Far Cry 3 GPU and CPU benchmarks [PCGH.de]

[Silverforce11]

Pcgamesharware update:

They are using HDAO and 4xMSAA while Guru3D uses SSAO and 2xMSAA.

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Far-C...y-3-Test-Grafikkarten-CPU-Benchmarks-1036726/

Interesting to see that these performance drivers also boosted Cayman performance by a LOT, but totally nothing for Evergreen. They are very similar architecturally (VLIW), one would expect both to increase..

Looking at NV's drivers, Fermi cards and Kepler get similar boosts.

 

[Skurge]

Interesting to see that these performance drivers also boosted Cayman performance by a LOT, but totally nothing for Evergreen. They are very similar architecturally (VLIW), one would expect both to increase..

Looking at NV's drivers, Fermi cards and Kepler get similar boosts.

Interesting indeed, although cayman is clobering fermi.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I had to stop playing to report how critical it is to your SLI gaming experience to NOT use Nvidia's default SLI profile. You must use the modified bits. The difference is 30fps to 70fps. I just went back to the other bits and holy crap, what a shame it is that Nvidia would bork us like this.

I think cause they don't want people moaning on forums that their cards go to 70c instantly lol.

In all seriousness I don't know why nvidia does that. The same thing happened with sleeping dogs.

Can someone explain to me what bits are? I have a few friends with SLI and wouldn't mind helping them out.

In nvidia inspector there is an sli compatibility bit flag in there for dx9 and for dx10+. You modify the games profile with a custom code. Then when you save it, it applies it at the driver level. There are also custom bits for various AA modes that can override the default.

To access this part of inspector open it and next to the driver version, click the wrench icon. Then find the correct game profile and edit the appropriate field. Then click apply settings.

 

[Whitestar127]

I started the game for the first time yesterday. When I played in 1280x1024 (on my 5970) in DX11 using optimal settings, the game was jerking and stuttering all over the place. Totally unplayable.

I switched to DX9 and it was smooth as a baby's bottom.

But I'm still using the 12.6 driver. I suppose that may be the problem?
Does anyone know if the 12.11 beta is good in Skyrim as well?

 

[toyota]

yep DX11 in Far Cry 3 is as bad or worse as DX10 was in Far Cry 2 when it was released. of course in a couple years we will have people claim they do not ever remember any DX11 issues with the game just like when I mentioned DX10 for Far Cry 2 the other day.

 

[Deders]

I remember the far cry 2 issues, but I thought that was down to video memory at the very highest settings, it was smoother if i turned a couple of settings down.

Far cry 3 was very smooth for me from the day of release, but i'm using Nvidia hardware. Maybe the drivers are more optimised, probably a good idea to use the AMD beta, I doubt they would impair Skyrim performance.

 

[toyota]

I remember the far cry 2 issues, but I thought that was down to video memory at the very highest settings, it was smoother if i turned a couple of settings down.

Far cry 3 was very smooth for me from the day of release, but i'm using Nvidia hardware. Maybe the drivers are more optimised, probably a good idea to use the AMD beta, I doubt they would impair Skyrim performance.

no with Far Cry 2, it was simply DX10 that stuttered despite having a higher framerate on the higher settings. vram had nothing to do with that specific issue.

 

[DrBoss]

DX11 yields better performance for me than DX9 in Far Cry 3. Other have reported this as well... for some DX9 is better, its a toss of the coin, the game's performance is all over the place.

That said, 1680x1050 w/ Ultra settings, HBAO, advanced A2C, MSAA 4x - i get from 50 to 85fps in game. Cut scenes run around 40fps.

The 1.02 patch and new Nvidia driver added about 6 fps for me.

I'm 2/3rds through the game... love it. While it has some short comings, it is certainly my GOTY. Really dig the open world and the sense of scale. Graphics are good enough, it's the gameplay that really shines.

 

[96Firebird]

That said, 1680x1050 w/ Ultra settings, HBAO, advanced A2C, MSAA 4x - i get from 50 to 85fps in game. Cut scenes run around 40fps.

Hmm... Hopefully I won't have a problem playing the game with decent settings then. I will also be running at 1680x1050, but I might have to turn AA off and decrease some of the settings. Not bad for an old GTX 460...

 

[toyota]

AGAIN just like in Far Cry 2, better framerates does not mean smoother overall experience. I have seen no reports of stuttering in DX9.

 

[DrBoss]

Hmm... Hopefully I won't have a problem playing the game with decent settings then. I will also be running at 1680x1050, but I might have to turn AA off and decrease some of the settings. Not bad for an old GTX 460...

My monitor's native resolution is 1920x1200 but it has 1:1 scaling, so if i ever want to up performance i just drop a resolution and deal with the smaller image with black borders around it.

1920x1200 is playable on my rig, but during intense gamplay the fps drop down to the mid 30's.

Turning AA off grabs me another 15 or 20 fps, so that may be the ticket for your gtx460.

 

[sze5003]

I deff need to try out the cat profiles. I'm only in the second mission. Man pc version compared to ps3 is much brighter.

 

[DrBoss]

AGAIN just like in Far Cry 2, better framerates does not mean smoother overall experience. I have seen no reports of stuttering in DX9.

