While waiting for it to become available Down Under, I found myself reading numerous reviews about the game. Again, we see the 256MB cards stagger at HQ settings compared to their 512MB brethren, though the 8600 GTS and the HD 3850 end up nearly tied for last place in this particular test.Crytek and EA unleashed the highly anticipated sequel to Crysis last week. In HQ mode the HD 3870 sets the pace, but both the 8800 GT and the 9600 GT perform well. When this occurred, framerates would drop dramatically for less than a second.Īll the cards maintain a playable framerate at average quality settings, though the 8600GTS lags the rest of the pack. While testing the card, there were a few points where the game would hiccup, for lack of a better word.

Before moving on to the graph, though, there's a point I need to address regarding the 8800GT's minimal framerate.

In this case, I've tested both Medium and HQ detail levels in DX10, using the game's built-in benchmark. The game has since been patched to include DX10, and it allows the end user to customize virtually every graphics option you can think of-which should, in theory, make it an excellent benchmark. AdvertisementĬompany of Heroes is another RTS game and was originally released as a DX9 title. I suspect this may be the result of further driver optimizations. The 9600 GT returned a markedly higher minimum framerate than the 8800 GT, even when repeatedly tested. As for the 8600 GTS, again, there's not much to say when a card's performance could almost be charted in seconds-per-frame instead of frames-per-second. Of the various cards we tested, only the 8800GT and 9600GT maintain semi-playable framerates. Relative performance rankings remain identical when we shift to high quality testing, but the performance hit is quite significant. All of the cards in question maintain playable framerates, though the 8600GTS is still choppy at times. NVIDIA cards have historically held an advantage in Crysis, and the 9600GT proves true to this record. This may not have done much to help the game's disappointing sales, but it has established Crysis as the gauntlet that all high-end video cards have to run.Ĭrysis runs quite well at medium detail levels. Crysis is a benchmark that scarcely needs introduction-the engine on which the game is built has already proven itself capable of bringing even the mightiest of gaming machines to its knees.

Crysis benchmark test