Meet The 2012 Graphics Charts: How We're Testing This Year

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It's time to revamp the Graphics Charts section! For 2012, we're increasing the number of games and resolutions, dividing the results into three segments. But that's not all. We also include GPGPU benchmarking, power consumption, temperature, and noise.

DirectX 11 Game Benchmarks, Part 2

DirectX 11 Game Benchmarks

For the second part of the DirectX 11 benchmark suite, we added some games from last year's entry-level charts, as well as some games that we haven't used before.

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City is a game that's optimized for DirectX 11 and sports an in-game benchmark that yields perfectly reproducible results. You can clearly see the game's visual quality improve as you switch to successively higher preset levels. PhysX is deactivated in this benchmark.

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Preset LevelResolutionSettings
Entry1280x720Anti-aliasing: Dectivated, Details: Low, PhysX: Off
Performance1920x1080Anti-aliasing: 4x MSAA, Details: High, PhysX: Off
Extreme2560x1440Anti-aliasing: 8x MSAA, Details: Extreme, PhysX: Off

StarCraft II

We use a lengthy replay for benchmarking StarCraft II and play it back at eightfold speed. This game doesn't stress the CPU, and is thus well-suited for GPU benchmarking. We deactivate Hyper-Threading for this test.

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Preset LevelResolutionSettings
Entry1280x720DirectX 11, Texture quality: Low, Graphics quality: Medium
Performance1920x1080DirectX 11, Texture quality: High, Graphics quality: High
Extreme2560x1440DirectX 11, Texture quality: Ultra, Graphics quality: Ultra

DiRT 3

We use the Adrenaline benchmark tool for DiRT 3. This game is able to use many threads, and it relies on a fast CPU. Therefore, it requires our Core i7 with Hyper-Threading turned on in order to realize a frame rate gain at the Entry-Level preset when faster cards like Nvidia's GeForce GTX 580 are benchmarked. Last year’s Core i5 noticeably dragged down the results.

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Preset LevelResolutionSettings
Entry1280x720DirectX 11, Quality: Low, Anti-aliasing: 0x, Route: Finland 0, Cars: 1
Performance1920x1080DirectX 11, Quality: High, Anti-aliasing: 4x MSAA, Route: Finland 0, Cars: 1
Extreme2560x1440DirectX 11, Quality: Ultra, Anti-aliasing: 8x, Route: Finland 0, Cars: 1

Battlefield 3

We benchmark two scenes from the single-player mission “Operation Swordbreaker,” which take even high-end graphics cards to their limit and are thus an excellent choice for benchmarks. We achieve consistent results by calculating the average of three scripted runs. Note that single-player missions typically achieve higher frame rates than more processor-bound multiplayer missions.

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Preset LevelResolutionSettings
Entry1280x720DirectX 11, Field of View: 60, Graphic Quality: Low
Performance1920x1080DirectX 11, Field of View: 75, Graphic Quality: High
Extreme2560x1440DirectX 11, Field of View: 90, Graphic Quality: Ultra

Next, we take a look at GPGPU benchmarks.

Igor Wallossek
85 Comments Comment from the forums
  • johnny_utah
    While I love the new techniques, using BITCOIN to bench GPUGPU performance instead of Folding @ Home? Um, okay.
    Reply
  • Still with the bar charts? Would *love* to see scatter plots with price/score on the axes... So much more useful in picking out a card.
    Reply
  • AznCracker
    Man the charts are dying to be updated. Too bad it isn't done more often since it takes a lot of work.
    Reply
  • You havent added how many cheese wheels it can run in skyrim as a benchmark... wth?
    Reply
  • DjEaZy
    ... i like the pile of card's @ the end of the article.... a beautiful pile...
    Reply
  • pharoahhalfdead
    johnny_utahWhile I love the new techniques, using BITCOIN to bench GPUGPU performance instead of Folding @ Home? Um, okay.
    I agree. I know Tom's spends a lot of time benchmarking, but Folding@home is something that is a bit more common. I would love to see F@H in some articles.

    BTW, I appreciate all the work you guys do.
    Reply
  • randomkid
    Where's the 5760x1080? In the area where I come from, 3x 1920x1080p 22" monitor cost around the same or even less than a single 2560x1440/1600 27" monitor so this is a more likely configuration among gamers.

    The 5760x1080 resolution will also push the GPU's harder than a 2560x1440/1600 could so why limit the resolution there?
    Reply
  • We'll add up to 20 new boards each month until the lower end of the performance range is filled out, too.
    How far back in GPU generations are you going to test, if at all? I saw the power consumption charts and could only see GTX 500, 600 and Radeon 6000, 7000 series. I have an EVGA GTX 480 SC for two years and do like to know how it compares to the newer series of GPUs. Much appreciated.
    Reply
  • Yargnit
    MMO FanYup no surprise here typical Nvidia benchmark suite fuck sakes.
    So what would YOU like to see used then? If they were trying to push Nvidia wouldn't Hawx 2 be in the suite?
    Reply
  • shinym
    For Starcraft II you say "This game doesn't stress the CPU, and is thus well-suited for GPU benchmarking." Looks like you got CPU and GPU mixed up there.
    Reply