Battlefield 3 Performance: 30+ Graphics Cards, Benchmarked

Name: Test Setup And Sequence - Battlefield 3 Performance: 30+ Graphics Cards, Benchmarked
Author: Chris Angelini

by Chris Angelini October 27, 2011 at 11:00 PM

315 Comments

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

Tom's Hardware Battlefield 3 Benchmark Sequence

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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Summary

About the author

Chris Angelini @chris_angelini

Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.

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315 comments

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kyosuke

pffft. My HD 6870 handles Ultra maxed just fine!
jrnyfan

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
orellius

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)
orellius

blah, I guess my first comment didnt come through, nevermind then! ha
spentshells

Wow does it look good, I played the demo on Xbox did it ever look dumb
m0th2

sirus3020great 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.
kcorp2003

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.
aznshinobi

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.
canadian87

Frikkin' finally, now I can upgrade safely.
alhanelem

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
the torso

running x fire 6950's and besting 78FPS avg fps on ultra, i5 2500k W/ Thank God no problems with multi GPU
saratj1

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
saratj1

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
amk-aka-Phantom

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?
cangelini

amk-aka-phantomGreat 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? =)
amirp

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.
cangelini

aznshinobiGreat 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 ;-)
sentinelspark

Okay how is the HD5850 better than the HD6850. The HD6850 has better memory clock speeds. I was able to play the game in 1080p and AAx2 and all but two on ultra high, and i was getting 35fps average. I am calling Bulls**t on this one.
Gamer-girl

Quote:

Processor-wise, it doesn’t really matter. I could pick an AMD FX, an Intel Core i3, or a Core i7 and get the same performance.

Surprising since some people where saying how BF3 was CPU intensive...
wolfram23

Man I wish my 5850s scaled like the 6xxx series! Still, looks like I'll get to play on Ultra given my OCs

Thanks Chris and Toms!

(PS: Maybe you could send me one of those spare GTX 590s??)
amk-aka-Phantom

cangeliniI actually don't even have two 560 Tis to show you, unfortunately. Phenom? FX? Where? =)

What? You don't have two 560 Tis??? That's blasphemy!

Phenom FX? Why, right here....

EDIT: Chris >>>>> Wolfgang
E6700 non OC with 460 GTX gets no huge FPS drops mostly in the 40fps range.

I'm sure I'd get +10 fps if I got some new fancy CPU but looks like I'll do just fine for now until I get some money!