Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon Graphics Card Buyer's Guide

[LinusTech]

We did our usual things:

 

 

3960X @ 4.0GHz test bench

ALL graphics cards overclocked per this spreadsheet: http://bit.ly/XuKHiB

In-game performance - NO canned benchmarks

Still using FRAPS (yes we know it's not perfect, but we don't have a frame capture system at this point) but it's still not that far off for single GPU configurations which is all we're looking at here.

 

We took cards at 4 different price points - $100, $200, $300, and $400 and we tell you what's the best value for Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon!

 

 

At $100, no surprises here. The 7770 wins like it always does

 

 

At $200(ish) it's a more even fight, but the 7870 just doesn't relent. Bear in mind our 7870 sample is a DOG overclocker, so this is kinda a worst case scenario for that card!

 

 

At $300 things level out a little bit. The Radeon card was able to perform 10% better, but it also cost 10% more!

 

 

At $400 for some reason our GTX 670 didn't really scale further than our GTX 660 Ti in Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, but our 7970 did, so the nod goes to AMD here. The overall value in terms of "FPS per dollar" is lower in both camps compared to the $300 price bracket though.

 

 

Thanks for checking this out and guys leave your comments. I do try to read them all :)

[XiaoPigs]

Not surprised that the AMD cards beat out the NVIDIA cards. Right now AMD is really on their A game in terms of GPU performance which means everyone if they have no need for CUDA or 3D should be buying an AMD card. Better price to performance and better game bundle. Hopefully NVIDIA brings their A game when they release their 700 series. Otherwise I might actually shift to the Red team.

[Vaoh]

While neat you guys benched Blood Dragon, it isn't all that much different from Far Cry 3 bar the scanline filter. Every game should have a scanline filter. Also not surprised by the results, AMD has been cleaning house lately. Would love to see a 7870 Tahiti LE thrown into the mix but that doesn't fit into any of the price brackets.

[greenroost1445]

sigh if only amd cards were optimized for FAH... then the line-up would be perfect

[DalekDoc]

I don't know what you were going for in the video's opening... Linus Redneck Tips...??

[Guest]

If you want to check out the other benchmarks here they are. http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/10692-video-card-showdown/

[tabuburn]

LOL. The recent benchmarks have YouTube commenters bashing Linus as a AMD fanboy because of the results.

[Nicktrance]

AMD kicks ass again... then again this is FC3 with lasers... and dragons which shoot lasers...

[mrthuvi]

I like it that there is someone in Linus Media Group actually likes to play games (♥ you Slick ). Your benchmark is realistic and you actually benchmark the good games that you like to play. Unlike most other people who just benchmark to get the number, or other people who don't even play games cos they don't have time. 

[ericlee30]

AMD is just better optimized for the game :) and its a really fun game at that

[Excon]

I bought my 7870 during the Far Cry 3 never settle bundle how to i get Blood Dragon?

[Snickerzz]

Still need to get this game >_<

[SSOB]

Linus did you hear the news that AMD is gonna skip the 8000 series for desktops , they only gonna make 8000M graphics.

[nishank93]

We did our usual things:

Linus, I've always wondered, why don't you do a 7970 Ghz Edition vs 680?

[panosk82]

Linus, I've always wondered, why don't you do a 7970 Ghz Edition vs 680?

The reason is to protect nvidia...

[xToFxREAPER]

I bought my 7870 during the Far Cry 3 never settle bundle how to i get Blood Dragon?

you have to buy it, its a stand alone game for $15

[mgsstar]

Guess that AMD is still leading on the latest games. :)

[ARod]

Linus did you hear the news that AMD is gonna skip the 8000 series for desktops , they only gonna make 8000M graphics.

 

If true then it's not an entirely bad decision IMO.  Actually, it kind of reinforces the idea that their cards are good enough for the rest of the year.  Going above achieving the goal of providing butter smooth graphics for 99% of all the titles out there becomes a point of diminishing returns.  Yeah, their next immediate iteration of cards will be more powerful but how exactly are you going to benefit from that if the current offering is already killing it?  Their high end main stream card, the 7950, is more than up to the task delivering awesome value.  I can see this card and the 7970 being just fine as their top offerings until Q1 of 2014.

 

The mobile market of course could use more performance to get it on par with desktop levels from a cost perspective. 

[SkilledRebuilds]

ALL graphics cards overclocked per this spreadsheet: http://bit.ly/XuKHiB

I clicked this and got a 404 ,....couldnt find the page you requested...404

Broken?

[RaphYkun]

sigh if only amd cards were optimized for FAH... then the line-up would be perfect

It seems kinda funny you wrote this because AMD cards are beast at BOINC... I guess Red team just offers more choice ;)  j/k

But I digress... Benching BLOOD DRAGON does seem a little like repetitive. I understand that people want the newest titles, but it doesn't really bring anything new to the conversation except test newer drivers on an older game.

 

[SirReallySam]

Not surprised that the AMD cards beat out the NVIDIA cards. Right now AMD is really on their A game in terms of GPU performance which means everyone if they have no need for CUDA or 3D should be buying an AMD card. Better price to performance and better game bundle. Hopefully NVIDIA brings their A game when they release their 700 series. Otherwise I might actually shift to the Red team.

AMD; best bang for the buck once again XD

[Jay123]

sigh if only amd cards were optimized for FAH... then the line-up would be perfect

They're getting better with Core 17, my 7850 used to get 10K PPD, it now get 45k PPD (averages)

[delet my acc pls]

Not surprised that the AMD cards beat out the NVIDIA cards. Right now AMD is really on their A game in terms of GPU performance which means everyone if they have no need for CUDA or 3D should be buying an AMD card. Better price to performance and better game bundle. Hopefully NVIDIA brings their A game when they release their 700 series. Otherwise I might actually shift to the Red team.

nvidia is going to beat amd with the 700 series, but later this year when amd releases volcanic islands, nvidia is screwed.

[mc141]

you have to buy it, its a stand alone game for $15

i bought my asus  radeon 7870 direct cu cards for my old build and one a month earlier for my new build about a week before the steam tomb raider promo unlocked in steam, and some how when far cry 3 came out a month or so later amd added it to my free games even though i bought both my cards way before it was realeased and added to the promo.

[mc141]

if u got the promo email from amd they sent out another email with the fc3 blood dragon code this is what it said

 

 

 

Special Announcement - AMD Gaming Evolved Never Settle Reloaded

Inbox

x

AMD Gaming Evolved <support@amd4u.com>

May 1

 

to

Far Cry® 3 Blood Dragon is now available in the Never Settle Reloaded promotion!
There’s even more good news for those of you that have already redeemed a code: we’re giving you a FREE COPY of Far Cry® 3 Blood Dragon in the email below to say thank you for supporting AMD Radeon™ Graphics!

Codes for Far Cry® 3 Blood Dragon will be sent out starting the first week of May after the game is released. See www.amd.com/neversettlereloadedoffer for full terms and conditions.

 

 

 

 this showed up in my email out of nowhere