**OFFICIAL** AT Battlefield 3 FAQ and News Thread

[mrSHEiK124]

When you said "redux", I assumed you were saying they were going to recreate an experience you had had before.

Language creates so many misunderstandings :'(

Srsly though. I really wanted to try it with 128 people

 

[GullyFoyle]

HardOCP - Battlefield 3 Open Beta Performance and Image Quality

The limited time open beta for Battlefield 3 started last week, and we've spent some time with it. Performance is quite a wild ride in this beta, and it doesn't even have the full graphics the retail version will, but we'll examine it closely to show you how your video cards might stack up when Battlefield 3 finally launches in a few weeks.

Introduction

DICE's Battlefield franchise is one of the best know shooter series in PC gaming. Beginning in 2002 with the World War II shooter Battlefield 1942, the series has had at least six full-length games, several smaller downloadable games, and several expansion packs. In about three weeks, the next big title in the series, Battlefield 3, will be released. In lieu of a pre-release demo, EA has made access to a beta build of the game public. The beta began on September 29th and is set to end on October 10th.

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Battlefield 3 Public Beta

Though the code appears to be of early beta (or even alpha) quality, and it is missing some graphics features, the game is surprisingly demanding of processing horsepower, including CPU and GPU. We know the performance situation is very likely to change once the retail game is released, but we wanted to get some data and screenshots for our readers for the public beta.

The Technology

Battlefield 3 is powered by EA/DICE's Frostbite 2 engine. The PC version of the Frostbite 2 engine supports 64-bit processors and Microsoft's DirectX 11 technology. In fact, DirectX 9 is not supported at all, and so the game will not run in Windows XP. Battlefield 3, and its beta, require either Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Frostbite 2 and Battlefield 3 support such graphics features as tile-based deferred shading via DirectCompute, Morphological AA (MLAA) also via DirectCompute, radiosity lighting, bokeh depth of field (DoF), and ambient occlusion in both SSAO and HBAO formats. One of the most anticipated graphical features of the game is its supposedly more realistically destructible environments.

We will have more detailed information when the retail game launches. For now, what is important is that (1.) Battlefield 3's premium platform is the PC, (2.) Frostbite 2 is native to DirectX 11 on the PC, and (3.) this public beta is one of the most graphically demanding DX11 games we've seen in a while.

Test Setup

For our test system platform we are using an ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution motherboard with an Intel Core i7 920 overclocked to 3.6GHz, and 6GB of Corsair DDR3-1600. For the power supply, we will be using a CoolerMaster Real Power Pro 1250W.

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For all three NVIDIA-based video cards in this evaluation, we are using NVIDIA's GeForce/ION Driver 285.38 Beta package, dated 26 September 2011. For the three AMD-based video cards in this evaluation, we are using AMD's Catalyst 11.10 Preview driver package, dated 26 September August 2011. These driver versions were specifically launched to improve performance in the BF3 open beta.

Performance Testing

Performance in the BF3 open beta varies to a great extent. The two available maps are large, and performance can vary significantly between one part of either map and any other part. Thus, testing the BF3 open beta was a tremendously frustrating experience. Due to the nature of this being a multiplayer only map without the full-game's features, we were unable to reproduce a testing run with anything remotely resembling consistency. In the end, we were forced to just play the game for a while on each video card while adjusting settings to make sure it was playable everywhere we tested to find the highest playable settings in the maps offered.

For this process, we chose to focus on the "Operation Métro" map. Taking place in Paris, France, this map focuses on Paris' famed Métropolitain rapid transit system. While it focuses on the mostly-underground trains, it also takes us to wide open parks and narrower urban corridors. To record performance, we played for about 7 minutes, recording framerates with FRAPS, looking for an average framerate between 38 and 42. This envelope will likely change for the full version of the game, since it will have more graphics features. For now, within a few FPS of 40 is where we were looking to be.

In general, the subterranean areas seem to perform better than the above-ground areas. It's not consistent though, as there are sometimes large firefights underground which can drag performance down. The game seems to also enjoy randomly spawning players underground regardless of whether or not that is where the action is. All of these things make performance testing in the beta a bit frustrating to get the most consistent results.

