Resident Evil 5: Demo Performance Analyzed

Conclusion

We have learned some interesting tidbits of information from this little adventure.

The good news is that Resident Evil 5 is a gorgeous game, but is still very playable on a large range of hardware. While the game engine prefers at least a triple-core CPU and a GeForce 9600 GT or better for high-detail and high-resolution play, you can have playable performance at 1680x1050 at attractive medium settings with a lowly Radeon HD 4650 and a dual-core processor.

Perhaps the most interesting result of our investigation is the revelation that the DirectX 10 option does not offer any enhanced visuals whatsoever, even though it cripples Radeon cards and slows the GeForces a bit. Now that we know that DirectX 10 mode is associated with Nvidia's GeForce 3D Vision glasses, it makes sense that the setting doesn't work well on the Radeon cards and is something that only GeForce owners with the stereoscopic technology would ever want to use.

There's a lesson to be learned here: just because DirectX 10 sounds more advanced doesn't mean us gamers should automatically assume it will look better. Unless you have Nvidia's GeForce 3D Vision LCD glasses, there is no reason whatsoever to enable the DirectX 10 mode of the game and suffer the associated performance hit.

In any case, it's good to know the game looks poised to perform well on the average gaming system, and we look forward to playing it in all of its glory when the title is released later this week.

  • gkay09
    Does this imply that game developers in general dint even utilize the full potential of DirectX 9 and jumped on DirextX 10 bandwagon and now to DirextX 11?
    Reply
  • renz496
    i've tried the benchmark before. the dx 10 produce slightly better frame rate than dx9. this game have better performance in dx 10 compared to dx 9 in my machine
    Reply
  • yellosnowman
    Am I going blind or is there no HD4890
    or is this just a quick benchmark before the HD5*** series
    Reply
  • mitch074
    @yellosnowman: there is a 4890, but it's been downclocked to 4870 levels (read the article) to be used as reference for Radeon performances (tests on Radeon wasn't too extensive, as the benchmark is optimized for Nvidia hardware). And yes, with HD 5xxx almost there, doing complete benchmarks here is pretty much useless: the game is playable with everything at full on a Radeon HD 4770 up to Full HD quality.
    Reply
  • Spathi
    Can you test it on Larrabee plz, ty
    Reply
  • voltagetoe
    Gkay09, Direct X 10 was a failure because Vista was a failure. DX 9 has been thoroughly utilized - there has been no other choice.
    Reply
  • juliom
    On the variable benchmark @ 1680 x 1050 2x AA my Phenom II x4 955 and Radeon 4870 pulls and average of 80 fps in directx 9. I'm happy and have the game pre-ordered on Steam :)
    Reply
  • amnotanoobie
    voltagetoeGkay09, Direct X 10 was a failure because Vista was a failure. DX 9 has been thoroughly utilized - there has been no other choice.Wasn't it more of because the mainstream DX10 cards (8600GT and 2600XT) didn't really perform well, and even some were beaten by previous generation cards. As such, pushing the detail level higher might mean fewer sales as fewer people had the cards to play the games at decent levels (8800GTS 320MB/640MB or 2900XT).
    Reply
  • HTDuro
    DX10 isnt really a failure .. if programmer take time to really work on DX10 optimisation .. more on SM4.0. remember Assassins creed? ubisoft take time to work on SM4.0 and the game work better in D10 than 9 ... higher framerate with better shadow
    Reply
  • pirateboy
    looks like yet another boring shooter mainly targeted at console users.
    RE5 = FAIL
    Reply