Demands of the Future... or Poor Optimization?

[MoonDoggy-X]

Well, I learned the hard way that "Ultra" graphic presets aren't nearly the same as max settings. And it's not just Witcher's 3 hairworks. This became frustratingly clear with Dragon Age: Inquisition. I was really impressed when my dual 960s(hold your laughter) averaged 99fps on "Ultra" 1080p settings. Then, for whatever reason, I checked the settings and noticed that some weren't maxed out, so naturally, I rectified that. The game looked noticeably better! ... but also performed noticeably worse. Thinking I may have been paranoid or just overreacting to a few fps drop, I ran a benchmark. And, yeah, DA:I with maxed setting, I am only getting 53fps. Going from "Ultra" presets to max settings cut my fps in half. Well, I certainly didn't buy a 120hz display to play at 53fps, and I didn't buy dual 960s(ok, u can laugh now) to have to dumb down my settings at 1080p. I started weighing my options, again. Of course I bugged you guys on the forum, and I went on the Google to look for better GPU solutions.

With all the hype surrounding 4k, 1440p and 144hz monitors, I kind of got the impression that 1080p was the lower tier of pc gaming and below the recommended use of "enthusiast" level GPUs like the 980, 980 ti and Titan X. I was very surprised to see that games like Witcher 3, DA:I and Assassins Creed: Unity made even the most powerful GPU's struggle to get 60fps with maxed settings on 1080p. Are these game really that graphically demanding compared to, well, pretty much every other game out there. Or, are they just poorly optimized for pc and fail to take advantage of the hardware. What you you guys think?

[Windows2000]

Consoles are where the money is at. At my school, only the "nerds" (nerds are awesome) play on PC. 

The average consumer doesn't and won't care about a GTX 980TI or a R9 Fury X.

If it works, looks good enough, and hyped; they sell.

 

Game companies are known to discriminate PC gamers. 

DX12 can fix some optimization issues but tbh game companies like Ubisoft should shut the fuck up and give us the "correct goods".

[OAcesync]

Well, I learned the hard way that "Ultra" graphic presets aren't nearly the same as max settings. And it's not just Witcher's 3 hairworks. This became frustratingly clear with Dragon Age: Inquisition. I was really impressed when my dual 960s(hold your laughter) averaged 99fps on "Ultra" 1080p settings. Then, for whatever reason, I checked the settings and noticed that some weren't maxed out, so naturally, I rectified that. The game looked noticeably better! ... but also performed noticeably worse. Thinking I may have been paranoid or just overreacting to a few fps drop, I ran a benchmark. And, yeah, DA:I with maxed setting, I am only getting 53fps. Going from "Ultra" presets to max settings cut my fps in half. Well, I certainly didn't buy a 120hz display to play at 53fps, and I didn't buy dual 960s(ok, u can laugh now) to have to dumb down my settings at 1080p. I started weighing my options, again. Of course I bugged you guys on the forum, and I went on the Google to look for better GPU solutions.

With all the hype surrounding 4k, 1440p and 144hz monitors, I kind of got the impression that 1080p was the lower tier of pc gaming and below the recommended use of "enthusiast" level GPUs like the 980, 980 ti and Titan X. I was very surprised to see that games like Witcher 3, DA:I and Assassins Creed: Unity made even the most powerful GPU's struggle to get 60fps with maxed settings on 1080p. Are these game really that graphically demanding compared to, well, pretty much every other game out there. Or, are they just poorly optimized for pc and fail to take advantage of the hardware. What you you guys think?

AC Unity is a poorly a optimized game but you're right that some things on 1080p are still not achievable like 144hz maxed out 1080p AAA

[Th3 Mans1ay3r]

Probably bad PC optimization. Seems to be a thing. Optimize the shit out of the console version and leave the PC community out to dry.

[SolarNova]

Every now and then u'll find people who seem to think that a SINGLE r9 390x, 780, 780ti, 970, 980, Fury X, Titan X , 980ti, are all overkill for 1080p gaming.

 

They are wrong.

 

There are indeed games, optimised or not, that can crush a single GPU setup and force FPS down below the 60 fps average threshold once you Max every setting and add MSAA (or other AA that isn't crappy FXAA or the like) at 1080p.

 

If you want 60fps + on all games at 1080p at max settings + AA, u need SLI 780/970 or better (IMO).

 

But it isn't recommended to do that, and spend all that money, for only a handful of games that do require that much grunt at 1080p, most games can be handled with a single high end GPU.

 

And remember we are still only talking average frame rates atm.... not minimums.

[linuxfan66]

Every now and then u'll find people who seem to think that a SINGLE r9 390x, 780, 780ti, 970, 980, Fury X, Titan X , 980ti, are all overkill for 1080p gaming.

 

They are wrong.