Highest Playable Settings

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The BF3 open beta was playable on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 at 2560x1600 with 16X AF, no AA, and mostly Ultra settings. We did have to disable motion blur and reduce the shadows setting to medium, but other detail settings were left at Ultra. In disabling MSAA, we also disabled "Post AA", which is MLAA.

The Radeon HD 6970 performed similarly. At 2560x1600, we disabled MSAA and MLAA, as well as motion blur in order to bring framerates up to an average of about 40 FPS and make the game playable. With the HD 6970, we did not have to lower the shadow quality setting. Both of these video cards gave us very high framerates at 1920x1200 with 4X MSAA and maximum in-game settings selected.

The GeForce GTX 570 and the AMD Radeon HD 6950 were both playable with 4X MSAA, Medium "Post AA" (MLAA), 16X AF and Ultra settings at 1920x1200. We didn't have to disable motion blur or change the shadow quality setting for either of these two video cards at this resolution.

Running at 1680x1050 was not a challenge for either the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti or the AMD Radeon HD 6870. They were both playable at that resolution with maximum in-game settings at a very high level of performance. For our highest playable settings, we chose to increase the resolution to 1920x1200 and tweak settings from there. Neither of these two inexpensive video cards was playable in the entire test level with maximum settings at 1920x1200, so we had to disable MSAA and MLAA on both. With the GeForce GTX 560 Ti installed, we also had to disable motion blur. With the Radeon HD 6870, disabling AA was all we had to do to make the game playable at 1920x1200 with Ultra in-game settings selected.

Individual Performance

Because we were not able to reproduce the same (or even similar) testing procedure for each video card, performance graphs will be presented individually for each of our six video cards. All of these graphs represent data gathered using each video card's respective highest playable settings, as described in the table above.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580

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With mostly Ultra settings selected and AA disabled at 2560x1600, performance was relatively smooth with the GeForce GTX 580. We saw an average FPS very close to our 40 FPS target, and it only dipped below 30 slightly and infrequently.

AMD Radeon HD 6970

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Like with the GeForce GTX 580, performance dipped below 30 FPS infrequently with the Radeon HD 6970. Our average FPS was higher here, but that doesn't mean much with performance as unpredictable as it is in this beta.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570

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The GeForce GTX 570 ran beautifully at 1920x1200 with Ultra settings selected. Choosing Ultra automatically enables 4X MSAA and Medium Post AA (but you have to restart the game to see those changes). Framerates rarely dipped below 30 FPS, and when they did, it wasn't far. Our average was within 1 FPS of where we wanted to be, as we spent most of this test above ground.

AMD Radeon HD 6950

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The Radeon HD 6950 performed a little better than the GeForce GTX 570, though it is hard to be conclusive about it given the state of this beta. We didn't see a single drop below 30 FPS during testing with Ultra settings @ 1920x1200 using the HD 6950.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti

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The GeForce GTX 560 Ti was the most challenged video card in this test. At 1920x1200, we had to disable AA and Motion Blur, but other settings were left at Ultra. We saw occasional dips below 30 FPS. Our average framerate was acceptable and the gameplay experience was smooth enough, so we were not compelled to reduce settings any further.

AMD Radeon HD 6870

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Again, the AMD video card in this price segment had slightly better performance than the NVIDIA counterpart. The Radeon HD 6870 was playable with Ultra settings at 1920x1200, but we had to disable AA, including both MSAA and MLAA. Framerate dips below 30 FPS were rare, but they did happen. Our average framerate was right in target, and the resulting gameplay was very smooth and enjoyable.

Image Quality

We were unable to take screenshots with any degree of consistency due to the unpredictable nature of the game and its spawning system. Add to that that we have to restart the game to apply some settings, and side-by-side comparisons have proven to be practically impossible to acquire in the BF3 open beta. For this image quality section, we are going to show you a collection of screenshots at various in-game setting levels. We'll look at Ultra, High, Medium, and Low. The following linked images are JPEG compressed to save bandwidth, but we used high quality compression. We aren't after fine detail in these screenshots as much as we are after a comparison of the overall visual experience the different graphics levels provide. We will have a more in-depth look at image quality in the full version game evaluation.

