Date:
Monday , October 20, 2008
Author:
Brent Justice
Editor:
Kyle Bennett
Google +1

Crysis Warhead and Stalker CS - Multi-GPU Gameplay

Want to know how AMD’s CrossFire and NVIDIA’s SLI perform in Crysis: Warhead and Stalker: Clear Sky in DX10 at HD resolutions? We put new-gen CrossFire and SLI head-to-head in six setup configurations to show you what they can deliver.

continued...

Crysis: Warhead

(DirectX 10)

We are using the full version of Crysis: Warhead. We will be playing Warhead with the default APIs for our system, which launches automatically in DX10 mode with the 32-bit executable.

Much like the original Crysis, Crysis: Warhead is graphically demanding. The level we have chosen to use as a run-through is one of the most graphically intense levels in the game. We are playing the entire “Train” level. Our run-through starts off with us getting on the train, manning the gun turrets, and blowing up everything along the way as the train progresses down the tracks. We stop at the tower, perform the mission there, and continue on until the end. This run-through consists of explosions, shader effects, dense swamp and foliage, gun fire, enemy combat and oh did we say explosions?

As is standard operating procedure for [H] gameplay testing; our entire method for finding the highest playable levels was achieved by playing through the entire game and finding graphical settings that produce playable results for the entire game, not just the level shown below. We do however feel that the “Train” level is a “worst case scenario” for Warhead in terms of graphics.

Note that in the graphs, we have lowered our “unplayable – redline” to 25 FPS for Crysis: Warhead. This game is demanding, and low framerates are impossible to avoid at higher resolutions. Gameplay is also different in this game in that 25 Frames Per Second and better feels very playable. This is very likely due to the efficient use of motion blur. Note that the severe down-spikes in framerate on the graphs are due to saved game points.

4850 CrossFire, 4870 CrossFire, GTX 260 SLI, 4870 X2

Article Image

Article Image

In Crysis: Warhead there is a great similarity of gameplay experience among this group of video card configurations, except for one. At the low-end of the price scale the Radeon HD 4850 CrossFire produced the lowest gameplay experience here. We found that we had to set Objects Quality and Shadows to “Mainstream” while everything else was on “Gamer” at 1920x1200. All of the three other configurations allowed us to play with all “Gamer” settings at 1920x1200.

In this game, there is something worth noting about the memory capacity of each configuration here. The AMD Radeon HD 4870 CrossFire has access to 512MB of RAM per GPU. The Radeon HD 4870 X2 has access to 1GB of RAM per GPU. The GeForce GTX 260 SLI has access to 896MB of RAM per GPU. We found that the configurations that had above 512MB lent way for some levels in the game to be playable with 2X AA. This was true on the Radeon HD 4870 X2 and the GeForce GTX 260 SLI.

There were a few levels and areas we found we could actually enable 2X AA on and enjoy the game even more. Unfortunately, not all levels performed as well and performance dropped mainly during the ice levels where we had to turn AA off again. As our testing procedures outline, we went with the quality settings that are playable throughout the entire game. Just know that in some cases you might be able to use AA on the 4780 X2 and GTX 260 SLI configurations where you cannot on the 4870 CrossFire configuration due to its smaller memory capacity. So in that case, the GTX 260 SLI and 4870 X2 produce the best gameplay experience in this game.

GTX 280 SLI, 4870 X2 CrossFireX

Article Image

Article Image

When we move up to the more expensive video card configurations something wondrous happens with NVIDIA SLI here. We were watching the green SLI load balance indicator in-game and found that it was showing us very efficient use of both GPUs while gaming in Crysis: Warhead. This meant that both GTX 280 GPUs were working efficiently to improve performance, and it paid off in this game.

We were able to take this game up to the highest in-game settings at the “Enthusiast” level, all except for the Shaders Quality setting. We had to leave Shaders Quality at “Gamer” which is the next to highest setting, but every other advanced video option in the game was set to “Enthusiast” which is the highest settings possible! Not just that, but it also did all of that while also having 4X AA enabled at 1920x1200. This produced a phenomenal gameplay experience in Crysis: Warhead. The GTX 280 SLI immersion factor versus the 4870 X2 CrossFireX was just simply more engrossing and provided a deeper gaming experience.

With the Radeon HD 4870 X2 CrossFireX we also found 4X AA playable at 1920x1200, but only with everything at “Gamer.” We were not able to increase all the other settings up to “Enthusiast” like we were with 280 GTX SLI. So what does this give you in the game? With Enthusiast textures you get the highest quality textures the game can provide; with Enthusiast object quality you get less object “pop-up” as you move through the game; with Enthusiast shadows and volumetric effects every object in the game is visually enhanced. Of course, one of the biggest image quality differences is being able to enable Enthusiast Shaders Quality, but unfortunately at this resolution and with AA that wasn’t possible even on the 280 GTX SLI. Clearly 280 GTX SLI provides the best experience in this game.