Crysis on "Very High" with 9600GT.. Too good to be true?

Hi dere!

Before i start off let me give my current config.

Processor:- Core 2 Duo E6320 (1.86 GHz @ 2.24 GHz)
2GB of RAM (533Mhz @ 640 MHz)
Mobo:- Asus P5N-E-SLI
Graphics Card:- EVGA 9600GT KO Edition (Factory Settings)
Corsair TX 650
15" CRT Monitor (1024x768 Max. Res.)
System has been O/C by 20% using the ASUS AI Tuning Utility in the BIOS.

I know that this is a pretty modest config and was expecting some of the more demanding games to run at around medium level. But the other day when i started to play games i was pretty shocked.

COD4, DMC4, Assassin's Creed were all running very smoothly at max. settings with full anti aliasing!!

And here's the kicker.. So was Crysis. Infact at Very High with full anti-aliasing.. It was giving me an average fps of 32.

Now what i fail to understand is how this is possible?? Is it because of my resolution or am i missing something else here??

My 3DMark 06 score was somewhere in the range of close to 8000.. ( The same with everything set to max.)

Just comment...

Well sometimes it happens. I am not a graphics card expert, but i have noticed that graphics cards support some graphics functions better then others in hardware. So if your medium settings use some function on the card which is not optimized then it may even run slower in medium/low settings then high settings. For example, on my old Nvidia GF 5200FX board, Need for Speed Under Underground use to run slowly at 800x600 with graphics settings set to medium. But at 1024x768 with all settings full excluding the car reflection update(set to medium), it use to give slightly better framerates.

Hmm... I'll try benching it at different settings then..

At 1024x768 with 32 FPS..and all at high...interesting....

Crysis is optimized for nVidia cards...guess you have hit the "real" sweet spot.

Really amazing. I had problems running crysis at very high at that resolution with 4850 It gave me 23-28 FPS..

With full anti-aliasing you say? That's practically impossible.Unless you want to show a screenshot proving the same.My card takes a massive hit with 4X AA being enabled.How can this card manage it with everything on high & full anti-aliasing?

allwyndlima said:
With full anti-aliasing you say? That's practically impossible.Unless you want to show a screenshot proving the same.My card takes a massive hit with 4X AA being enabled.How can this card manage it with everything on high & full anti-aliasing?

Ya thats what i am saying. The FPS i get is with 4x AA and 16X AF plus Adaptive AA enabled. No way its possible that 9600GT can do that.

allwyndlima said:
With full anti-aliasing you say? That's practically impossible.Unless you want to show a screenshot proving the same.My card takes a massive hit with 4X AA being enabled.How can this card manage it with everything on high & full anti-aliasing?

maybe its because of the low resolution ? you play at 1440x900 right ?

^^ 15" CRT Monitor (1024x768 Max. Res.)

MetalheadGautham said:
maybe its because of the low resolution ? you play at 1440x900 right ?

I play at 1280x1024.The last person I had seen playing at 1024x768 resolution with full Anti-Aliasing was Sunny from this forum.I distinctly remember him posting photos showing that as well.But his graphic card was based on a 8800GTS in SLI configuration.That I could believe but this is with a single card & that too a 9600GT.All I need to see is what's the amount of AA he has applied.I'm asking that because adding AA to this game is like making Godzilla stomp over your graphic card.

did u try edgeAA ? does a decent enough job , without any loss in performance ..

Is that available as an in-game option or are you talking about the control panel setting? I have noticed Edge-Detect AA in my CCC.Is that what you meant?

Okay.. I'm back with the screenshots!

*thumbnails11.imagebam.com/1438/7156c714371557.gif

*thumbnails11.imagebam.com/1438/46549e14371558.gif

*thumbnails11.imagebam.com/1438/6bfbb414371559.gif

*thumbnails11.imagebam.com/1438/a599ad14371560.gif

*thumbnails11.imagebam.com/1438/177a3214371561.gif

*thumbnails11.imagebam.com/1438/724ba114371563.gif

I made a mess of the last few screen-shots.. Didn't paste properly in paint.. Anyways.. One more thing.. I have to confess.. I'm playing a cracked version. Does that make a difference somehow?

I play at 1280x1024.The last person I had seen playing at 1024x768 resolution with full Anti-Aliasing was Sunny from this forum.I distinctly remember him posting photos showing that as well.But his graphic card was based on a 8800GTS in SLI configuration.That I could believe but this is with a single card & that too a 9600GT.All I need to see is what's the amount of AA he has applied.I'm asking that because adding AA to this game is like making Godzilla stomp over your graphic card.