Ultra

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High

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Medium

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Low

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Image Quality Analysis

The most obvious difference here is the color tone. With Ultra and High selected, the color is washed out somewhat in the bright sun. There is a lower level of contrast with Ultra and High selected than with Low and Medium. Looking at the third image in each series, we can also see that there is a difference in the Depth of Field quality. In ultra, the focused area is clear and well-defined. In high, some clarity is lost in the focused part of the image. With medium selected, it is hard to tell what is supposed to be in focus. Finally, with low selected, depth of field appears not to be enabled at all. The character has just been hit, but the resulting blurred screen did not happen as it did with medium, high, or ultra selected.

Beyond those differences, anti-aliasing is a big issue. With ultra selected, 4X MSAA and Medium MLAA is enabled. Going down to high disabled MSAA but keeps MLAA at medium. Selecting medium moves MLAA down to low, and selecting low disables MLAA. This is a game that benefits a great deal from anti-aliasing. Unlike Battlefield: Bad Company 2, it appears that anti-aliasing happens after the HDR stage of post-processing. Some gamers will recall that aliasing is nearly defeated by HDR in BFBC2. Edges that appear in front of bright light sources would appear jagged and as if AA is ignoring them. In the BF3 beta, that problem doesn't happen. Of course different people have difference levels of sensitivity to aliasing, but we found that AA was quite welcome and effective in the BF3 beta. We will, of course, have a lot more information and analysis on AA in Battlefield 3 when the full game launches.

Beta Is As Beta Does

Wow, does this game ever feel and behave like a beta. Though we played for several hours, we were hard-pressed to find results even remotely consistent, even with the same video card installed. First we'd get spawned in the underground train stations and get our settings adjusted. Then we'd spawn out in the open and have to adjust them again. It took a significant amount of going back-and-forth between different servers through several different rounds to make sure each video card was tested on all relevant parts of the Operation Metro map. That is also excluding the many crashed and random disconnects we experienced, and the fact that we had to restart the game client on purpose several times for each test so that we could adjust settings for the sake of tuning performance.

At the end of the testing day, the impression we are left with is that performance was so inconsistent, it actually seems rather hard to predict how the full version game will behave. We know that some graphics features are missing in the beta client, and we know that a great deal of content is missing as well. This game looks like it is going to be of a simply tremendous scale. We are certainly anxious to see what the retail build will look like. It almost certainly has to be better. As unstable and flaky as the beta client has been for us, it is hard to imagine having a more frustrating experience.

The Bottom Line

Performance in the Battlefield 3 public beta inconsistent. The multiplayer nature of the beta made it impractical to objectively compare performance between video cards, but we did see some relatively repetitive behavior among video card brands. In general, we had better performance using video cards equipped with AMD GPUs than we did with NVIDIA GPUs. We downloaded the newest beta drivers from both GPU makers specifically released for this game. We tested each video card thoroughly, and the results with AMD video cards were faster, but not by much in this open beta.

On the official BF3 Blog, EA/DICE staffer Joe Ellis pointed out that "The beta won’t include all the graphics features which will make it in the final version". When the final retail build is released, everything we've seen so far could be turned around completely. But for now, single-GPU gamers with AMD Radeon HD 6000 series video cards will probably see slightly better performance than gamers with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 500 series counterparts.

<Follow the original link to see all the charts and graphs which accompany the article>

 

[Dominato3r]

Yea, I'm running an HD 6950 and have not seen my fps drop below 40. The game is running real smooth.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Here's (another) one for Maniacalpha to complain about...BF3 - beta Jet gameplay
Keep an eye on the Jets health bar, and see how fast it regenerates after being hit.

LOL, I always thought vehicle regen was dumb but I wasn't especially intent on getting after it.

But since you mention it, this does explain why it took a full minute of sporadic hits to shoot down a jet with the AA vehicle.