I don't have stuttering in DX11. The game plays with a higher fps and smoother in DX11 (for me).

EDIT: is your statement(s) focused solely on multi-gpu rigs? I'm not running SLI or Crossfire, which seem to be the main cause of "stuttering".

 

[raghu78]

DX11 yields better performance for me than DX9 in Far Cry 3. Other have reported this as well... for some DX9 is better, its a toss of the coin, the game's performance is all over the place.

That said, 1680x1050 w/ Ultra settings, HBAO, advanced A2C, MSAA 4x - i get from 50 to 85fps in game. Cut scenes run around 40fps.

The 1.02 patch and new Nvidia driver added about 6 fps for me.

I'm 2/3rds through the game... love it. While it has some short comings, it is certainly my GOTY. Really dig the open world and the sense of scale. Graphics are good enough, it's the gameplay that really shines.

Can you compare HBAO vs HDAO in Farcry 3. Does HDAO work on Nvidia cards. Which provides the best image quality.

 

[Deders]

HBAO seems to over do it compared to the other 2, HDAO seems to be the best choice, and it works on Nvidia cards.

 

[DrBoss]

Can you compare HBAO vs HDAO in Farcry 3. Does HDAO work on Nvidia cards. Which provides the best image quality.

HDAO looks slightly better to my eyes than HBAO (there is less of a black outline around objects in the foreground). BUT it comes at the cost of -10 to 12 fps... Not worth the price in my opinion.

I've read that on AMD gpu's HDAO performs better than HBAO though.

 

[Silverforce11]

I've read that on AMD gpu's HDAO performs better than HBAO though.

Is that why all the review sites have wildly different results?

Saw at [H] 4x MSAA incurs a 25% performance hit. Thats kinda inline with what we've been getting recently. Add another 20-25% for HDAO/HDBAO and its unplayable on single cards. Me, i rarely notice the difference or sit still for long to notice between SSAO and HDAO etc. Turning it off to gain heaps of FPS is a no brainer.

 

[DrBoss]

Is that why all the review sites have wildly different results?

Saw at [H] 4x MSAA incurs a 25% performance hit. Thats kinda inline with what we've been getting recently. Add another 20-25% for HDAO/HDBAO and its unplayable on single cards. Me, i rarely notice the difference or sit still for long to notice between SSAO and HDAO etc. Turning it off to gain heaps of FPS is a no brainer.

Perhaps. Performance just seems inconsistent with Far Cry 3. I've seen other people with 670's getting 1/2 the performance i am seeing.

CPU is a big factor as well. FC3 wants a quad core. Dual core CPU's seem to bottleneck graphic performance for people with good GPU's.

Also, the 1.02 patch slightly boosted my performance when 4X MSAA is enabled.

 

[boxleitnerb]

Different results also stem from different scenes. In some areas of the game GPU A might be better, in others GPU B.

 

[cmdrdredd]

So is this like unplayable at 2560x1440? I see nobody posting any results above 1080p

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I'm sure it's playable with AA off. I get around 70-80 FPS when I turn off AA at Ultra settings with SSAO on instead of HDAO. There are occasional dips that I notice, but that's mainly do the fact that my monitor is 120hz and any dips are exaggerated by my refresh rate to seem worse than they are.

This is at 1080p by the way.

 

[DrBoss]

So is this like unplayable at 2560x1440? I see nobody posting any results above 1080p

There are a few on NeoGaf which are running SLI (somehow managed to get it working properly) and are reporting playable framerates (60ish) at that resolution w/ everything set to ultra.

I think once all the driver kinks get worked out, you will certainly be able to max the game.

 

[Rhezuss]

Damn my GPU is retarded for this game LOL!
Guess I should OC my new 3770K?!!?!?

 

[raghu78]

Is that why all the review sites have wildly different results?

Saw at [H] 4x MSAA incurs a 25% performance hit. Thats kinda inline with what we've been getting recently. Add another 20-25% for HDAO/HDBAO and its unplayable on single cards. Me, i rarely notice the difference or sit still for long to notice between SSAO and HDAO etc. Turning it off to gain heaps of FPS is a no brainer.

For 1080p hardocp suggest a HD 7970 Ghz or GTX 680 can play with Ultra, HDAO, A2C, 4X MSAA.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/12/05/far_cry_3_video_card_performance_preview/4

"The first aspect I was shocked, and pleased at, was how challenging the game was graphically even at 2560x1600 with NO AA and Ultra settings. This is with today's highest-end GTX 680 and HD 7970 GHz Edition, yet it seems we may have to lower settings at 2560x1600 to get the best experience. We did find that 1080p performs a lot better, and it looks like at least 4X MSAA at 1080p will be playable on these cards in the game. "

PCGH also shows HD 7970 Ghz with avg 45 fps and min 39 fps. seems very much playable

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Far-C...y-3-Test-Grafikkarten-CPU-Benchmarks-1036726/

 

[cmdrdredd]

There are a few on NeoGaf which are running SLI (somehow managed to get it working properly) and are reporting playable framerates (60ish) at that resolution w/ everything set to ultra.

I think once all the driver kinks get worked out, you will certainly be able to max the game.

Likely they changed the sli compatibility bits through inspector. I still fail to see how come people can find the right bits for performance yet nvidia uses broken ones.