Battlefield 3 Performance: 30+ Graphics Cards, Benchmarked

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Are you wondering how your PC will handle Battlefield 3 before buying the game? We pulled a series of all-nighters to get almost every graphics card in our lab tested, in addition to a handful of processors, to answer your performance-oriented questions.

Benchmark Results: Nvidia Graphics Cards, Low Quality

Sliding back to older cards requires giving up a lot of quality. And even then, you can’t expect really great things from such dated hardware.

The GeForce GTX 260, GTS 250, and 9800 GTX are marginally playable at 1680x1050 at Low quality settings. From there, the numbers get less tolerable.

More problematic, though, is the fact that those are DirectX 10 cards. And, as we saw on the previous page, with a DX 10-based board installed, Terrain Quality gets dialed back to Low. This applies even if you have the High quality preset selected. The resulting shadows projected on the walls look like huge, blocky triangles that completely detract from an otherwise-gorgeous game.

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.
315 Comments Comment from the forums
  • kyosuke
    pffft. My HD 6870 handles Ultra maxed just fine!
    Reply
  • jrnyfan
    Great review, thank you very much!
    Reply
  • great review. but I am curious if a gtx 560ti can run ultra on a playable fps? because I am about to buy one :D
    Reply
  • 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)
    Reply
  • orellius
    blah, I guess my first comment didnt come through, nevermind then! ha
    Reply
  • spentshells
    Wow does it look good, I played the demo on Xbox did it ever look dumb
    Reply
  • 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.
    Reply
  • 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. :)
    Reply
  • 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.
    Reply
  • canadian87
    Frikkin' finally, now I can upgrade safely. :)
    Reply