 

[Childs]

New faq up on Battlelog

Update from the team #7 is now up on Battlelog

==================================================

Battlefieldo - BF3, A True Sequel to BF2? Yes

To be honest, this actually feels more like a sequel to BC2 than BF2. All the stuff missing from BF2 like Commander, classes, taking out UAVs and artillery, squads, etc somewhat outweigh "64 players", jets, and prone. Not that I'd complain about a sequel to BC2 as it was a little long in the tooth, but they really didnt need to call this BF3. Seems like the only really reason to do so was to have a more serious single player, but BFX never had that either.

Here's (another) one for Maniacalpha to complain about...BF3 - beta Jet gameplay
Keep an eye on the Jets health bar, and see how fast it regenerates after being hit.

I can believe this after playing Caspian. I have gotten so many hit markers on jets using the AA guns at the airfield and they just fly away. The only time I was able to actually shoot them down was when they got ballsy and fly straight at me trying to take me out.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Yup looks from that article posted above,the amd series are clear winners.

Never gave a damn about the max fps,average of 62 for a 2gb 6970 and 55fps average for a 1.5gb gtx580?

Shocked to see the cheaper card being the better one...possibly the higher vram amount onboard each gpu?

To bad they didn't post that article using a 3gb gtx580,that would have set off alot of 1.5gb gtx580 owners i'm sure.

Assuming they don't revise that article with a 3gb gtx580,think the choice is obvious being 2gb amd cards...

 

[chavo12345]

epic MAV, watch it lol

BF3 | Battlefield 3 Beta MAV Massacre!

 

[The Boston Dangler]

epic MAV, watch it lol

BF3 | Battlefield 3 Beta MAV Massacre!

hilarious!

let me guess - working as intended?

 

[NikolaeVarius]

To be honest, this actually feels more like a sequel to BC2 than BF2. All the stuff missing from BF2 like Commander, classes, taking out UAVs and artillery, squads, etc somewhat outweigh "64 players", jets, and prone. Not that I'd complain about a sequel to BC2 as it was a little long in the tooth, but they really didnt need to call this BF3. Seems like the only really reason to do so was to have a more serious single player, but BFX never had that either.



I can believe this after playing Caspian. I have gotten so many hit markers on jets using the AA guns at the airfield and they just fly away. The only time I was able to actually shoot them down was when they got ballsy and fly straight at me trying to take me out.

Oh crap, thats what I wanted to figur eout. If stuff like calling in UAV's, dropping jeeps, destroying artillery assets, and such were in the game. Looks like not...

 

[drizek]

I just overclocked my X3 720 from 3.2GHz to 3.7GHz and it made a huge difference. I am now v-sync limited at 60fps around half the time, and above 40fps most of the rest of the time. WHen I go into a new area it drops down to around 25fps for a few seconds but then goes back up to 40-60. I'm pretty glad to see the improvement, hopefully bulldozer will remove cpu limitations from the equation entirely. I'm glad to see that my system can run the game properly at Ultra and that I don't need to rush out and buy a next gen video card to replace my dual 460s.

DO we know if it scales to 6-core Thuban?

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Does anyone have the problem loading page with the battlelog? It was working fine the last few days but last night and tonight I cant get the game to work. It opens up firefox but I get the connect reset error

 

[novasatori]

epic MAV, watch it lol

BF3 | Battlefield 3 Beta MAV Massacre!

this is what I have been doing with the MAV, and why on the previous page I mentioned you can shoot it down with the Stinger/Igla

 

[GullyFoyle]

Planet Battefield - Battlefield 3 Gridiron Episode 1 & Rapper "Game" BF3 Concert

Monday, 3 October, 2011 at 23:44 PST | ^Scott^ | Print News
Earlier today a video appeared on the official Battlefield YouTube channel called Battlefield 3 Gridiron Episode 1. This looks to be a new series of videos featuring NFL players: Drew Brees, Jared Allen, Clay Mathews and Larry Fitzgerald who are all being put through some type of Battlefield 3 training program with Navy Seal: Team 6. The end of the video states:

Watch Spike TV on Monday, October 24th at Midnight eastern / 11 central for the premiere of GTTV presents Battlefield 3: Operation Gridiron

Battlefield 3 Gridiron Episode 1

Speaking of odd celebrity and Battlefield 3 match ups...the Battlefield Facebook page announces "The Rapper "Game" and Battlefield 3 Live Concert".