I absolutely agree with Allwy, AA on this game is like giving the worst thunderstrome to your current gen GPU..........Even Warhead which is supposed to be better optimized to be played on current gen cards takes a massive hit when AA is cranked from 2x to even 8x with mainstreme graphic settings (which is the second level out of 4)at 1440@900. Its only at certain places I felt the ultra smoothness,other wise it was just playble with 2x AA on mainstreme settings. I had to switch off AA completely in order to run game ultrasmoothly at gamer settings (3rd level). But without AA it was eating egg without salt, so I had to compromise on graphic settings.....my sweet spot on this game under this config was 4x AA @1440x900 with mainstreme (2nd level) graphic settings.

I just wonder which SLI config (or may be quad SLI) can run warhead with 16xQ AA @ 1920x1080 res with enthuziatic(4th level) graphic settings......

And people, i agree with you.. That's what the title suggests... I know it's just not possible.. But it's happening....

Well from his 3rd screenshot, it appears that the AA hasn't taken effect.Look at the tree edges & they are all heavily jagged.Something seems fishy out here.Anyway might just give it a try but 1024x768 on my monitor is a serious mess.Any resolution besides 1280x1024 ends up badly cropped on my screen.

Er... Can somebody explain me what this anti-aliasing does in layman's language?

sam9s said:
mmm well I did notice the trees but then the water of the sea does seems to reflect AA..........?? This cropping thing does not happen with me. I mean even though I am playing at widescreen, changing res to 1024x768 does not atleast crop the game.......it still plays at full screen albeit with some blurryness (that too is more noticed in menu navigation). The game was obviously looking better even though it was not running at my native res as the AA was all cranked up with highest settings............

I know that guys... You might as well check out the pistol in the 5th screen shot.. But still i've set it at 16x.. Was looking around at some screenshots on ign.com and there were jagged edges all over the place.. Including trees.. It's all very uneven. Some things are smooth while some aren't...

can you load FRAPS and then post the screenshots with the same setting. That would give us exact FPS.

@sam9s.. How do i do that?? Can't i just run the benchmark utility that's provided with the game?? Or how do i record a video?

krazzy said:
Er... Can somebody explain me what this anti-aliasing does in layman's language?

*www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Articles/Graphics/anti_aliasing.shtml

Oh yes of course.How can I forget the official benchmarking utility.

Here's the link:
*downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1791

Does not look like any AA in there. Here are my settings: 1680X1050 Medium

Without AA: I get avg 30fps
*img212.imageshack.us/img212/5615/crysis2008092811464322gh9.th.jpg*img212.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif

With 2X AA: 15fps avg
*img212.imageshack.us/img212/3130/crysis2008092811481070qj6.th.jpg*img212.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif

That's what I am talking about.Even the slightest amount of AA being applied gives a massive hit & the frame rates just take a nose dive.For me I can manage with everything on high and with 2X AA averaging to 34Fps.But with 4X AA it just crawls.

I just messed around with crysis to make it ultra high. Here's the link.
*www.incrysis.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=17780

And i used the benchmarking tool given by allwyndlima

Here's the result at Ultra High with 16x AA

9/28/2008 9:34:22 PM -
Beginning Run #1 on Map-island, Demo-benchmark_gpu
DX9 1024x768, AA=16x, Vsync=Disabled, 32 bit test, FullScreen
Demo Loops=1, Time Of Day=18
Global Game Quality: High
==============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 2000, Recorded Time: 111.86s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 95.23s, Average FPS: 21.00
Min FPS: 15.52 at frame 1954, Max FPS: 29.27 at frame 990
Average Tri/Sec: -7768280, Tri/Frame: -369889
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -2.48
TimeDemo Play Ended, (1 Runs Performed)
==============================================================

Completed All Tests

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>>--SUMMARY--<<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

9/28/2008 9:34:22 PM -

Run #1- DX9 1024x768 AA=16x, 32 bit test, Quality: High ~~ Last Average FPS: 21.00

Please note. Here High=Ultra High. Now my games's all messed up.. Will re-install it tomorrow in Vista and bench it and give you the results.

allwyndlima said:
That's what I am talking about.Even the slightest amount of AA being applied gives a massive hit & the frame rates just take a nose dive.For me I can manage with everything on high and with 2X AA averaging to 34Fps.But with 4X AA it just crawls.

