An AMD Mantle users Testing BF4.

[HWfreak]

There are lots of Mantle Reviews on the net but none of them quite seem to reflect the point of Mantle and what it does.

My experience of those reviews seems typical in that they have a tendancy to use the best 12 thread Intel CPU's overclocked and then set very high in game settings, often also only testing in Campaign mode which has far less CPU implications.

What this does is make the Game completely GPU bound.

Mantle removes or betters CPU bottlenecking, so.
Anyone worth their knowledge knows the way you test for CPU bettlenecks is to run very low GFX setting, this moves the workload away from the GPU onto the CPU, this is what i have seen Anand do many times, and its right.

So with that principle in mind i have done some testing of my own, little of it, but didn't need to to show its effects right away.

So, here we go.

System used:

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth 990FX, Rev-1.01, BIOS 1503.
CPU: AMD Phenom II x6 1090T @ 4.2Ghz
GPU: Radeon 7870XT (Tahiti LE) @ 1150 / 1575
RAM: Corsair XMS3 4x2GB @ 1600Mhz
SSD Samsung 830
PSU: XFX 750 Watt Pro Edition
Case: CM HAF 912+

Op: Shanghai:
I chose this map immediately as it has a well known CPU bottleneck; all the way down the main dual bridge road. Standing at the very top of the road my results are as follows.

48 Player server, with 40+ players active. (GFX setting = Medium preset @ 1080P)

In Direct X: 57 FPS.



In Mantle: 123 FPS



The performance difference in Mantle is +110% in that scenario.

This does not mean there is a FPS boost everywhere all the time, thats not the case at all.

I play BF4 all the time, since Mantle became available in BF4 i have switched to it and never looked back.
In Direct X my FPS get dragged down by a half regularly, often less than what you see in that screenshot.
With Mantle i'm constantly running roughly around 100 FPS Minimum on all High Settings 1080P. its like night and day.

I have made a couple of Youtube vids to show it in action, keep in mind that what i used to record it, Mirillis Action, reduces the performance by a good 20%.

Direct X

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WFqX5k_GgA

Mantle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcEEuIvN8FI

4.8Ghz Sandy Bridge i7 and R9 290 xFire x2 test in this post. http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36169582&postcount=40

 

[Black Octagon]

Thank you. I would also like to see the other form of CPU-bound situation: high-end rig (including powerful CPU, OC'd well) but only one GPU. Then compare to Crossfire.

 

[Erenhardt]

HD7870 having hard time keeping with Phenom2 X4 965 under mantle:

Previous patch and 14.1 drivers:

Current version and 14.2 drivers (not sure if settings are the same as above):
95 fps spiky
115 fps silky

That is the least CPU intensive place I think

Since I figured out how to stop mantle from stuttering I no longer use dx. Actually I totally forgot that I use mantle

I may try to test dx multiplayer on next map or so...

 

[HWfreak]

Thank you. I would also like to see the other form of CPU-bound situation: high-end rig (including powerful CPU, OC'd well) but only one GPU. Then compare to Crossfire.

Hopefully someone around here with a rig like that can replicate what i did here

 

[TreVader]

I'm surprised AT hasn't released a more comprehensive Mantle review yet. It looks like it provides just enough to put the 290X ahead of the 780ti in all situations, but it also appears to be awesome for people on AMD FX and Celeron/Pentium/i3 systems.



I'm considering buying a 290X lighting for my i3 system because of mantle.

 

[Rezist]

Seems the biggest helping is minimums on weak CPU's which can definitely help some older systems/CPU's.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I loved Mantle on my 7970. I kept the same settings and there are situation where my gtx780 at 1176mhz only gets fps in the 70's where my 7970 was getting 120fps constant.

I hope Mantle, and DX12(if it's similar) see more usage in the future.

 

[monstercameron]

i get about 40-50 fps constant on my kaveri apu with all settings low/off and 2xmsaa

also a mild oc to 4GHz and 800MHz on the gpu.

 

[Silverforce11]

I'm surprised AT hasn't released a more comprehensive Mantle review yet. It looks like it provides just enough to put the 290X ahead of the 780ti in all situations, but it also appears to be awesome for people on AMD FX and Celeron/Pentium/i3 systems.



I'm considering buying a 290X lighting for my i3 system because of mantle.

Mantle reduces CPU bottlenecks so it functions for gamers under two scenarios.

1. Weaker CPU and a decent GPU.
2. Strong CPU but with multi-card setups, ie. uber GPUs

Anytime the CPU is holding back the performance, Mantle will give a big boost.

