AMD Frame Pacing Explored: Catalyst 13.8 Brings Consistency to Crossfire
by Ryan Smith on August 1, 2013 2:00 PM ESTBioshock Infinite
Bioshock Infinite is Irrational Games’ latest entry in the Bioshock franchise. Though it’s based on Unreal Engine 3 – making it our obligatory UE3 game – Irrational had added a number of effects that make the game rather GPU-intensive on its highest settings. As an added bonus it includes a built-in benchmark composed of several scenes, a rarity for UE3 engine games, so we can easily get a good representation of what Bioshock’s performance is like.
AMD and NVIDIA exchange places once more, with the 7990 taking a small lead over the GTX 690.
AMD’s initial situation with Bioshock was not as dire as it was in say Battlefield 3, but with deltas approaching 60% it wasn’t pretty either. Once more they’ve managed to get their delta percentages to around 20%, a level that is acceptable for now while leaving clear room for improvement. Especially as once more the 7990 delivers deltas more than twice those of the GTX 690.
Though on a side note, this game is a great reminder of just how much better single-GPU cards are at consistency. The best multi-GPU setup is at 8.2%; the worst single-GPU setup is 2.6%.
Graphically things are roughly as expected. It’s interesting to note that NVIDIA has some significant frame time spikes that AMD doesn’t encounter, though a single-GPU setup would shortcut the issue entirely.
AMD’s 95th percentile improvement isn’t nearly as pronounced in Bioshock. Meanwhile the higher variability does cost them just enough to have the 7990 fall behind the GTX 690 here.
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Feellia - Friday, August 2, 2013 - link
Not aimed at anyone, but flat out in any competitive game play the kind that has tourneys and pays out cash, Mostly fps such as quake..etc everyone has vsync off it flat out adds input lag...all the pros turn it off no matter what monitor is used, but no one is running a SLI/CrossfFire set up during these events.The pros typically lower settings quite damn low so they can push a steady 125fps and screen tearing is absolutely no concern. And if i have vsync on my aim % takes a nearly 25% dip
Anyway this is review is about duel+ cards, and kudos to AMD even though they still need a bit of work before going on a official non beta release = )
piwo - Friday, August 2, 2013 - link
can you check a10- 5750m with hd6670?dew111 - Friday, August 2, 2013 - link
I just got a second HD 7950, and this driver makes a HUGE difference! They should have done this earlier, but their timing was great for my first CrossFire setup :PJamesWoods - Sunday, August 4, 2013 - link
It's a crying shame they won't jump back to HD 4000 series or even HD 3000 series and fix these problems. I'm sure there is still quite a large loyal fanbase using these cards. I happen to own several systems with HD 4850's in them, and they can still set pace on a lot of modern games. Crossfire is another story. They never really felt optimized running in X fire.medi02 - Tuesday, August 6, 2013 - link
Is it me, or does nVidia have much lower min fps on a number of charts? =)transphasic - Tuesday, August 6, 2013 - link
Well done, AMD! You didn't bother to do anything about creating fixes for the single GPU setup, and basically ignored those w/o CF setups.You had 2 1/2 months without any new driver fixes, and THIS is the BEST you can do?
Major fail once again.
Thanks for nothing....
medi02 - Wednesday, August 7, 2013 - link
Exactly which single GPU setup is giving you micro stuttering problem?usrevenge - Wednesday, August 7, 2013 - link
Basically, AMD did a lot to fix the problems, but still leaves a lot of work to be done. I call these drivers a success.Nearox - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
Does this technology also apply to the HD6000 series (and in particular the HD6950)? Could anyone say if this will also work for Skyrim? Thinking about getting a 2nd hand hd6950 to go xfire with this, seeing the good results from this AnandTech test.lopper - Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - link
A question: Does this driver fix stuttering on dual graphics configurations like A10 +6670?