Results: 1440p, 4K, CPU And Graphics Benchmarks
1440p @ Medium Details
AMD's 285 is the only card that dips below 60 FPS, but still manages a smooth minimum of 49. So far, it looks like Shadow of Mordor isn't a game that mid-range graphics cards have trouble running smoothly.
1440p @ Ultra Details
Increasing the test resolution to 1440p hurts the mid-range cards. AMD's Radeon R9 285 barely keeps its head above 30 FPS, while the Radeon R9 290X, GeForce GTX 970 and 980 keep on trucking.
4K @ Ultra Details
For our last graphics-oriented test, we dial in 3840x2160. We added the dual-GPU Radeon R9 295X2, but unfortunately couldn't get Nvidia's GeForce GTX 970 or 980 to work in SLI, since cards from different brands wouldn't cooperate.
Despite the taxing workload, only the GeForce GTX 970 is pushed below 30 FPS. Even then it remains playable. The other cards offer a small minimum frame rate advantage. At first glance, the Radeon R9 295X2 appears to boast a big advantage. But the frame rate over time chart shows significant dips in the rate, and frame time variance is higher than we're comfortable with.
CPU And Graphics Benchmarks
CPU performance matters as well. We used the GeForce GTX 980 at 1920x1080 with ultra details enabled to see how the most demanding graphics affect a variety of processors.
As you can see, the Lithtech engine doesn't appear limited by the processor it's run on, particularly when we emphasize graphics performance. Low-end models help generate similar frame rates as the most capable processors on the market.
Now, we'll illustrate what happens when you choose a texture resolution setting higher than the game recommends. In this case, we used a 1GB Radeon R7 260.
The settings menu told us to go with the low texture setting to complement our 1GB card. But from these numbers, it seems to be conservative in its guidance. We were able to bump up to the medium setting without a performance penalty. Then again, certain parts of the game might exact a greater texture load than the canned benchmark, so you might want to stick with the game's recommendation after all.