Battlefield 3 and The Game are teaming up on a cross- country concert tour.

The first concert will be live streamed from Kansas State University on Wednesday, October 5th @ 10 PM ET.

Click "I'm Attending" if you plan to watch the concert live streamed on the Battlefield Facebook page and invite your friends to the event.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Does anyone have the problem loading page with the battlelog? It was working fine the last few days but last night and tonight I cant get the game to work. It opens up firefox but I get the connect reset error

I had no issue last night. I use Chrome.

 

[novasatori]

I maxed recon but didn't get the M39 EMR

I did get the MK11 for the Russians and the SVD for the US though.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Oh crap, thats what I wanted to figur eout. If stuff like calling in UAV's, dropping jeeps, destroying artillery assets, and such were in the game. Looks like not...

Wait, what?

I assumed it wouldn't be in this CoD-catering "Rush" mode, but they took it out of Conquest? No Commander? No UAV? No artillery strikes? WTF!!! This isn't a sequel to BF2 at all! F*** this, I still have my copy, off to play a real game.

 

[The-Noid]

Oh crap, thats what I wanted to figur eout. If stuff like calling in UAV's, dropping jeeps, destroying artillery assets, and such were in the game. Looks like not...

Dropping jeeps I forgot about that. Dropping the crates on someone because you didn't have an arty was nice too.

 

[videogames101]

Wait, what?

I assumed it wouldn't be in this CoD-catering "Rush" mode, but they took it out of Conquest? No Commander? No UAV? No artillery strikes? WTF!!! This isn't a sequel to BF2 at all! F*** this, I still have my copy, off to play a real game.

They have UAV and Artillery, but it's now in the hands of squad leaders directly. (According to DICE, as these unlocks are "locked" in the beta)

 

[GullyFoyle]

uk.pc.ign.com - Battlefield 3 Beta Numbers Revealed

Six times larger than Bad Company 2.

US, October 4, 2011
by Andrew Goldfarb

Update: Troedsson is referring to the number of simultaneous players, not total players, meaning the twelve million figure is incorrect. The exact number of players in the beta has not been released. Original story is below.

DICE has confirmed the number of participants in Battlefield 3's open beta.

In a new blog post General Manager Karl Magnus Troedsson announced that DICE is "seeing six times the number of simultaneous players in the Battlefield 3 Open Beta compared to the Beta for Battlefield: Bad Company 2."

As spotted by VG247, two million players participated in Battlefield: Bad Company 2's open beta, which means as many as twelve million may have participated in the beta for Battlefield 3.

"The Open Beta will help us deliver a robust gaming environment from day one," Troedsson wrote. "The fact that Battlefield 3 is clearly our biggest game launch ever by a magnitude of six makes it doubly important to test everything."

<see site for streaming media>

Battlefield 3 Beta Guide

According to Troedsson, the beta is "actually quite early and not representative of the final game."

"The Battlefield 3 Open Beta is based on software that is more than one month old," he wrote. "We need to test the new back end dedicated server structure we've built. Not only have we built a new game engine, but an entirely new back end system so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of dedicated servers on all platforms. Just like normal procedure when releasing a game, the Open Beta has had long lead times due to testing, certification, and setting up."

He also wrote that feedback received during the open beta will help to make the final game better.

"The final game will look, play and sound better than the Open Beta," Troedsson added. "You have helped [make] sure of that."

Battlefield 3's open beta will run until Monday, October 10th. The final game hits stores on October 25th.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Scouring the world to bring you the news...

Some DICE dev updates from the beta forums to keep you in the know...
Re queues:
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2826551139121049299/

Originally Posted by Tottenizer
A queue system will be in place at release. We ran into issues with the queue system in the BETA and therefor it is disabled now, but it will return at release. With the queue system you should be able to join the same team when doing a party join even if there are not enough slots available on the server at the time of party leader joining.

And about the squad issue:
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2826564925959337112/1/

Originally Posted by Bazajaytee
As I have already mentioned in other threads about squads, we are writing up how squad management works in retail and will be posting it when we have it.

