Battlefield 4, Far Cry 4 And Grand Theft Auto V
Throughout our benchmarks, the most relevant comparison is going to be between Nvidia’s recently-released GeForce GTX Titan X and the 980 Ti based on the same GPU. But it’s also worth paying attention to Radeon R9 295X2, which sometimes sells for less than the 980 Ti’s $650, is almost always faster, but also accompanied by some baggage you’d have to accept for that relationship to work.
Battlefield 4
In Battlefield 4, AMD’s current flagship has little trouble landing a first-place finish—not surprising given its two Hawaii GPUs running at full speed. The GeForce GTX Titan X and 980 Ti average within one frame per second of each other at both 2560x1440 and 3840x2160.
At 4K, that means the 980 Ti is quite playable using the game’s Ultra quality preset. The 980, on the other hand, averages 78% of the 980 Ti’s performance, arguably falling short.
Far Cry 4
The same rings true in Far Cry 4. GeForce GTX 980 Ti nips at Titan X’s heels, both cards trailing the Radeon R9 295X2 significantly.
This time, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 980 achieves 79% of the 980 Ti’s performance at 3840x2160, barely keeping its nose above a 30 FPS average. Really, you’d need to dial the detail settings back a ways before calling the 980 enjoyable at 4K. Nvidia’s GM200-based boards are definitely better-equipped for the more taxing workload.
Grand Theft Auto V
GTA V is a new addition to our suite, and it offers a bevy of graphics quality options to achieve optimal performance. We’re deliberately hammering these GPUs with a debilitating combination of settings, and most of them hold up well at 2560x1440. AMD’s Radeon R9 295X2 is the exception, demonstrating erratic dips and spikes that smooth out somewhat at 3840x2160.
Our 4K tests add more separation between AMD’s flagship, the two GM200-based cards and the rest of the field. GeForce GTX Titan X and 980 Ti are largely playable, particularly because this title doesn’t involve a ton of snappy movement. Everything under those two cards is marginal, though you could certainly relax the quality options to improve performance.
