Crysis 2 Goes Direct X 11: The Ultra Upgrade, Benchmarked
Table of contents
- 1. Crysis 2, DirectX 11, And High-Res Textures, Oh My!
- 2. A Laundry List Of Visual Improvements
- 3. Test System And Benchmarks
- 4. DirectX 9: Low-Detail Benchmarks
It’s here, it’s free, and it’s gorgeous. Crytek provides the DirectX 11 patch for which we've all waited, and we put it to the test to see just what it takes to run Crysis 2 at maximum fidelity. If you've been holding out, now's the time for Crysis 2.
The discerning PC community was not amused when it became clear that the sequel to Crysis would arrive based on an older DirectX specification than its predecessor. This detraction was a real shame because Crysis 2 is probably a better game than the original, and the negative focus on the API often overshadowed its superlative visuals and solid core game play.
A DirectX 11 patch was rumoured from the start, though. And despite whispers that it would never see the light of day, the DirectX 11 Ultra Upgrade arrived on June 27th, 2011. This is no quick patch job: it doesn't come as a surprise that Crytek takes bleeding-edge graphics very seriously. The upgrade affects Crysis more than any other DirectX 11 patch we’ve previously seen in a shipping game.
As if that weren’t enough, Crytek added effects to the DirectX 9 code path and released a high-definition texture pack that doubles the resolution of many art assets. It goes without saying that all of this new, free eye candy demands investigation. At Tom’s Hardware, we consider it our duty to take a thorough look and let you know what the update is all about. Though late, is this new stuff worth playing the game over again if you've already beaten it? Is it now worth buying if you've held off?
Installation
Before we dig in, there are a few caveats and limitations, so listen up. There are actually three patches that need to be applied for all of the visual goodies to work: the Crysis 2 v1.9 patch, the Crysis 2 DirectX 11 patch, and the Crysis 2 High-Resolution Texture Pack.
Both the DirectX 11 patch and High-Resolution Texture Pack require the Crysis 2 v1.9 patch to be pre-installed first. However, these options don't require each other. You can run DirectX 11 mode without the High-Resolution Texture Pack, and you can run the High-Resolution Texture Pack in DirectX 9 mode, without DirectX 11.
Step 1: The Crysis 2 v1.9 patch (136 MB)
The Crysis 2 v1.9 patch doesn’t bring DirectX 11 to the game itself, but it is a prerequisite for the DirectX 11 patch and High-Resolution Texture Pack. Having said that, this patch does offer users with DirectX 10 or older graphics hardware access to a new, higher graphical level of detail: the Ultra setting. Of course, this option is more challenging for PC hardware compared to the Gamer, Enthusiast, and Extreme toggles to which we were previously limited.
Step 2: The Crysis 2 DirectX 11 patch (545 MB, Download Here)
This is the patch that enables DirectX 11 effects in Crysis 2. Note that DirectX 11 support does not require the High-Resolution Texture Pack. What you should also know is that this patch wreaks havoc on 3D Vision support in our testing, making the in-game menus unreadable and introducing a number of visual anomalies with Nvidia’s stereoscopic technology. The Nvidia representative we talked to claimed that this shouldn't be the case, but we experienced the same issue on two different machines with both AMD and Intel CPUs and with different GeForce graphics cards. That's a real disappointment because, without this patch, Crysis 2 is hands-down the most beautiful, engrossing, and picture-perfect 3D experience on the PC.
(Update: We just had the chance to test with Nvidia's GeForce 275.50 beta driver, which works with 3D Vision and DirectX 11 together. So now you can enjoy Crysis 2 on the PC in a way you simply can't replicate on a console.)
The bottom line here is that folks who play Crysis 2 with 3D Vision should know that installing the DirectX 11 patch might cause problems. Keep in mind that 3D Vision works fine for us with the v1.9 patch and High-Resolution Texture Pack. Frankly, the impressiveness of Crysis 2’s stereo implementation is far more immersive than the DirectX 11 enhancements.
