Reviewed: MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G

As opposed to the scripted benchmarks, subjective testing is where we try to execute the same passage of game play from a save game or checkpoint with FRAPS running to a log file. This is less reproducible and more prone to variation. The comparison between cards in this section means less than the true benchmarks but it provides a good indication of what you should expect when gaming with each card.

We also only graph the average frame rates but include the minimum and maximum in the tables for reference. Minimum and maximum frame rates can be misleading, especially on subjective type test runs.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (1920×1080)

In this game play, we use the ‘Arena’ mode and benchmark a round 3 times, taking the average min, max and avg readings across all 3 runs. We do this because the runs are not typically that long. Despite its age, The Witcher 2 with the settings below really tests mid range graphics cards at 1920×1080.

The graphics settings used were:
1920×1080, Texture Downscaling: High, Texture Memory Size (MB): Large, Shadow Quality: Ultra, Number of Shadowed Lights: Ultra, LOD Distance: Normal, Bloom: Enabled, Light Shafts: Enabled, Anti Aliasing: Enabled, Blur Effects: Enabled, Depth of Field – Gameplay: Enabled, Vignette: Enabled, Wet Surfaces Rain Effect: Enabled, SSAO: Enabled, Motion Blur: Enabled, Cinematic Depth of Field: Enabled, Depth of Field – Cutscenes: Enabled, Dangling Objects Limit: Disabled, Ubersampling: Enabled, Vertical Sync: Disabled, Decals: High Spec

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Battlefield 4 (1920×1080)

Battlefield 4 is a finicky game to use as a benchmark as you will never see the same experience twice. We used the Firestorm map and tried to stay around the same capture point and not die (to avoid the respawning menu) when running the FRAPS benchmark.

The settings used were:
1920×1080, Ambient Occlusion: HBAO, AA Deferred: Off, AA Post High, Display Mode Full Screen, Effect Quality: High, Lighting Quality: High, Mesh Quality: High, Post-process Quality: High, Resolution Scale: 100, Terrain Settings: All High

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Skyrim (1920×1080)

This is the last time that we will be using the aged Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim test. The game no longer stresses mid-high end graphics cards without texture packs and when you turn off v-sync the game is virtually unplayable due to glitches. Skyrim will remain one of our favourite games but anything over 60 FPS is wasted on this title. Testing was done from a consistent save game outside during the day at 1920×1080 with all settings maxed out.

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CRYSIS 3 (1920×1080)

Crysis 3 was tested outside in long grass using grenades and cloak mode in as consistent a fashion as possible. Crysis 3 is one of those titles that really tests a GPU.

The graphics settings were as follows:
AF: 16x, AA: 4x MSAA Medium, Display mode: Full Screen, All settings @ Very High, 1920×1080

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FarCry 3 (1920×1080)

Playing from a save game, starting at a checkpoint and moving around the buildings before blowing up a car with a grenade at the end of the benchmark run gave us the following statistics.

The Graphics settings were:
1920×1080, Window Mode: Full Screen, VSYNC: Off, GPU Max Buffered Frames: 1, Widescreen Letterbox: Off, DirectX 11, AA: 2xMSAA, Alpha to Coverage: Enhanced, SSAO Method: HBAO, Quality Settings: ULTRA (All maxed out)

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