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 RanchSmall
Our first test is with the built in RanchSmall demo. We did not run this as a timedemo. Again, this means that the camera follows a fixed path for a fixed amount of time and the game renders frames as fast as it can simulating game play. As for settings, we ran in DX10 mode with Ultra High quality and no antialiasing. AI was disabled, and we ran each test 3 times (the default). All driver options were left on their default settings except that we use centered timing for the display so that we can tell by looking at it what resolution is running.
The built in RanchSmall test is the one NVIDIA recommended we test with (AMD didn't recommend a particular test to us). We chose this test because it's the shortest built in demo and we wanted to acquire lots of data.
Generally, the GeForce GTX 280 leads the way followed by the Radeon HD 4870 1GB which performs essentially on par with the two GTX 260 parts. The 512MB variant of the 4870 suffers heavily from its limited framebuffer falling behind the two NVIDIA GTX 260 cards. The 4850 leads the 9800 GTX where it counts, and sometimes the 4830 is good competition for it as well. The 9800 GT comes in ahead of the 4670, which essentially performs on par with the 9600 GT.
With these settings running this test, everything from the Radeon HD 4670 / GeForce 9600 GT and up is playable at 1280x1024. The lower end hardware we tested doesn't post playable scores even at 1024x768, so less than Ultra High quality would be recommended for those parts. Dropping into DX9 mode would definitely make playability possible, while dropping back to Very High Quality DX10 might not provide enough of a boost.
SLI with the GT200 based parts shows very good scaling with at least a 75% improvement in framerate. We can't compare this to CrossFire at this point because of driver level consistency and performance issues. Without AA, GT200 SLI isn't taxed at all.
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 4830.
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.