Step 3: The Crysis 2 High-Resolution Texture Pack (1.65 GB, Download Here)
The High-Resolution Texture Pack doubles the fidelity of many of the game’s art assets. This requires a 64-bit Windows operating system and a graphics card with at least 768 MB of RAM (although Crytek suggests that a full gigabyte is ideal). Since most mainstream graphics cards today have a gigabyte of RAM, this shouldn’t be a problem for most gamers.
Now that you have an idea what the packages do and how to install them, let’s go over the new features and see what they introduce to the game.
Thanks Toms.
I know this sounds stupid but.... this is what I was expecting on release.
look at the difference in performance between the HD5570 and the HD6570, yet they are in the same performance class in graphics card heirarchy.
Awesome... but somehow I still feel that some how the game-play got sacrificed for graphical greatness. Playing the 2nd time is ok but some parts were like a pointless mazes and no BFBC2 level of destruction. Overall all good: graphics updates are fantastic but a bit late.
Why not try a AMD Phenom II X6? the price is more on a par with the 2500k and scaling results were looking promising, the min FPS might even beet a 2500k??? seems a shame to have not tried it.
+1 to the robot_army... Interesting to see CPU core scaling with 6 core
Can you tell us what level it was benchmarked on?
So a 2.0GHz Quad-core has bested a 3.0GHz dual, the minimum frame-rate almost double. Well folks, that looks like a pretty efficient use of threaded code, does it not? How many other games can you list that scale this well? Even if it's more to do with DX11 than the game, it's impressive.
Overall I'd say very impressive results for AMD Phenom II x4, considering the competing (and overclocked), i5 is no slouch.
wow wild thats quite a fanboy rant there.
a quad 2.0 should beat a 3.0 dual hands down in any multi threaded app...
but if i underclock my i7 920 to 2.0 and went clock for clock you amd would get hammered...
in-fact if you match any intel quad at 2.0 it will beat the pants off your amd quad... so i dont get what your bleating about....
basicaly what you just said is it takes an amd quad to beat an intel dual... and if you look at the figures it doesnt do it by much....
seriously m8 leave the fanboy cra at the door when you enter...
the site works better when you dont bring an agenda
for me the name and clock means nothing, the cost means everything. i'm not massively into overclocking and so i would look at stock performance. so AMD Phenom II X4 @ 3.6 under £120, ow wait i can't find an intel quad core at that price(retail boxed) clock is never a comparison, u would have to take an average across so many tasks, processor development is all about increasing performance per clock, the 2 companies are going o be different. as i said look at the performance per pound($) and look at the cost of the system not just the chip.
Yup, this is what they should have released in the first place... although I won't complain too much as the patch is free!
The game was too linear compared to the original Crysis - it was a blast but the replay value is somewhat limited. I might give it a couple of years before I replay again - by then There will be a card that will let me play in native rez with all the settings maxed out. Considering the settings I first crawled through this game on, I think it will be a noticeable difference!
Well done to all the commentators on this thread - not one of you mentioned that silly meme (you know the one!) - perhaps it has finally died out?
wow i get a negative 2 for telling a fanboy to calm down... i mean its not as if he has actually contributed with relevant or pertinent info...
1 thing i do notice is the huge disparity in performance between the the amd 6970 and the gtx 570, the cards trade blows in most benches but in C2 the 570 obliterates it by a huge margin. looks like nvidia is up to its old tricks again of gimping performance of its competition.
TIP: if you using an amd card set tessellation to x4 or x6 and you will get a jump in performance for little or no drop in visual quality.
My machine cannot run this game. I'll have to wait for couple more years after I have bought another new PC with more powerful CPU/Graphic card. It's nice to read an feature like this one that a reader can clearly understand what this game's real hardware requirement is, instead of the general and broad description on the game box.