The squads are broken in the BETA and is a known issue.

and
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2826564925959337112/2/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazajaytee
We have never said that.

http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/...sible-battlelog-no-squad-management-game.html

That doesn't say anything like you are claiming,
That says squads and VoIP will be managed in Battlelog, the same way you can invite a party of friends from (Battlelog) into a game as a squad. Doesn't mean you can not manage the squad in game once you are there.

Yes he did leave it open for discussion and assumption but that is due to the fact he wants the designers to be the ones with the final outline on how squads will work. We should have that for everyone to read and have a clear picture of how squads work soon.

 

[Termie]

TechSpot has just posted its performance preview of the BF3 beta. While there are numerous threads in the video card section on this topic, I figured people who really care about performance, both GPU and CPU, are already in this thread.

Here's the link: http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-performance/

In short, the GPUs line up about as you would expect, with AMD having a slight advantage at the low end, and Nvidia with a slight advantage at the high end.

On the CPU front, there is amazingly almost no scaling with architecture or clock speed - the only thing that really matters is having a quad core: http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-performance/page7.html. If there's any surprise at all, it's that AMD is leading the way with its quad and hex core CPUs, and that the dual cores in the test only lose about 15-20% in comparison to the quads. An absolutely mega-overclock on a 2600k (~50%) delivers only a 6% framerate improvement.

 

[GullyFoyle]

techspot.com - Battlefield 3 Beta Performance Test

<follow link above to see original article with all charts and graphs>

By Steven Walton on October 4, 2011
Editor: Julio Franco

Easily one of the most demanding video games released last year, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 featured stunning graphics with real-world damage and excellent gameplay. Still upon release the shooter was very buggy, so much that it delayed our performance article. Built around the Frostbite 1.5 engine, the game was eventually patched up to become a very popular online FPS having sold in excess of 9 million copies.

Battlefield 3, the latest in a long line of Battlefield titles is likely the most anticipated game of 2011. Using the new Frostbite 2 engine the game promises to deliver jaw dropping visuals coupled with fast paced action packed fun.

The gorgeously crafted video teasers have certainly helped the cause throughout the year. Battlefield 3 has huge momentum behind it and the cross-platform beta will hopefully serve developers towards a solid release next October 25th. After all, between the mandatory Origin PC download and the lack of private servers (a standing trend these days), no one is up for a troublesome laggy connection when trying to frag on launch day.

Battlefield 3 will feature both single and multiplayer modes, though the beta is only providing access to the multiplayer portion of the game. The beta includes a single map called “Operation Metro” and the only game mode supported on this map is called rush. There are password-protected servers that have access to the Caspian Border map with 64-player support where DICE is testing out vehicles.

Admittedly we love that Battlefield 3 is using the PC as the lead platform rather than a console. When played on the PC the game will handle 40 more players and will take advantage of the latest computer hardware with support for DirectX 11 and 64-bit processors. As such the recommended system specifications are notably high.

DICE recommends a quad-core CPU be used along with 4GB of system memory. As for the graphics card a GeForce GTX 560 or Radeon HD 6950 is suggested, meaning that gamers will want to spend around $200 on a modern graphics card to appreciate Battlefield 3. Today we'll take a peak at what's required to play Battlefield 3 as we check out how the beta performs.

Testing Notes & Methodology

For testing the Battlefield 3 beta we lined up 18 graphics card configurations across all price ranges. The latest drivers were used for all cards which is important as both AMD and Nvidia released updated drivers specifically for this game.

Testing Battlefield 3 was somewhat of a nightmare due to the clumsy system used to find games which relies on an external web browser. Rather than feature an in-game finder Battlefield 3 beta cannot be accessed until the player has found and joined a game. This means it's not possible to change settings until the player is actively playing on a map.

We used Fraps to measure frame rates during a minute of gameplay from the multiplayer map Operation Metro. The performance was measured from the same spawn point each time following the same path while an average of three runs was recorded.