I see why it's hard for anyone to believe me... I'm slowly resigning to the fact that AA is not working in mine... No other solution...

nakulvit are you running the pure installation, or you have modified set up files, or using something like Cuba's Custom Config files..??

nakulvit said:
*www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Articles/Graphics/anti_aliasing.shtml

Thanks! That was very informative.

asigh said:
nakulvit are you running the pure installation, or you have modified set up files, or using something like Cuba's Custom Config files..??

When i made my first post, it was pure and un-modded. Then in my latest post, i did some modification as mentioned.

@krazzy

Glad to be helpful

^^ You say you are playing a cracked version?...

Is it a kinda size-compromising cracked version? With modified textures, etc. Ive seen no AA taking effect in COD4 at my friends place... Let me not get banned but it was a cracked version :!:

, lesser in size by 1.something GBs.

Thats my 2 cents.
And If it is working, why fret. You're getting somehting you ought to not get. Be happy.

IronManForever said:
^^ You say you are playing a cracked version?...

Is it a kinda size-compromising cracked version? With modified textures, etc. Ive seen no AA taking effect in COD4 at my friends place... Let me not get banned but it was a cracked version , lesser in size by 1.something GBs.

Thats my 2 cents.
And If it is working, why fret. You're getting somehting you ought to not get. Be happy.

No.. It's the complete ISO.. Not any repacked stuff. The reason i was mentioning it is because the .exe file i replace has a difference in size... A lot infact..

Guys i found one setting down thats Vsynk setting is down. You all may check your Vsynk setting if it is on or not.
Just pointing your attention toward that point as i don't own cyrsis and even HD4850.

Or may be his 9600gt be an over clocked one.

toofan_nainital said:
Guys i found one setting down thats Vsynk setting is down.

Didn't quite understand this statement.

Anyway if you are referring to the V-Sync setting then yes most of us set it to OFF.It's only in extreme cases when the FPS throttles above 60FPS we tend to add V-Sync to reduce visual tearing.In Crysis, I suppose by default it's set to OFF.

@nakulvit: Dude if you are getting good visuals along with good frames then might as well enjoy it. :-D

Well I used to play Crysis at High on 1440x900 with no AA as turning on AA would gimme very slow frame-rates. In Crysis Warhead too I have the same settings. I think both, allwyndlima and Sam9s are right that the AA is not working otherwise this is technically impossible

.

check the official ATI discussion thread at Hardware section. It says the crytec has optimised this game for Nvdia. if thats true it will run more effectively at green cards then red ones.

hmm.....AFAIK only the Tom Clacny games are optimised for NVIDIA.... others claim to be optimised for NVIDIA but run equally well on both.

I think he might be playin crysis 2d ..............lolz.............!

toofan_nainital said:
check the official ATI discussion thread at Hardware section. It says the crytec has optimised this game for Nvdia. if thats true it will run more effectively at green cards then red ones.

Yes this is true..most are aware of this...nVidia drivers are are better for Crytek products vs ATI. Actually Crytek is the culprit..giving more preference to nVidia when creating the original source code...sad...true..business..!

A

hey guys, found this topic via google and just wanted to clarify something. the way anti-aliasing is implemented in the engine that crysis (and crysis warhead) uses, it doesn't get applied to foliage like grass and trees. the only solution for those edges is edgeAA, which you can google. regular anti-aliasing smooths non-foliage edges.

looking at the screenshots, i'd say anti-aliasing is probably working as it should. i'm looking mainly at the edges of rocks and his pistols. it does look slightly more aliased than 16x should, but i'm no expert at eyeballing these things.

allwyndlima said:
I play at 1280x1024.The last person I had seen playing at 1024x768 resolution with full Anti-Aliasing was Sunny from this forum.I distinctly remember him posting photos showing that as well.But his graphic card was based on a 8800GTS in SLI configuration.That I could believe but this is with a single card & that too a 9600GT.All I need to see is what's the amount of AA he has applied.I'm asking that because adding AA to this game is like making Godzilla stomp over your graphic card.

I played both Crysis and Warhead @ 1024x768, threw my 22" LCD monitor away and used an old 17" CRT to play it.

Warhead;
All settings @ Enthusiast.

AA @ 16XQ.

Framerate was really good,in Warhead there was a bit slowdown in the first Ice Level(Hovercraft run) but otherwise it was O.K.

Crysis ran as smooth as butter with Natural Mod Applied,
All settings @ Ultra(DX10 unlocker)
AA @ 16X
(P.S-To me, eye candy is everything)