Image-quality settings... are we being too harsh?
The numbers painted thus far show the GeForce GTX 750 Ti to be a competent performer at 1080p. Our use of high/ultra-quality video settings pushes the architecture to the limit, deliberately exposing any weakness in design. The observed numbers provide smooth gameplay in BioShock Infinite, GRID 2 and Just Cause 2, while Battlefield 4, Far Cry 3 and Crysis 3 are what we'd term the uncomfortable side of velvety-smooth gameplay.
Is it fair to assume that a £115 video card should play these GPU-taxing games at our chosen high-quality settings, ones that are the same for a £500 GeForce GTX 780 Ti? We've taken Battlefield 4 and Far Cry 3 and rebenchmarked them at 1080p (1,920x1,080) with settings knocked down from in-game ultra to high and medium; no other changes are made.
Performance goes up, dramatically so, as the 29.8fps average at ultra-quality settings - which feels a little sticky - increases to 47.2fps at high-quality settings and to 64.5fps at medium. High-quality settings, in particular, provide a solid compromise between visual image quality and frame-rate.
Yet lowering the quality is sure to have a detrimental impact on the visual experience, right? The differences between the three parameters isn't as large as you may think; we've taken screenshots of the trio and show them below. Click on each small picture to open up a full-resolution .png image.
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Ultra |
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We found it hard to distinguish between ultra- and high-quality settings when playing the game. Dropping it down to medium causes a larger diminution in image quality, granted, but the game is very much playable and, arguably, better looking than on the latest consoles.
The same procedure is also adopted for Far Cry 3. Here. however, dropping from ultra to high doesn't yield as substantial a frame-rate benefit. Average frame-rates increase from 38.4fps (ultra) to 45.6fps (high) to 62.8fps (medium).
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Ultra |
High |
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Texture detail certainly drops for the medium-quality settings, but nonetheless, the game still looks good on a decent 1080p monitor.