Battlefield 3 was tested at three resolutions: 1680x1050, 1920x1200 and 2560x1600. The game was tested using the Ultra and High quality presets which are meant to be the same for the beta, yet we found significant differences between the two.

When set to Ultra every setting is maxed out with the exception of anti-aliasing post which is set to medium. The anti-aliasing deferred settings is set to 4xMSAA while anisotropic filtering is set to 16x. Other quality settings such as texture, shadow, effects, mesh, terrain and terrain decoration are all set to Ultra.

The Ultra preset was extremely demanding, so we also tested using the High quality preset. This turned anti-aliasing deferred off and left the anti-aliasing post settings on medium. All other visual quality settings as detailed above are turned to high. We'll be looking for an average of 60fps for stutter-free gameplay.

Test System Specs
- Intel Core i7 2600K
- x2 4GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (CAS 8-8-8-20)
- Asus P8P67 Deluxe (Intel P67)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- GeForce GTX 590 (3072MB)
- GeForce GTX 580 (1536MB) SLI
- GeForce GTX 580 (1536MB)
- GeForce GTX 570 (1280MB)
- GeForce GTX 560 Ti (1024MB)
- GeForce GTX 560 (1024MB)
- GeForce GTX 480 (1536MB)
- GeForce GTX 470 (1280MB)
- GeForce GTX 460 (1024MB)
- Radeon HD 6990 (4096MB)
- Radeon HD 6970 (2048MB) Crossfire
- Radeon HD 6970 (2048MB)
- Radeon HD 6950 (2048MB)
- Radeon HD 6870 (1024MB)
- Radeon HD 6850 (1024MB)
- Radeon HD 5870 (2048MB)
- Radeon HD 5830 (1024MB)
- Radeon HD 6790 (1024MB)
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38 Beta
- ATI Catalyst 11.10 Preview

Ultra Quality Performance

At 1680x1050 using the Ultra settings we were surprised to find Battlefield 3 to be so demanding. The Radeon HD 6950 averaged just 30fps, while the GeForce GTX 570 was noticeably faster, matching the Radeon HD 6970 with 39fps. The GeForce GTX 580 scored 42fps which is still low for the fastest single GPU graphics card money can buy.

The Radeon HD 6990 spat out a more respectable 61fps, while a pair of Radeon HD 6970 Crossfire cards were slightly faster with 64fps. The GeForce GTX 590 averaged 67fps, following the pair of GeForce GTX 580 SLI cards that managed an impressive 74fps.

Increasing the resolution to 1920x1200 hit performance further as the Radeon HD 6950 delivered less than 30fps. The GeForce GTX 580 remained the fastest single GPU card with an average of just 36fps. Dual-GPU solutions performed considerably better, with the GeForce GTX 580 SLI configuration stealing the show once again with 64fps.

There is no denying that dual-GPU configurations are a must at 2560x1600 using Ultra settings. The slowest single GPU card we tested, the Radeon HD 6950 averaged just 20fps. The GeForce GTX 570 also managed 21fps while the GeForce GTX 580 was slightly faster with 23fps.

Even the Radeon HD 6990 scored a mere 34fps while the Radeon HD 6970 Crossfire cards and GeForce GTX 590 were matched at 36fps.

High Quality - 1680x1050

Reducing the visual quality from the ultra to high drastically helped to improve performance. Here the Radeon HD 6950 is now able to average 47fps at 1680x1050, while the GeForce GTX 570 managed 51fps allowing it to match the Radeon HD 6970.

The GeForce GTX 580 was king of the single GPU cards with 58fps making it 14% faster than the Radeon HD 6970. Further down the chart we find the GeForce GTX 560 Ti averaging 43fps making it slightly faster than the 42fps of the Radeon HD 6870.

Budget-minded cards such as the Radeon HD 6850, 5830 and GeForce GTX 460 still struggled to deliver playable performance when using the high quality settings at 1680x1050.

High Quality - 1920x1200

Now at 1920x1200 the GeForce GTX 580 was able to average 50fps, followed by the GeForce GTX 570 with 46fps. The Radeon HD 6970 was slightly slower with 45fps. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti and Radeon HD 6870 struggled with 36fps, while the Radeon HD 6850, 5830, 6790 and GeForce GTX 460 all rendered less than 30fps.

