Test Setup And Sequence
| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processors | Intel Core i7-2600K (Sandy Bridge) 3.4 GHz (34 * 100 MHz), LGA 1155, 8 MB Shared L3, Turbo Boost enabled, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled |
| Intel Core i3-2105 (Sandy Bridge) 3.1 GHz (31 * 100 MHz), LGA 1155, 3 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled | |
| Intel Core i7-875K (Lynnfield) 2.93 GHz (22 * 133 MHz), LGA 1156, 8 MB Shared L3, Turbo Boost enabled, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled | |
| Intel Core i3-530 (Clarkdale) 2.93 GHz, LGA 1156, 4 MB Shared L3, Power-savings enabled | |
| AMD FX-8150 (Zambezi) 3.6 GHz (18 * 200 MHz), Socket AM3+, 8 MB Shared L3, Turbo Core enabled, Power-savings enabled | |
| Motherboard | Asus P8Z68-V Pro (LGA 1155) Intel Z68 Express, BIOS 0801 |
| Asus Maximus III Formula (LGA 1156) Intel P55 Express, BIOS 2001 | |
| Asus Crosshair V Formula (Socket AM3+) AMD 990FX/SB950, BIOS 0813 | |
| Memory | Crucial 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1333, MT16JTF1G64AZ-1G4D1 @ 1.65 V |
| G.Skill 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-2133, F3-17000CL9Q-16BZH @ 1.65 V | |
| Hard Drive | Intel SSD 510 250 GB, SATA 6Gb/s |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon HD 6990 4 GB GDDR5 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 2 GB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 2 GB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 5970 2 GB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 1 GB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 1 GB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 1 GB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 6850 1 GB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 5770 1 GB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 5750 1 GB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 4870 512 MB GDDR5 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 4850 512 MB GDDR3 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 4770 512 MB GDDR5 | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 512 MB GDDR4 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 5570 512 MB GDDR5 | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 3 GB GDDR5 | |
| Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 1.5 GB GDDR5 | |
| Asus GeForce GTX 570 1.25 GB GDDR5 | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 1.5 GB GDDR5 | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 1.25 GB GDDR5 | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 1 GB GDDR5 | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 1 GB GDDR5 | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 896 MB GDDR3 * 2 | |
| BFG GeForce GTX 285 1 GB GDDR3 | |
| Zotac GeForce GTX 275 896 MB GDDR3 | |
| Zotac GeForce GTX 260 896 MB GDDR3 | |
| BFG GeForce GTS 250 1 GB GDDR3 | |
| BFG GeForce 9800 GTX 512 MB GDDR3 | |
| Asus GeForce 8500 GT 256 MB DDR3 | |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master UCP-1000 W |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Graphics Driver | AMD Catalyst 11.10 Preview 3 |
| Nvidia GeForce Release 285.62 | |
The video clip above demonstrates the short sequence used for benchmarking. It's not the most demanding segment of Battlefield 3 I've seen thus far, nor is it necessarily the most representative of single-player game play (and certainly not multi-player). However, after a couple of hundred runs, I know it's consistent.
That makes this system precise, but not necessarily accurate, so its validity could certainly be called into question. The challenge in a game like this, which doesn't offer the timedemo functionality purportedly made available to IHVs, but not press, is that nailing both precision and accuracy then becomes very difficult due to Fraps-based testing of actual sequences. While not perfect, what we have here is, at the very least, great for relativistic comparisons.
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pffft. My HD 6870 handles Ultra maxed just fine!
Great review, thank you very much!
great review. but I am curious if a gtx 560ti can run ultra on a playable fps? because I am about to buy one
nevermind my comment about 560 Ti, I see it in the benchmarks (high) but it is not on the main page list of cards (missed putting it there?) (yes, I used the search feature in my browser, no 560 to speak of)
blah, I guess my first comment didnt come through, nevermind then! ha
Wow does it look good, I played the demo on Xbox did it ever look dumb
great review. but I am curious if a gtx 560ti can run ultra on a playable fps? because I am about to buy one
Without any form of AA you can run it on ultra and get over 30fps on every map @ 1920x1080 easily (over 60 when close quarters). Depends on your cpu and if you OC your gpu though. i have mine at 940/2100 and its always above 40fps.
AWESOME! thank you very much for this. looks like i wont have to upgrade my CPU then. i have HD4870 and i play this on medium settings but still i want the ultra settings.
Great read, lovely to see a wide assortment tested, specially my 5850. Thanks for taking the time Chris, I'm sure it must've taken FOREVER to bench and swap all those cards.
Frikkin' finally, now I can upgrade safely.
looks like my e8500 and gtx 460 can pull through this game (hopefully)
I run BF3 in 1920x1080 ultra MSAA4x with my X4 955+HD5770 and it works fine. Playable 30fps
running x fire 6950's and besting 78FPS avg fps on ultra, i5 2500k W/ Thank God no problems with multi GPU
For anyone interested I get
min - 21 Fps
Max - 71 Fps
Avg - 41.2 Fps
Everything maxed at 1080P
I7-2600k @ 4.3 + Sapphire 6950 2gb Flashed to 6970 with stock clocks 880 1250
For anyone interested I get
min - 21 Fps
Max - 71 Fps
Avg - 41.2 Fps
Everything maxed at 1080P
I7-2600k @ 4.3 + Sapphire 6950 2gb Flashed to 6970 with stock clocks 880 1250
Great article and I love that picture with a pile of graphics cards
Just one obvious thing missing: WHERE ARE SLI 560 Tis??? I was kind of considering picking up a second card for this game... come on, I'm sick of Tom's ignoring that card so often.
Good to see that. And yet I hear the game looks great... kudos to DICE for optimizing the game nicely!
Though I think my 560 Ti still doesn't need a pair if I tone down the settings a tiny bit
Also, 6950 kicked the 560 Ti nicely in this game
P.S. So the FX 8150 now has a Phenom name tag on it?
Great article and I love that picture with a pile of graphics cards Just one obvious thing missing: WHERE ARE SLI 560 Tis??? I was kind of considering picking up a second card for this game... come on, I'm sick of Tom's ignoring that card so often.Though I think my 560 Ti still doesn't need a pair if I tone down the settings a tiny bit Good to see that. And yet I hear the game looks great... kudos to DICE for optimizing the game nicely! Also, 6950 kicked the 560 Ti nicely in this game P.S. So the FX 8150 now has a Phenom name tag on it?
I actually don't even have two 560 Tis to show you, unfortunately.
Phenom? FX? Where? =)
Hey Chris, quick question, did you notice any micro-stuttering with the 6870 cards in crossfire? (kind of like that previous article that was up on toms a while ago). The performance of 6870x2 seems amazing for the price, and am really tempted to pick another one up for my system.
Great read, lovely to see a wide assortment tested, specially my 5850. Thanks for taking the time Chris, I'm sure it must've taken FOREVER to bench and swap all those cards.
Very welcome, glad you enjoyed it. Didn't take forever, just four very long days ;-)