AMD Radeon graphics run Witcher 3 just fine, unless Nvidia HairWorks is enabled–and that’s OK - scottlase1951

Despite suffering from irregular sub-30 frames per second stuttering on consoles, the PC version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt attained our stamp of approval for its beautiful visuals, graphics settings many, and ALIR-superior-to-console frame rates. But even though the game ran at a fairly consistent 60fps at 1080p with more often than not maxed-out settings on our reviewer's GeForce GTX 970, we didn't want to settle the issue in that location.

Why? Because The Witcher 3 features Nvidia's proprietorship GameWorks middleware technology—most notably HairWorks, which enables improbably realistic fuzz. Social media has been chockablock of widespread fears that HairWorks would hinder performance on AMD cards. With the PhysX-enabled Project CARS (which is not a GameWorks rubric) still running corresponding crap on AMD computer hardware, about gamers are understandably skittish.

So I decided to exam the performance of comparable AMD and Nvidia graphics card game.

To Doctor of Osteopathy so, I slapped both a reference AMD Radeon R9 290X (ugh, I know, that cooler) and a reference Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 into PCWorld's graphics card examination rig, and played a bit of The Witcher 3 with apiece, at 2560×1600 declaration with all nontextual matter options turned to "high" settings presets. I used SSAO rather than Nvidia's HBAO+ for the ambient occlusion setting. Frame rates could vary quite an a bit depending on what you're doing, according to FRAPS, and it's stale to create replicable situations in Witcher 3's dynamical, open globe—fulfi scenes specially.

I settled connected capturing one minute's Charles Frederick Worth of frame rates using FRAPS in the supra settlement in the gap tutorial field, loaded from a save. The great unwashe, foliage, and the occasional animal abound, though I reloaded and started fresh on the rare occasion that wolves wandered in and riled up the populace.

The numbers

Let's start with the good news archetypal: The Radeon R9 290X handles Witcher 3 same a champ.

With HairWorks disconnected, the AMD card hit frame rates hovering between 47 and 49fps in the scene above. Naturally, frame rates unfit a little get down during litigate scenes, but ne'er below the mid- to high-thirties at their rack up. That's comparable the GTX 980, which hit 48 to 51fps in the above post. That performance variance betwixt the cardinal graphics cards is in line with what we've seen in all but other games, equally well. And AMD hasn't equal released Witcher 3-optimized drivers yet, unlike Nvidia, which had Game Ready drivers available happening launch day.

Now for the bad news. Enabling Nvidia HairWorks technology (set to "All" rather than "Geralt only") absolutely tanks the frame rate on the Radeon R9 290X. In the scene above, frame rates instantly born to 29 to 30fps—an absolutely massive remainder. Scenes with multiple wolves borderline devolved into slideshows.

An example of how wolves appear inWitcher 3 with HairWorks both enabled and disabled.

But here's the thing: Nvidia's GeForce GTX 980 too suffered tremendously with HairWorks enabled, albeit at a far lesser scale than AMD's ironware, dropping to 41 to 43fps in the above settlement. HairWorks slammed the Radeon with a approximately 47-percent performance drop, and the GeForce card with a 16-percent penalty. The HairWorks effect sure looks pretty, butouch.

Update:AMD's published a knowledge domain article stating thatWitcher 3 drivers are coming, and it also inside information Catalyst Control Center settings you tin tweak for increased performance with Nvidia's HairWorks.

Nvidia's ain HairWorks testing showed that scenes with fourfold wolves and Geralt's horse cavalry in the background saw an even more pronounced skeleton rate drop connected a dual-Behemoth X setup, as you can interpret down the stairs. (Note that the uncastrated configuration is drastically different than our test sem, and Nvidia obviously didn't bench mark AMD hardware.)

The GameWorks controversy

In essence, HairWorks creates drop-dead gorgeous hair but with a grave hit to mettlesome performance, atomic number 102 matter which brand of graphics card you're using. Yes, the hit is drastically more pronounced on Radeon hardware, which (unlike Nvidia's) isn't far-famed for handling tessellation well—but Nvidia's cards still get gut-punched by HairWorks.

For what IT's Worth, Nvidia spokesperson Brian Burke says that Radeon hardware could've been optimized for HairWorks in a couple of disparate ways. While spunky developers aren't allowed to share GameWorks source encrypt with AMD, licensees (like CD Projekt Red) can request GameWorks encipher and optimize it in their games for AMD ironware. AMD could also endeavor to optimize performance at a double star level, kind of than a seed code level, Calamity Jane said—though that's far more difficult for AMD than transaction with unilateral source code. Finally, Burke says, AMD could've worked to get its own TressFX technology within of The Witcher 3, much like how GTA V for PC featured proprietary shadow engineering science from both AMD and Nvidia.

AMD representatives didn't respond to a request for comment.

In the long run, The Witcher 3 runs just as smoothly on the Radeon R9 290X American Samoa it does on the GTX 980, if you select not to enable HairWorks, which—and this is virtual—is completely optional. As I mentioned earlier, the HBAO+ GameWorks tech in The Witcher 3 is also an optional setting. These are optional benefits for GeForce users, not active detriments to Radeon users.

Don't get me wrong: There is indeed plenty to fear in a potential futurity where all the top games integrate proprietary GameWorks tech in their very core, crippling operation on AMD hardware—a future that feels all excessively possible with Nvidia's recent dominance in GPU gross revenue.

Only that Clarence Day ain't now. Cut HairWorks, and both AMD and Nvidia hardware unravel The Witcher 3 just fine. Happy monster hunting!

(For a more detailed overview of the GameWorks controversy, I highly recommend reading material ExtremeTech 's killer, balanced look at what GameWorks substance for the PC gaming ecosystem as a whole.)

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/427598/amd-radeon-graphics-run-witcher-3-just-fine-unless-nvidia-hairworks-is-enabled-and-thats-ok.html

Posted by: scottlase1951.blogspot.com

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