 

[MongGrel]

I don't even play BF4 and have D/L Mantle, but was under the impression it really only worked with R9 290's and above myself when it was released.

Just running a Asus R9 280x DCII TOP here, didn't think it even applied to things mine and below atm.

Maybe it was patched, as I said not even playing it I guess.

 

[Arkaign]

HD7870 having hard time keeping with Phenom2 X4 965 under mantle:

Previous patch and 14.1 drivers:

Current version and 14.2 drivers (not sure if settings are the same as above):
95 fps spiky
115 fps silky

That is the least CPU intensive place I think

Since I figured out how to stop mantle from stuttering I no longer use dx. Actually I totally forgot that I use mantle

I may try to test dx multiplayer on next map or so...

Have they fixed Mantle to where it doesn't look so washed out? I tried it with my HTPC (6350+7870), and I noticed a performance boost in some respects, but it just looked terrible, so I switched back. I also got crashes every few rounds, and back on DX it's fully stable other than the known sound bugs.

 

[Silverforce11]

Have they fixed Mantle to where it doesn't look so washed out? I tried it with my HTPC (6350+7870), and I noticed a performance boost in some respects, but it just looked terrible, so I switched back. I also got crashes every few rounds, and back on DX it's fully stable other than the known sound bugs.

Repi mention on twitter Mantle has higher gamma settings than DX so its brighter. They are going to make it identical in the next BF4 update.

This whole launch of BF4 seems like a fiasco to me, EA again ruining everything they touch by trying to force games out the door well before its ready.

 

[Erenhardt]

Have they fixed Mantle to where it doesn't look so washed out? I tried it with my HTPC (6350+7870), and I noticed a performance boost in some respects, but it just looked terrible, so I switched back. I also got crashes every few rounds, and back on DX it's fully stable other than the known sound bugs.

Now, when I tried to measure dx vs mantle I was thrown away by dx. Mantle looked way sharper and crisp.

I would say it opposite to how it was before.

Edit: updated screenshots, so both are made from the same spot

 

[Silverforce11]

Same settings?! That looks like an entirely different setting, like going from medium to high.

 

[Erenhardt]

Same settings?! That looks like an entirely different setting, like going from medium to high.

I think, I was closer to the edge when taking mantle screenshot and everything that road and grass were in a lot better detail than in dx. Updated screen so both are from the same (or close to) location. Settings preset: high.

 

[HWfreak]

Mantle originally was a completely different colour to DX (in BF4), that has been fixed, it was just a colour setting.

As for sharpness, i can't say that it looks any different to DX, but then i have not looked really for that.

Anyway, i know someone with a 4.8Ghz i7 and 290 CrossFire, he said he has a marked performance improvement in Mantle, i will ask him to run a couple of tests for me.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Wonder how a gtx780 stands up to a 290 when Mantle is enabled?For most games a 770 to a 290 or gtx780 would be a small upgrade but for BF4 i assume a 290 with Mantle is gonna have some major boost.

 

[CropDuster]

Just on the test range I went from 134FPS under DX to it maxed out at 200 under Mantle. The biggest benefit though is that I don't think I've seen my FPS dip under 100 even on 64p servers.

 

[Despoiler]

I found this program that parses BF4 logs if anyone is interested.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1469627/...e-analyzer-version-4-1-released-minor-version

 

[Paul98]

I used to run mantle till the most recent BF4 patch which is giving me some stuttering. at 2560x1440 and lowish settings I got an ok boost. I tried with the same settings at 1080p and it I got a HUGE boost.

 

[Gloomy]

^Ditto. Except for the stuttering, I don't have that.

I think I mentioned it before, but Mantle makes me wish I had a 120Hz/144Hz monitor. Cause it definitely makes locking the framerate that high possible.

I'm not playing BF4 anymore though.

 

[coolpurplefan]

Is Mantle something you buy or just an update?

 

[Will Robinson]

It's included in the driver for GCN architecture cards from AMD.
It comes as an online update for BF4 via Origin.

 

[CropDuster]

Is Mantle something you buy or just an update?

It's part of the BF4 video selection options. Requires the AMD beta 14.x drivers to be installed on a 79xx or better card I believe.

 

[OCGuy]

Repi mention on twitter Mantle has higher gamma settings than DX so its brighter. They are going to make it identical in the next BF4 update.

This whole launch of BF4 seems like a fiasco to me, EA again ruining everything they touch by trying to force games out the door well before its ready.

What is the reasoning for a 1 month Thief delay?