Mantle won't even work on my system, so yes, I wouldn't consider it a fluid launch especially for those with gcn 1.0 hardware. Reminds me of the whole 3DNow hype back in the k6 days.
You can expect different setups to have varying results. One of the problems with lower level coding is it has a harder time accounting for a wider range of hardware.Why does it not work on your system? Works fine albeit not optimized on my gcn 1.0 setup.
Why does it not work on your system? Works fine albeit not optimized on my gcn 1.0 setup.
[H]ard's Mantle review
http://hardocp.com/article/2014/02/03/amd_mantle_performance_preview_in_battlefield_4
There are also single-player and higher resolution multiplayer runs in the benches.
I haven't bothered to read the review yet, and not sure I will, but did they mention why they did not have AA enabled? A 20 FPS increase is good though.
I haven't bothered to read the review yet, and not sure I will, but did they mention why they did not have AA enabled? A 20 FPS increase is good though.
Reading the review yourself is the best way to answer your question.
(and best of all, without any bias)
1920x1080 and no AA is going to be more CPU limited perhaps? It's the situation where Mantle gives the most benefit. Cranking up AA and resolution and you begin to get GPU limited.
I know, just [H] is not a favorite site of mine...so I prefer not visit there.
I see, but I would like to see it tested in all conditions though. Was just curious if there was something off with the AA in the driver.
I see, but I would like to see it tested in all conditions though. Was just curious if there was something off with the AA in the driver.
Mantle gets a 40% hit with 4xAA. The performance lead pretty much disappears.
I don't think there's anything off with the AA, rather that Mantle has a much bigger GPU lead so they get hit harder with the 'real cost' of the AA when there isn't a CPU bottleneck.
The AA performance hit is most likely due to the GPU enhancements not even really being touched yet. At least that's what PCPER and AT said in their reviews. I'm sure MSAA performance will increase in a few driver releases/game patches (who knows what needs to happen with this new API.)
CPU optimization was the low hanging fruit, and with overhead reduction came real high increases in percentage, GPU optimizations are left in the control of the developers (as per Mantle's working schematics) so if developers wants they can take the time and optimize lets say DirectCompute AA with Mantle, or multi GPU scalability improvements, or rendering improvements, or culling improvements etc. It is up to developers to take to time and add these in the first place to begin with and then again taking time to optimize these things. So for indie developers highly unlikely but CPU optimizations are still there for them. That's why in the initial phase, we see only CPU optimizations heavy release, second phase will come later on which will widen the performance gap even further. AAA game titles will most likely include them for future releases. Like Mass Effect or Star Wars Battlefront etc.The AA performance hit is most likely due to the GPU enhancements not even really being touched yet. At least that's what PCPER and AT said in their reviews. I'm sure MSAA performance will increase in a few driver releases/game patches (who knows what needs to happen with this new API.)
I noticed reduced IQ and periodic crashes in frametime/rate, but also a rather large general performance uplift on a 2500k and 290 running 5314x1050 resolution @ Ultra, no aa. I would drop below 60 fps on a few vegetation heavy maps before (Guilin Peaks, ~45-50 fps). Mantle gave me a solid 20 fps on the high end (from 65 to 85 on Golmud), but the hiccups are completely unbearable. I get them about once a minute. The upside is that the patch improved DX11 performance quite a bit as well. I no longer drop below 60 fps ever with those settings and 1000 mhz clock speed. Ideally, I would be thrilled if I could turn on 2xAA and stay at 60 fps but that may be a bit too optimistic given the GPU limited nature of turning on AA at high resolution.
Additionally, Vsync under Mantle capped me at 30 fps for some reason. I could not figure out why either. Had to turn off vsync altogether to regain any amount over 30. I personally notice screen tearing much more than the lag from vsync so that was a negative for me. At the end of it all, the performance uplift in DX11 was enough to get me to 60 fps without exceptions so I'm a happy camper
Triple buffering should allow for complete variable FPS, similar to not using V-sync. However, the stuttering caused from only being able to display frames of 16.7ms and 33.3ms, remains. Not using triple buffering will often result in locked at 30 FPS, unless you are able to get some frames rendered faster than 16ms.When you go below a threshold of fps with vsync on with mantle (≈-10% of your refresh rate as fps) it will go to 30fps ,or 45 if triplebuffering is on (this last one is an assumption as I couldnt test it on this game). On dx it would show you a different fps number, but in reality you would be also be running at 30fps too (thats why on DX when going below your refresh rate as fps with vsync on looks horrid, even if fps number isnt that bad).
What bothers me that vsync on this game turns into a loss of performance, I PM'ed repi about this, hope he can look into it, as reaching constant 60+fps has never been easier with mantle. It's such a waste I cant turn it on just because I lose from 10 to 20 fps.
When you go below a threshold of fps with vsync on with mantle (≈-10% of your refresh rate as fps) it will go to 30fps ,or 45 if triplebuffering is on (this last one is an assumption as I couldnt test it on this game). On dx it would show you a different fps number, but in reality you would be also be running at 30fps too (thats why on DX when going below your refresh rate as fps with vsync on looks horrid, even if fps number isnt that bad).
Just a sit and wait game from here. I wonder if mantle updates will be speedy?
Using which CPU? Of course this is a matter of balancing the whole system. Even using Win 7 instead of 8.1 can change the picture in a similar way. In a cost neutral way one could save money on the CPU if 4xAA already saturates the GPU with the more expensive CPU.Mantle gets a 40% hit with 4xAA. The performance lead pretty much disappears.
Using which CPU? Of course this is a matter of balancing the whole system. Even using Win 7 instead of 8.1 can change the picture in a similar way. In a cost neutral way one could save money on the CPU if 4xAA already saturates the GPU with the more expensive CPU.
So far CPUs < $200 (+ a $300 FX as accepted exception ) paired with a R9 290X benefit the most, even Pentium, i3 and i5 variants. An i3-4330 moves into i7-4770K territory within 5%:
Source: http://www.betazeta.com/#!/necronomicon/chw/post/amd-cumple-las-expectativas-con-mantle
BTW, how much more does the GTX 780 GHz cost? Looks like $550+ vs. ~$450 for the standard edition. I don't see many listings here.