System Builder Marathon Q3 2014: System Value Compared

Results: Far Cry 3

I’ve always been curious about Don’s low-resolution performance scaling in Far Cry 3, since it’s something neither Paul nor I have been able to replicate (even when I’m using the same hardware). Maybe it’s not that we’re doing something wrong—maybe it’s that he’s benchmarking differently.

The $600 machine survived all of its Far Cry 3 tests at our lower test settings, but becomes unplayable at our higher settings. According to Paul, smooth gameplay is possible by either dropping from 1920x1080 to 1600x900 or from Ultra to Very High quality.

The $1300 machine makes a valiant effort to reach 5760x1080 at Ultra quality, but even the $1600 PC struggles. Thankfully, the drop between average and minimum is small in this title, with a 22 FPS minimum recorded for the $1600 machine’s baseline test.