The AMD Radeon RX 590 Review, feat. XFX & PowerColor: Polaris Returns (Again)
by Nate Oh on November 15, 2018 9:00 AM ESTTotal War: Warhammer II (DX11)
Last in our 2018 game suite is Total War: Warhammer II, built on the same engine of Total War: Warhammer. While there is a more recent Total War title, Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, that game was built on the 32-bit version of the engine. The first TW: Warhammer was a DX11 game was to some extent developed with DX12 in mind, with preview builds showcasing DX12 performance. In Warhammer II, the matter, however, appears to have been dropped, with DX12 mode still marked as beta, but also featuring performance regression for both vendors.
It's unfortunate because Creative Assembly themselves have acknowledged the CPU-bound nature of their games, and with re-use of game engines as spin-offs, DX12 optimization would have continued to provide benefits, especially if the future of graphics in RTS-type games will lean towards low-level APIs.
There are now three benchmarks with varying graphics and processor loads; we've opted for the Battle benchmark, which appears to be the most graphics-bound.
Along with GTA V, Total War: Warhammer II is the other game in our suite where the GTX 1060 6GB FE remains in the lead even against factory-overclocked RX 590s. NVIDIA hardware all fare well here, and for the RX 590 it has at least made up enough ground to nip at the GTX 1060 6GB FE's heels. And while the RX 590 represents a decent jump from R9 390 levels, it is still priced higher and draws more power than the GTX 1060 6GB.
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wumpus - Saturday, November 17, 2018 - link
Diminishing returns, sure. But the improvements are still there. Oddly enough, it looks like 2080ti Battlefield (raytraced edition) has a choice of [low] 1080P raytraced (at 72Hz) vs. super high resolution and/or frequency. I'm curious what buyers pick (assuming their cards don't fail).Don't forget the value of a big screen for 2d and "immersive" effects. I certainly loved going from 1024x768 15" to 1600x1200 19" (CRTs)_, even though it would be ages before GPUs would catch up to those resolutions (the 19" CRT likely predated by Voodoo card).
Can't tell about 1366x768, I went straight from CRT land (at least 1600x1200 and beyond) to 1080P and wouldn't touch 1366 (unless on a laptop). The 2d benefits are enough, although you might consider a second monitor, or simply find a sufficiently large 4k TV (60Hz *real* frequency minimum, and make sure the HDMI interface can take 60HZ) for 2d use.
Spunjji - Sunday, November 18, 2018 - link
I'd argue that point happens somewhere between 1080p and 1440p - the difference between 1080p and lower resolutions is painfully stark, especially when it comes to representation of textures. YMMV depending on screen size and preference, of course, but it sounds like you might want an update prescription :)sean8102 - Tuesday, December 18, 2018 - link
As someone who finally upgraded from 1080p to 1440p (27 inch IPS monitor for both, 75 Hz / or 60 Hz 10 bit on my new 1440p). I was very surprised at the difference. I was not expecting it to be very noticeable, but it def is . It's not night and day but its def a nice bump up in sharpness. But the main thing I love is the extra screen space. I also went from ivy bridge 3770K to 8700K. I'm hoping my EVGA GTX 1080 (regular not Ti) can last me at least 6 more months. Till the end of next year would be even better. So far so good, I don't mind bumping one or two settings down as long as I can get close to max settings and a mostly steady 60 FPS.HardwareDufus - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
I'm the same way...Hard $200 cap on SSDs, Video Cards, Motherboards and CPUs. However, I might bend on the CPU next time out. I was flexible when I purchased my current I7-3770K many years back.. I paid about $300 for it.
I'm hoping we get an 8 core / 16 thread Ryzen with onchip Vega graphics... Problem is no manufacturer will put two HDMI 2.0 ports on a decent mITX motherboard.
AndrewDarnell - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/7xz2fw/psa_o...NomanA - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Vega 56 is between $350-400 in US. There are higher priced Vega 56s as well, but you can find them below $400.limitedaccess - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
This is available for $370 at Newegg.ca currently.There are GTX 1070s between $450 - $500.
mapesdhs - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
It seems the NPCs are happy to follow NVIDIA's push to shove the entire pricing stack upwards, mainstream becomes $600. Oh dear.Btw, used 980 Tis are a decent alternative. Only just a little bit slower than a 1070 FE but usually about the same or cheaper than the 590 via normal auction. Not as much as VRAM as a 590, but I doubt that matters much at this level.
PeachNCream - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
NPCs?Spunjji - Sunday, November 18, 2018 - link
It's a derogatory term that implies an individual is a "non-player character", doomed to wander around following instructions and being led by others. You'll mostly see it used in an unintentionally ironic way by the alt-right to describe anyone who doesn't reside in their echo chambers.In this case I sort-of endorse the point, because I too am frustrated by the willingness of many in the supposedly tech-savvy enthusiast community to swallow this ridiculous and unnecessary price inflation.