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Results: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Radeon R9 295X2 8 GB Review: Project Hydra Gets Liquid Cooling
By , Igor Wallossek

2560x1440

Like Arma 3, four of our six graphics solutions are bottlenecked in Assassin’s Creed IV using the game’s most demanding quality features. AMD achieves slightly lower minimum frame rates than Nvidia, though the R9 290X in CrossFire and 295X2 never dip below 50 FPS.

See how the top four configurations maintain a fairly narrow performance band? Those solutions appear limited by some aspect of our overclocked platform. The Radeon HD 7990 and GeForce GTX 690 span a broader range dictated by the graphics workload.

AMD’s frame time variance is slightly higher across the board, though even our worst-case figures are still impressively consistent.

There are far more frame time spikes in Assassin’s Creed IV than there were in Arma 3, again, predominantly from AMD’s cards.

3840x2160

As with Arma 3, the apparent platform bottleneck in Assassin’s Creed IV isn’t as much of an issue at 3840x2160. Instead, these cards demonstrate low averages and less-than-ideal minimum frame rates using the game’s most taxing details.

The GeForce GTX 780 Tis don't appear to be limited by their 3 GB of GDDR5. Instead, the SLI array takes a first-place finish ahead of AMD’s Radeon R9 295X2 and Nvidia’s GeForce GTX Titans.

Our Assassin’s Creed IV benchmark requires a ton of manual intervention, so the frame rate over time charts isn’t as consistent as we’d like from one run to the next. The four fastest solutions clump up in a less-than-10 FPS-range, while the Radeon HD 7990 and GeForce GTX 690 drag along in unplayable territory.

Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 780 Tis and Titans in SLI offer very low frame time variance. The Radeons are also well-behaved in this gauge of smoothness.

It’s the GeForce GTX 690 that encounters the most serious issues. That card simply isn’t a player at this resolution, though. So, while it’s good to illustrate the limitations of 2 GB per GPU at 3840x2160, I’ll refrain from mentioning the board’s performance every time we test a game at 4K.

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Top Comments
  • Editor's Pick
    18 Hide
    JoeArchitect , April 8, 2014 7:53 AM
    @marciocattini

    "Wheres Tom's Hardware seal of approval..."

    This is addressed in the conclusion of the article:

    "We have an estimated price and an estimated date for availability. The past several launches were peppered by misses on both fronts, and we’ve learned our lesson about recommending gear before you can buy it."

  • 17 Hide
    ekagori , April 8, 2014 8:16 AM
    I like what AMD has done, it's good to know they are making a better effort with high end parts. Hopefully all this goodness trickles down to the next generation 20nm consumer friendly products.
  • 17 Hide
    tristangl , April 8, 2014 7:48 AM
    ok that just prove that 4k gaming for the average joe is still not around the corner
Other Comments
  • 6 Hide
    SVMreborn , April 8, 2014 5:19 AM
    The pricing of this beast really impressed me.
  • 10 Hide
    Marsian Gustrianda , April 8, 2014 5:25 AM
    Many people doubt about Dual GPU Hawaii will be Blow Up. It seems AMD really do well job. Nice Looking Card
  • 9 Hide
    ohim , April 8, 2014 5:27 AM
    This card is like the Veyron of WV , show the world what you can do (R295x2) but you`ll still relay on the sales of your WV Golf for revenue (270x, 280x)
  • -2 Hide
    ferooxidan , April 8, 2014 5:40 AM
    Finally the review of this beast! Now continue reading
  • 13 Hide
    outlw6669 , April 8, 2014 5:47 AM
    Impressive performance, temperatures and fairly low noise!
    I would prefer a bit lower price, but this looks like a great card for the gamer that has everything!
  • 9 Hide
    getochkn , April 8, 2014 5:55 AM
    Surprised you didn't do a mining hashrate test on it to see what it can push out.
  • 0 Hide
    gunfighter zeck , April 8, 2014 6:01 AM
    the name Dreadnaught originated from Dread Nothing or, fear nothing.
    Boss ship.
  • 11 Hide
    Maxamus456 , April 8, 2014 6:14 AM
    Hope this price stays low and not get bloated from bit con miners like its predecessors.
  • 11 Hide
    blubbey , April 8, 2014 6:27 AM
    So let me get this straight. It runs pretty cool, quiet, performs well and (for the moment) is able to play a good selection of games at 4k admirably and is priced competitively. Plus if you are going to drop a bit more on watercooling your GPUs (which is a possibility if you're spending $1200+) that gives this card even greater value. Nice work AMD.
  • -2 Hide
    marciocattini , April 8, 2014 6:28 AM
    Wheres Tom's Hardware seal of approval? =( clearly this card diserves some love!
  • 7 Hide
    spp85 , April 8, 2014 6:31 AM
    Sheeeer muscle power
  • 0 Hide
    Plusthinking Iq , April 8, 2014 6:32 AM
    this is what i want for all my high end gaming, but i would rather like to see aio water cooling only and a 140mm version that could go silent if needed, full cover water block like the tundra series is some of the best. but single card is the best like a 780ti cooled with a 140mm aio at 500rpm and quiet pump. MAKE IT HAPPEN!
  • 0 Hide
    ferooxidan , April 8, 2014 6:54 AM
    After reading the article my conclusion is: we need a beefier GPU next year for a truly comfortable 4K gaming experience. OMG games this day really take tolls on our rig. Some games only hit around 40-ish and some even down to 30-ish fps on 4K. Imagine next year AAA titles, even this beast will be tamed.
  • 0 Hide
    Wisecracker , April 8, 2014 7:02 AM

    Vesuvius erupts !! ... nice job, Toms.

    Conspicuous by their absence are power, temp and noise numbers from the Green Team -- which likely means they got smoked (in a really good way) across the board by dual Hawaii.

  • 4 Hide
    AMD Radeon , April 8, 2014 7:34 AM
    good guy AMD
  • 17 Hide
    tristangl , April 8, 2014 7:48 AM
    ok that just prove that 4k gaming for the average joe is still not around the corner
  • 0 Hide
    chuckydb , April 8, 2014 7:50 AM
    I hope some OEM make the cooler with a double radiator. That card can be cooler and completely silent.
  • 18 Hide
    JoeArchitect , April 8, 2014 7:53 AM
    @marciocattini

    "Wheres Tom's Hardware seal of approval..."

    This is addressed in the conclusion of the article:

    "We have an estimated price and an estimated date for availability. The past several launches were peppered by misses on both fronts, and we’ve learned our lesson about recommending gear before you can buy it."

  • 2 Hide
    St0rm_KILL3r , April 8, 2014 8:04 AM
    Well, at 1440p r9 295x2 = gtx 780ti sli. But at 3840x2160 it totally dominates every gpu. Wondering if gtx 790 will be able to keep up with it.
  • 17 Hide
    ekagori , April 8, 2014 8:16 AM
    I like what AMD has done, it's good to know they are making a better effort with high end parts. Hopefully all this goodness trickles down to the next generation 20nm consumer friendly products.
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