 

There are indeed games, optimised or not, that can crush a single GPU setup and force FPS down below the 60 fps average threshold once you Max every setting and add MSAA (or other AA that isn't crappy FXAA or the like) at 1080p.

 

If you want 60fps + on all games at 1080p at max settings + AA, u need SLI 780/970 or better (IMO).

 

But it isn't recommended to do that, and spend all that money, for only a handful of games that do require that much grunt at 1080p, most games can be handled with a single high end GPU.

 

And remember we are still only talking average frame rates atm.... not minimums.

also entitlement. people seem to think their entitled to a card performing a single way...it never works like and never will.

[MoonDoggy-X]

Every now and then u'll find people who seem to think that a SINGLE r9 390x, 780, 780ti, 970, 980, Fury X, Titan X , 980ti, are all overkill for 1080p gaming.

 

They are wrong.

 

There are indeed games, optimised or not, that can crush a single GPU setup and force FPS down below the 60 fps average threshold once you Max every setting and add MSAA (or other AA that isn't crappy FXAA or the like) at 1080p.

 

If you want 60fps + on all games at 1080p at max settings + AA, u need SLI 780/970 or better (IMO).

 

But it isn't recommended to do that, and spend all that money, for only a handful of games that do require that much grunt at 1080p, most games can be handled with a single high end GPU.

 

And remember we are still only talking average frame rates atm.... not minimums.

Probably the best port out there is GTA V. However, it took them a year to make it PC worthy. Is that the example companies should follow going forward. I think it's almost worth the wait. 

I lover RPGs. What prompted this whole topic is that my current setup murders everything at 1080p... except the games I really want to play! Can we expect similar performance from upcoming RPGs like Mass Effect 4? Is it worth overpowering our rigs to get decent framerates in these games if that's what we mostly play, or will DX12 maybe rectify some of the optimization issues?

[SolarNova]

DX12 most definably will help, how much so depends on the individual developers ability to use the new API.

However, just like DX11, its likely DX12 will only be adopted by a handful of games, those games will be the ones where the developers can justify creating 2 versions of the game for PC, DX9 and DX12. 

 

As for upgrading for the specific games ur current setup cant handle, I would say yes. Best time to upgrade is right after a flagship card has been released. The 980ti came out at the end of May iirc, so I'd say ur ok getting one still , the next generation of cards is likely going to come out some time next year, I would 'guestimate' Q2.

If the games u want better FPS in are ones ur playing a lot of and they are definably hampered by ur GPU's (check GPU usage) then yea go for it.

[IAMSWIFT1]

Probably the best port out there is GTA V. However, it took them a year to make it PC worthy. Is that the example companies should follow going forward. I think it's almost worth the wait. 

I lover RPGs. What prompted this whole topic is that my current setup murders everything at 1080p... except the games I really want to play! Can we expect similar performance from upcoming RPGs like Mass Effect 4? Is it worth overpowering our rigs to get decent framerates in these games if that's what we mostly play, or will DX12 maybe rectify some of the optimization issues?

Yep,I'd Rather Wait Then Get A Bad Prot Cough Batman Cough

[ConnorDahne]

I have two 970's and I have a hard time keeping witcher 3 maxed with hairworks on at 1440p near 60...
Witcher 3 is super demanding...
I play on a gsync monitor, so it stings a little less when it drops below sixty lol

[typographie]

What you you guys think?

 

I think when we spend a lot of time on tech enthusiast forums, we start getting a really inflated perception of what gaming is supposed to be. Very, very few people actually have a video card as fast as even a single GTX 970. A ridiculously small number of people have 1440p, 4K, or 120/144 Hz monitors. 1080p is really not as passé as it sounds like it is sometimes, it's what the overwhelming majority of people are still using.

 

Chances are you can run DA: Inquisition on basically maxed settings, but MSAA in Frostbite 3 engine games absolutely hammers performance. Same issue in BF4 and BFH. Turn down that setting and you should be fine. It's not worth using. Inject SMAA with a third-party utility if you need it.

 

Some games like Assassin's Creed Unity are just simply broken. DirectX 12 is not going to help that. The developers that have their shit together and put out great, well-optimized DX11 games are likely still going to put out great DX12 games. A developer that releases DX11 garbage is probably still going to release DX12 garbage. Gauge your hardware needs off of the games that actually work.

[Praesi]

Well i tweaked the shit out of Witcher 3 and have 60+fps on my 1440p Display all the time.

Cant say anything about Unity, havent bought it, never will.

DA:I was long before the GTX980Ti and 1440p, cant say anythingt about that.

[Sky Daddy]

144fps with ultra settings @1440p, now that's just being greedy

 

although, 980ti can pull 80-90fps ultra on a lot of games at 1440p so that's pretty damn good imo

 

1440p 144hz + g/free-sync = win win