Ive been doing some testing on the Crysis SP demo to find out which settings have the most impact on frame-rates.
Turns out its
Shadows,
Post Processing, and
Object Detail which are the biggest hitters.
I started off with everything Medium, and was getting about 40+ average on the GPU bench, but with everything Medium it just looks like FarCry with a gfx pack slapped on it to make it look better, so i put the Shader setting back to High, as that makes a nice visual difference and ran it again, and i only went down to 37. something average, which was still fine for me.
Then i went through the settings starting at the top, and put them all back up to High one by one whilst running the GPU bench and noting the average, so first i put the Texture Quality up to High, ran the bench, noted the average, then next i did the Object Detail, up to High, ran the bench, noted the average, and so on with each setting.
The Texture Quality from Medium to High only dropped it by 1 frame or less, went down to about 36. something from the 37. something i started with.
The Object Detail however from Medium to High, dropped it by 3 frames, it went down to 33. something, so that turned out to be a bit a difference maker.
Shadows from Medium to High dropped it by another 3 frames just like the Object Detail, so now my average was 30. something.
Physics was next, and that didn't make a difference on the GPU test, that will only affect the CPU test probably, so my average stayed the same 30. something.
Next was the Volumetric setting, again no difference from Medium to High, still 30. something.
The Game Effects from Medium to High was the same result, no change, still 30. something.
Next Post Processing, and this on High from Medium, dropped it by 5 frames (the biggest drop so far), so i was now down to 25. something average.
Next was the Particles, and that made no difference, still 25. something, and the same for the Water, that back to High from Medium was still 25. something, so the biggest hitter being the Post Processing, dropping it by 5 frames, with the Shadows and Object Detail next, each dropping it by 3 frames, and the rest of the settings making no difference, so with dropping the Shadows back down to Medium, same for Post Processing and Object Detail, i gained 11 frames back, thus taking it back up to 36. something average from a 37. something average that i started with, and still looking great in the process with not being able to see any differences, unless i was just playing the game and standing about for 20 minutes staring at things to see the differences.
Thats on spec in sig thats all stock, 1280x1024 res, 0xAA/16xAF (doesn't look like it really needs AA to me tbh as it still looks great without).
Now its on to the CPU bench test, and just a fiddle with the Physics setting (if needed) to see how that affects all the debris etc... flying about when hes shotting that camp up.
