Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation (DX12)

A veteran from both our 2016 and 2017 game lists, Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation remains the DirectX 12 trailblazer, with developer Oxide Games tailoring and designing the Nitrous Engine around such low-level APIs. The game makes the most of DX12's key features, from asynchronous compute to multi-threaded work submission and high batch counts. And with full Vulkan support, Ashes provides a good common ground between the forward-looking APIs of today. Its built-in benchmark tool is still one of the most versatile ways of measuring in-game workloads in terms of output data, automation, and analysis; by offering such a tool publicly and as part-and-parcel of the game, it's an example that other developers should take note of.

Settings and methodology remain identical from its usage in the 2016 GPU suite. To note, we are utilizing the original Ashes Extreme graphical preset, which compares to the current one with MSAA dialed down from x4 to x2, as well as adjusting Texture Rank (MipsToRemove in settings.ini).

We've updated some of the benchmark automation and data processing steps, so results may vary at the 1080p mark compared to previous data from last year.

Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation - 2560x1440 - Extreme Quality

Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation - 1920x1080 - Extreme Quality

Ashes: Escalation - 99th Percentile - 2560x1440 - Extreme Quality

Ashes: Escalation - 99th Percentile - 1920x1080 - Extreme Quality

With Ashes, the GTX 1660 edges out the RX 590, but at a decent distance from the GTX 1660 Ti. And like how Ashes offered the least amount of improvement in the suite for the GTX 1660 Ti over the GTX 1060 6GB, this also offers the least amount of improvement for the GTX 1660 over the GTX 1060 6GB and 3GB. Nevertheless, it still slightly outpaces the RX 590.

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  • flyingpants265 - Thursday, March 14, 2019 - link

    used cards have no warranty and arent a realistic option for most people
  • Bp_968 - Thursday, March 14, 2019 - link

    EVGA warranties are usually 3 to 5 years and transferable. And as long as it works for a week or so after you install it its likely good forever at that point. Out of the 120+ video cards I've owned and installed over the past 25 years I've only see a handful fail and the majority of those were DOA right off out of the box.
  • AustinPowersISU - Thursday, March 14, 2019 - link

    Do you work for Nvidia by chance? I mean, they had $500 million less sales in Q4 last year due to (partly) the used market eating into their profits. I guess bashing the reliability of old products is a way to increase sales of the new, but it damages the brand.

    If a $200 purchase would literally cause you massive financial pain if it broke, I would make the argument that you shouldn't be purchasing anything, regardless of warranty.

    I would also make the argument that a 1070 that has lasted for years is probably more reliable than turing, which had failure problems at launch.

    The true solution would be to actually release a product that increased performance over last gen at a better price, but that doesn't seem to happen with Nvidia anymore.

    Enjoy the lower performance for more money. I'll keep gaming on my 1070 I picked up for $175.
  • Mr Perfect - Thursday, March 14, 2019 - link

    Page one paragraph three starts with "Turing our eyes to NVIDIA’s new card then"

    I can't decide if that's a typo or a pun.
  • Ryan Smith - Thursday, March 14, 2019 - link

    I'm going to go with "both".

    Thanks!
  • atiradeonag - Thursday, March 14, 2019 - link

    $219 1660 offers better perf/$ than both RX 580 and RX590, AMD your move
  • Death666Angel - Thursday, March 14, 2019 - link

    RX590 was never a perf-per-dollar leader. RX580 still is according to TPU. TechSpot has the 1660 slightly ahead. Guess it depends on the seller and the price you can get. Does the 1660 offer any game addons? Seems like this is the first time in a while we have competition. Now we just need it for the 300€ range and we're golden. Let's see what Navi brings.
  • eva02langley - Thursday, March 14, 2019 - link

    Like I mentioned, at 180$, the RX 580 stand at 2.30$, below the 1660... and you get Resident Evil 2 and DMC 5 for free.
  • Qasar - Thursday, March 14, 2019 - link

    eva02langley and what if you dont want to play those games?? then what?
    RX580 starts at $320, 1660 $300 ( for preorder, price could change ) where i am ( canada ) i wish video cards were that inexpensive up here....
  • Death666Angel - Sunday, March 17, 2019 - link

    "what if you dont want to play those games?? then what?"
    Have you heard of this newfangled thing called "Ebay"?

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