Print Article: Far Cry 64-bit Performance ATI vs NVIDIA



		Far Cry 64-bit Performance ATI vs NVIDIA May 11, 2005

Summary: Yesterday CryTek released their long-awaited 64-bit patch for Far Cry, along with an enhanced content update patch for AMD-64 users that improves Far Cry's visuals. In this article we examine the performance improvements the patch brings for both ATI and NVIDIA users with 8 different graphics cards ranging from the X700 PRO/GeForce 6600 GT all the way up to their latest and greatest. We've also run tests with AMD's ECU patch to see how much of a performance hit the enhanced eye candy brings. Who takes a bigger performance hit, ATI or NVIDIA? Do mainstream cards have a harder time holding up under these environments and are unplayable? What about HDR? Find out in this article!

Introduction Page:: ( 1 / 12 )

But with the release of Windows XP x64 Edition late last month, the 64-bit era can finally really take off. One of the first gaming applications that has been released to take advantage of 64-bit Windows is CryTek’s 2004 hit shooter, Far Cry.

64-bit port or 64-bit design?

Before we delve into 64-bit Far Cry however, we wanted to clear up a few common misconceptions enthusiasts may have over 64-bit support. The most common of these is that 64-bit Windows will somehow allow your applications to run faster, the “bigger is better” mentality applies here right? Wrong. Just because you have a 64-bit OS doesn’t mean your 32-bit apps will run faster, in fact some may run slower in a 64-bit environment: some 16-bit applications ran terribly in Windows NT. Fortunately Microsoft has taken steps to ensure that the 64-bit transition is a smooth one, early benchmarks indicate that the performance impact of running a 32-bit app in Windows x64 is only barely distinguishable from running the same application in 32-bit Windows XP.

Another, more subtle misunderstanding relates to so-called “64-bit” apps. These applications may be truly built from the ground up for 64-bit, or may merely be 32-bit software that has been recompiled to run in 64-bit Windows. In other words, just because you have a 64-bit executable doesn’t ensure that the application is truly designed to take advantage of 64-bit hardware and software.

If you recall the original Athlon 64 launch nearly two years ago, Crytek, along with Epic Games (with 64-bit Unreal Tournament 2003) were the first two proponents of AMD’s 64-bit platform and 64-bit gaming in general, with 64-bit Far Cry and Unreal Tournament 2003 both used as technology demos for AMD’s 64-bit platform. In our interview with CryTek CEO Cevat Yerli we were told “We’ve done it [64-bit Far Cry] mainly for content development creators and mod creators, there will be huge benefits from it. For the gameplay it will be more beneficial to the environment, you will have some specific content for 64-bit. There will be a 64-bit version of Far Cry, a separate one eventually. That will be essentially content-wise slightly improved over the 32-bit version but it’s not something which, I mean people with the 32-bit version can still compare to the 64-bit version, but it’s optimized for the 64-bit experience.” He then went on to say that they were focusing on enhancing the visuals for the 64-bit version of Far Cry rather than performance: “Well you will have a better experience, not necessarily “the look”; well you will have more environmental objects. If you consider that a better “look”, then yes, but the experience will be better because more things will be happening on screen.”

Epic was just as forthcoming about their 64-bit port of Unreal Tournament. In our interview with Tim Sweeney on the topic, Tim stated “Our goal in porting UT2003 to 64-bit was to show that it can be done without much work, that the platform is stable, and that it's ready for gaming. We're not doing anything that really takes advantage of over 4 gigs of RAM or the large virtual address space.

The next generation of the Unreal engine is where we'll be taking major advantage of 64-bit in a very visible way, in the 2005 timeframe. We expect to support 32-bit and 64-bit clients and servers for gameplay, but might require 64-bit for content creation, because of the significant requirements of our new content development tools.”

In other words, what we’re telling you today is not to rush out and buy 64-bit hardware and software expecting a massive difference, as even early AMD-64 supporters CryTek and Epic have been quite frank in their 64-bit implementations. We’re basically looking at ports here guys, nothing next-generation that really shows the benefits of 64-bit.

