DirectX 9: Low-Detail Benchmarks
Before we check anything else, we’d like to see if Crysis 2 was further optimized to perform better on lower-end graphics hardware. Both AMD and Nvidia have had time to update their drivers since this game first emerged, so let’s see how the budget-oriented cards perform:
We consider a minimum frame rate of about 30 frames per second (FPS) to be smooth enough for casual play, and at 1280x1024, the GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 and Radeon HD 6570 are the least expensive options able to push that degree of performance. At 1680x1050 and 1920x1080, you’d want at least a Radeon HD 5770 or GeForce GTX 550 Ti. These are relatively demanding minimum requirements, but keep in mind that Crysis 2 is a very good looking game, even at its lowest detail settings.
Compared to the Crysis 2 demo benchmarks we ran in Crysis 2 Performance Previewed And Analyzed, low-end graphics card performance is higher at 1280x1024. As the resolution increases, this improvement disappears, though.