High Quality - 2560x1600

Not unlike previous results we find that the 2560x1600 resolution calls for a dual-GPU solution, even with the high quality preset in use. The GeForce GTX 580 averaged just 34fps, while the GeForce GTX 570 and Radeon HD 6970 averaged 31fps. South of those graphics cards there is nothing worth talking about.

This time the Radeon HD 6990 outgunned the GeForce GTX 590 by 4fps with an average of 57fps. The Radeon HD 6970 Crossfire and GeForce GTX 580 SLI configurations both averaged 64fps.

CPU Scaling and Performance

Overclocking your Core i7 processor is not going to help deliver more performance in Battlefield 3 according to our test using a single GeForce GTX 580 card. We observed that a 49% increase in clock speed for the Core i7 allowed for a mere 6% increase in frame rates.

Processors that only support 2 threads will take a hit as our Phenom II X2 560 delivered 42fps, almost 20% slower than a similarly clocked Phenom II X4 processor. However we were surprised by how well dual-cores performed when compared to other recently tested games.

Games such as Hard Rest, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and Crysis 2 saw a massive difference in performance between dual and quad-core processors. For example, in Deus Ex dual-cores were 43% slower than their quad-core counterparts.

For the most part Battlefield 3 doesn’t appear to be all that CPU demanding, at least this is what we can tell from testing the multiplayer portion that the beta allows us to test. We'll be keen to revisit these results once the full version of the game is released.

Conclusion

Battlefield 3 certainly looks like an impressive game though to be honest between testing and the frustrating setup process for each iteration, I've not had much of a chance to play it fully. From what I was able to gather, there is still much to be done. The lack of an in-game server browser is troubling, while the inability to change any settings without being in a game and spawned is just down right foolish.

Of course, there's a beta for a reason and we have to try and treat it as such. The night after the beta went live our editor Matthew DeCarlo organized a Friday Night Fragfest (we host such an event every Friday night), so I felt it was best to ask him about his impressions of the game.

Matt felt the game's graphics were great -- especially if the final version is going to be even better -- and that the audio was fantastic. However the gameplay could only be described as buggy. There were problems that caused people to glitch into things they shouldn't have, while the hit detection is also very poor. Matt wasn’t keen on the beta map either or the game mode which required too much crawling around and he went on… The menu system is best described as a cruel joke and he found the chat box oddly placed at the top and somewhat to the right of the screen making the chat UI feel amateurish.

In a nutshell, initial impressions on gameplay are not great but this is a very limited beta, so we will leave it at that. Still it's scary to think how much work DICE has yet to get done in less than a month for Battlefield 3 to succeed.

As for my impressions on how well the game performs, BF3 certainly looks great when using the high quality settings but I'm not sure the visuals justify ~50fps out of the GeForce GTX 580 at 1920x1200 and 45fps from the Radeon HD 6970. The ultra settings are not fully developed so I won't comment on them.

For a game that was seen utilizing six threads quite efficiently, we were pleased to see that the dual-core Phenom II X2 was just 20% slower than a similar configured quad-core processor.

It's been nice to see AMD and Nvidia competing so aggressively to deliver improved support and compatibility for Battlefield 3. Testing revealed that both Crossfire and SLI worked well, though every now and then flickering glitches were noticed when using either technology. A large number of gamers are reporting flickering issues with single GPU configurations as well, so this is another issue that will needed to be addressed before the game is released.

The Battlefield 3 beta has somewhat disappointed as we were hoping to see a more polished game just a month away from release. That said we'll reserve final judgment until then and expect a detailed performance analysis once Battlefield 3 is officially released.

 

[maevinj]

I wonder what kind of clock speeds they're using for the gtx460. Because I'm using an X3 720 with the 4th core unlocked and an overclocked gtx460 and my game seems fine on high settings with the 1680x1050. I'll have to download fraps tonight and see what my actual frame rate is.

 

[Anubis]

need more SLI/CF benches

 

[Zargon]

has anyone tried partying up and joining a server?

did it spilt you up into diff squads teams?