Now with that being said, in some cases the greater registers provided by 64-bit can net performance gains as memory accesses are reduced, in addition as Cevat mentioned CryTek has also added some unique content to 64-bit Far Cry. Let’s go over these changes…

Far Cry 64-bit Page:: ( 2 / 12 )

By providing two icons, CryTek provides a fallback for users who may run into problems with Far Cry 64-bit. Keep in mind that you will need to install 32-bit Far Cry before you run the 64-bit patch.

Running the 64-bit executable is the best way to measure the performance improvement 64-bit Far Cry provides (if any). AMD-64 users can then download a second 500MB file, the AMD-64 Enhanced Content Update. The Enhanced Content Update is just as its name implies, providing improved content.

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You’ll get richer textures in the game, longer view distances (particularly when using your binoculars), and finally more objects. For instance, Far Cry is well known for is lush, tropical environments, with the enhanced content update installed, you’ll notice more birds flying throughout the game’s varying locales, as well as more insects buzzing around. The following screenshots were taken in volcano:

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CryTek has also added two new multiplayer maps, exclusive to the enhanced content update, gorge and stronghold.

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The following is a complete list of the enhancements, provided by AMD:

Far Cry 64-Bit Additions/ Enhancements:
All Levels:
Improved terrain textures
Increased view distance
Offset bump mapping added for rock and stone objects
More insects and birds

On the Pier Level:
New beach road with additional vehicle
Barrel storage camp
Opened more space to explore

Pier and Boat:
New terrain textures with shader (next-gen technology)

Two New 64-bit only Multiplayer levels:
Stronghold
Gorge

Because of the enhancements, installing the enhanced content update can have an impact on your game performance. The performance hit will vary from map to map, as well as within different areas of the same map. It’s also likely that the performance impact will vary based on your PCs specs, the RADEON X700 and GeForce 6600 don’t have the horsepower of the X850 and GeForce 6800 series after all.

To measure this, we’ve rounded up cards on a variety of performance scales. To evaluate the performance benefits of 64-bit we ran Far Cry under Windows XP 32-bit, as well as Windows XP x64 with the 64-bit executable.

Test Systems Page:: ( 3 / 12 )

System Setup

Conclusion Page:: ( 12 / 12 )

Again, AMD/CryTek’s 64-bit Far Cry release only provides a glimpse of what 64-bit gaming will ultimately be like, as we’re looking at a 64-bit port, and not something that’s designed from the ground up to take advantage of 64-bit processing. CryTek has added a little bit of content to make the game more interesting for AMD-64 users, nothing more. Ultimately, everything CryTek has provided with 64-bit Far Cry could be implemented just as easily under a 32-bit environment with older versions of Windows XP and more mature hardware such as AMD’s Athlon XP, only you will see performance improvements by running 64-bit with ATI hardware.

We saw performance improvements varying from 7-10% for ATI hardware, with the result varying depending on the card used and the resolution tested. Obviously this isn’t as significant as some enthusiasts were hoping for, but at the same time, you could also argue that this improvement is equivalent to a 100-200MHz clock frequency boost (assuming equal architectures). That’s not bad for a “free” upgrade. For whatever reason, NVIDIA GeForce 6 cards didn’t fare as well in our testing.

Perhaps it’s due to the beta nature of the drivers we used, or the condition of CryTek’s patch itself. For instance, we encountered numerous visual anomalies in multiple levels from the game once HDR was enabled. After a few hours of experimentation we finally gave up. We also noticed visual quirks in a few other levels without HDR turned on. It’s possible that NVIDIA’s driver could be causing these problems, or it’s also possible that CryTek’s patch is the culprit.

As far as AMD’s enhanced content update patch is concerned, as we stated at the outset, the performance impact of installing AMD’s enhanced content update will vary from map to map. While we saw very little impact from the patch in Far Cry’s “training” level, we saw a performance hit of up to 10% in volcano.

With X850 XT PE and GeForce 6800 Ultra delivering blistering frame rates in the game however, you’ll probably want to install the ECU update, simply because there’s plenty of performance to spare. Just be sure to monitor your performance in more demanding areas of some maps.

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