![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Wednesday, September 24, 2008
- Author:
- Brent Justice
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Radeon 4800 & GeForce 200 Series Value Guide
We look at the 10 combined Radeon 4800 and GeForce 200 series configurations. Our evaluation scales from what you get when you spend $150 on a video card, to what gaming gains should be expected when you spend $1100 on 4870X2 CrossFireX . Real world gameplay and Apples-to-Apples as well.
Crysis
(DirectX 10)
$150 - $300
Here we evaluate Crysis gameplay performance in the $150-$300 price range.
We are using the full version of Crysis. Crysis is a first person shooter that is set in 2019. We will be playing Crysis in the default APIs for our system, which launches automatically in DX10 mode with the 64-bit executable. We have applied the latest hotfix patch version 1.2.1 for Crysis.
As you progress through Crysis the game becomes more graphically demanding; first the scenic vistas, then the weather effects, and finally the final boss all lead your optimized playable settings of the first few levels to become unplayable. Our run-through in the graphs below involves 10 minutes of gameplay in “Assault_Crysis” the Harbor map. This map includes the transition from night to day, tons of explosions, particles, physics, AI interaction and water.
Note that in the graphs, we have lowered our redline to 25 FPS for Crysis. This game is demanding, and low framerates are impossible to avoid, gameplay is also different in this game to where 25 FPS and up feels very playable; very likely due to the efficient use of motion blur. Note that the down-spikes to 0 FPS in the graphs are due to the saved game points.
Results
In Crysis, we find the Radeon HD 4850 played well at 1680x1050 but with the noted four in-game settings shown above at “Medium.” The GeForce GTX 260 was able to play at the higher resolution of 1920x1200 with “High” Texture and Volumetric quality. The Radeon HD 4870 was slower than the GeForce GTX 260 and only allowed a “High” Texture Quality setting. That is interesting that the less expensive video card, the GTX 260, is the one offering the better Crysis gameplay experience. Every other in-game setting between all the video cards was at "High." However, rounding out the most expensive configuration tested in this price range is the $300 Radeon HD 4850 CrossFire, it was by far the best performing allowing almost all “High” settings at 1920x1200 resolution.