VRMark, 3DMark & AotS: Escalation
VRMark & 3DMark
We aren't big fans of using synthetic benchmarks to measure game performance, but 3DMark's DX11 and DX12 CPU tests provide useful insight into the amount of horsepower available to game engines.
Futuremark's VRMark test lets you gauge your system's suitability for use with the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, even if you don't currently own an HMD. The Orange Room test is based on the suggested system requirements for current-generation HTC Vive and Oculus Rift HMDs. Futuremark defines a passing score as anything above 109 FPS.
AMD lists Ryzen 3 and its Ryzen 5 1400 as "VR Ready," while the higher-end Ryzen models are considered "VR Ready Premium." In VRMark at stock settings, we see the distance between the premium Ryzen 5 1500X and AMD's other CPUs. Frequency adjustments allow Ryzen 3 1300X to overtake the other contenders, including AMD's more expensive Ryzen 5 1400. And as we expected, Ryzen dominates its Intel competition.
We also see the benefit of AMD's core count advantage; Ryzen manhandles the Core i3 and Pentium processors in our threaded physics, CPU, and API tests. Meanwhile, the DX11-based single-threaded API metric favors Intel by a convincing margin due to its architecture's superior IPC throughput and higher clock rates.
Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation
Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation is a computationally intense title. Even beefy 10-core processors can't push past 60 FPS in the game's CPU benchmark, so it's not surprising to see overclocked budget-friendly chips struggling to hit 30 FPS.
Even still, this game rewards AMD with a convincing win against Intel. Stock Ryzens fall into a predictable hierarchy based on core count and SMT capabilities. To that end, the quad-core Ryzen 5 1400 beats the 1300X thanks to enabled SMT functionality.
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