Battlefield 4 Performance Analysis

How We Tested

Our GPU test rig is equipped with the multi-GPU powerhouse that is the Asus Maximus V Extreme, allowing us to run up to 4-card SLI and CrossFire with 8x PCI-E 3.0 lanes per card. The CPU is an Intel Core i5 3570K running at 4.2GHz to raise the CPU headroom, and it's paired with 8GB of 2,400MHz Corsair Dominator DDR3. Our chassis of choice is NZXT's Switch 810, a case big enough to house even a pair of Asus' Ares 2 graphics cards. The Lepa G1600 1600W PSU offers more wattage and 8-pin PCI-E power connectors than we'd ever need.

Test System

• Intel Core i5 3570K (operating at 4.2GHz – 42 x 100MHz)
  
• Asus Maximus V Extreme motherboard
  
• 2 x 4GB Corsair 2,400MHz DDR3 memory
  
• Lepa G1600 1600W PSU
  
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
  
• Samsung SSD 830 256GB SSD

To Benchmark Battlefield 4, we're using a 60 second recording of the opening sequence of the campaign's sixth level, Tashgar. It's a very demanding section, as it's fast-paced and features plenty of draw distance, numerous lighting effects and shadows, high resolution textures (particularly on the character models) as well as particle effects from fire and smoke. It's still not the same as a 64-player multiplayer match, which would of course be impossible to replicate, but it's a stressful and challenging benchmark to run nonetheless. It also has the benefit of being very reliable, giving us the same results through multiple reruns.


Every graphics card has been tested with the absolute latest drivers to ensure maximum relevance. We've tested all the cards at 1920 x 1,080 and 2,560 x 1,600, as well as a selection of the higher end cards in Nvidia Surround/AMD Eyefinity (5,760 x 1,080) and at 4K (3,840 x 2,160).

AMD graphics cards

• AMD Radeon HD 7990 6GB (1,000MHz GPU, 6GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB - Uber Mode (1,000MHz GPU, 5GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB - Quiet Mode (1,000MHz GPU, 5GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB (947MHz GPU, 5GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB (1,000MHz GPU, 6GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB (1,050MHz GPU, 5.6GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon R9 270 2GB (925MHz GPU, 5.6GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon R7 260X 2GB (1,100MHz GPU, 6.5GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB GHz Edition (1,000-1,050MHz GPU, 6GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB with Boost (875MHz-925MHz GPU, 5GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB (1,000MHz GPU, 4.8GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon HD 7790 1GB (1,000MHz GPU, 6GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)
  
• AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB (1,000MHz GPU, 4.5GHz memory) (Catalyst 13.11 beta 9.2)

Nvidia graphics cards

• Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 4GB (915MHz GPU, boosting to 1,019MHz, 6GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB (876MHz GPU, boosting to 928MHz, 7GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6GB (836Mhz GPU, boosting to 876MHz, 6GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB (863Mhz GPU, boosting to 900MHz, 6GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB (1,046Mhz GPU, boosting to 1,085MHz, 7GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB (980Mhz GPU, boosting to 1,033MHz, 6GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB (1,006MHz GPU, boosting to 1,110MHz, 6GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2GB (915MHz GPU, boosting to 1,084MHz, 6GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB (915MHz GPU boosting to 980MHz, 6GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB (980MHz GPU boosting to 1,033MHz, 6GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB (980MHz GPU boosting to 1,033MHz, 6GHz memory) (GeForce 331.82 WHQL)