Crysis

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Even after almost two years since it's release Crysis will make your system cry - it’s a monster! It doesn’t come as much of a surprise then, that the graphics are something special – they’re above and beyond anything we’ve ever seen in a PC game.

We tested the game using the 64-bit executable under DirectX 10 mode with the 1.21 patch applied. We used a custom timedemo recorded from the Laws of Nature level which is more representative of gameplay than the built-in benchmark that renders things much faster than you're going to experience in game. We found that around 27-33 fps in our custom timedemo was sufficient enough to obtain a playable frame rate through the game. It's a little different to other games in that the low frame rates still appear to be quite smooth.

We set all of the in-game details to High and forced 16x anisotropic filtering in the driver menu as there is currently no support for it in game. We tested at 1,280 x 1,024, using 0x, 2x and 4x anti-aliasing, 1,680 x 1,050 using 0x and 4xAA, 1,920 x 1,200 using 0x and 4xAA and 2,560 x 1,600 with 0xAA and 4xAA. By extensively testing using anti-aliasing in very high resolutions in conjunction to High quality, we'll be pushing even the bleeding edge hardware on test to the limit.








Chances are, you're only looking at this page of results - after all, the phrase "but can it run Crysis?" has firmly entered the enthusiasts lexicon as an instant quip whenever new hardware comes out.

Pleasingly, considering Crysis is nigh on two years old now, the answer for all three cards is a resounding yes, with all three producing playable results at 1,680 x 1,050 and 1,920 x 1,200 with 0xAA. However, at 1,920 x 1,200 with 4xAA the single GPU of the GeForce GTX 285 starts to struggle with a minimum frame rate of 20fps, and the Radeon HD 4870 X2 is skirting playable plughole with a minimum of 24fps. On the other end, the GeForce GTX 295 though is impressively able to deliver very playable frame rates even at these ultra-demanding settings.

At 2,560 x 1,600 though, all three cards struggle, with only the GeForce GTX 295 able to deliver a just about playable minimum frame rate of 22fps, and at 2,560 x 1,600 with 4xAA you can just forget it with any of these cards. The GTX 285 runs out of memory and both dual GPU cards struggle.

It's testament to Crysis' lasting legacy as a monstrously demanding game then, that two years after it's launch, it's still making even the highest end graphics cards look slow. There's the argument that very few own 30" monitors capable of 2,560 x 1,600, but there's still the Ultra high detail preset above these results to consider as well! While all three cards are able to cut it at 1,680 x 1,050 then, at higher resolutions it's the GeForce GTX 295 that confidently claims this round drawing out an even 2-2.