DX10: Crysis Warhead

Crysis Warhead is an expansion pack based on the original Crysis video game. Crysis Warhead is based in the future, where an ancient alien spacecraft has been discovered beneath the Earth on an island east of the Philippines. Crysis Warhead uses a refined version of the CryENGINE2 graphics engine. Like Crysis, Warhead uses the Microsoft Direct3D 10 (DirectX-10) API for graphics rendering.

Benchmark Reviews uses the HOC Crysis Warhead benchmark tool to test and measure graphic performance using the Airfield 1 demo scene. This short test places a high amount of stress on a graphics card because of detailed terrain and textures, but also for the test settings used. Using the DirectX-10 test with Very High Quality settings, the Airfield 1 demo scene receives 4x anti-aliasing and 16x anisotropic filtering to create maximum graphic load and separate the products according to their performance.

Using the highest quality DirectX-10 settings with 4x AA and 16x AF, only the most powerful graphics cards are expected to perform well in our Crysis Warhead benchmark tests. DirectX-11 extensions are not supported in Crysis: Warhead, and SSAO is not an available option.

• Crysis Warhead v1.1 with HOC Benchmark
  • Extreme Settings: (Very High Quality, 4x AA, 16x AF, Airfield Demo)

Crysis Warhead Extreme Quality Settings

Cost Analysis: Crysis Warhead (1680x1050)

• $167 GeForce GTX 460 768MB costs $7.26 per FPS
• $180 Radeon HD 6850 1GB costs $6.92 per FPS
• $220 GeForce GTX 460 1GB costs $8.46 per FPS
• $240 Radeon HD 6870 1GB costs $8.28 per FPS
• $260 EVGA GTX 460 FTW 1GB costs $8.39 per FPS
• $262 Radeon HD 5850 1GB costs $9.70 per FPS
• $292 GeForce GTX 470 1GB costs $8.59 per FPS

Test Summary: The CryENGINE2 graphics engine used in Crysis Warhead allows the AMD Radeon HD 6850 to match up with the 1GB GeForce GTX 460, and seriously outperform its price point ($6.92 vs $8.46). Surprisingly, the Radeon HD 6870 soars past the Radeon HD 5850, and even catches up to the EVGA GeForce GTX 460 FTW in terms of performance and value in Crysis.

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