware, while still being able to run your old winXP apps.

    But if you have no desire or need to get a modern OS, if you are happy with XP and the performance that you get on your current hardware, then why the hell are you even asking these questions and looking here? The only reason you'd be looking and asking these questions is if you are interested in upgrading.
  • Bullwinkle J Moose - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link

    you sound confused eldakka
    what exactly is your point of running a secure OS from within a spyware platform with backdoored bitlocker encryption, keylogger, DRM and Windows components you cannot block in your firewall ?

    It is TRUE that Windows 10 is the most secure Version of Windows EVER, but Microsoft should finish the sentence.....

    Windows 10 is the most secure Version of spyware EVER for the FBI and the NSA, but NOT the End Loser (er...user)

    Funny how the Snowden Interview video disapeared from the Internet explaining how he could watch you as you type and edit your text at your computer BEFORE you send the message with your "secure" encrypted messaging app

    Those backdoors are there for a reason.....To spy on and hack any "modern" Windows Computer in the World which is why MS had to kill XP and why the Law was changed to allow the FBI to hack ANY computers, anywhere with a single warrant (that went into affect December 1st)

    The FBI could not do that if the back doors were closed, but you cannot close them on Windows 10
    computers

    But the REAL Trolls here won't discuss that now will they?
  • Dug - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link

    Because no one cares about your AWESOME Windows XP! Get of the Internets everyone!!!! OMG, Spy FBI CIA NSA HELPS ME!!!

    Really dude, you are awesome. Thanks for repeating the same crap over and over again and showing your real ignorance. If you really knew what you were doing, you wouldn't have to explain yourself.
  • Dug - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link

    And if you have SUPER SECRETS that you don't want anyone to know about, guess what?
    Don't go online? You do realize that just having any port open allows someone to see your packets. You really think your ISP is secure? Because once a packet leaves your house, it's not your network anymore.

    If any of the mentioned entities really want information from you, they'll just come in and physically take it.
  • 137ben - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link

    The most secure operating system is one which allows for no input and gives no output. At that point, it's not a computer.

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