Tuesday April 10, 2012 22:40

Phantasy Star Online 2 Benchmark Analysis

Posted by Ricardo

Did you guys enjoy creating your characters, especially now that you can actually read it. Well this post dives a little bit on the technical side of the benchmarking. If you are going to purchase a laptop or desktop for PSO2, this post should come as a handy guide on which graphic cards or computers you should purchase. Before purchasing always check the graphics card to see how it stacks up against others.

Before you read on, don’t get too hung up on your scores. If you saw that you ran 30fps on the setting you were on, then you can still play the game well.

4gamer performed their own benchmark test on their own computers. The results of their tests are based on PSO2 Benchmark Scoring System as well as Fraps frames per second logs. The post below is a quick summary of their results. Their post looks into whether the Graphics Cards or Processor (CPU) affects the benchmark score.

They performed these tests on full screen (1920 x 1080), default graphical level 3, shaders on standard, with high resolution textures.

Nvidia Cards are Green / ATI Radeon Cards are Red

Based on the settings described above, the Nvidia GTX 560 TI outperformed all the cards. The Nvidia GTX 560 and ATI Radeon 6870 came in second.

What’s interesting is how the ATI Radeon HD 7770 outperformed the Nvidia 550 GTX Ti, considering both are 1 step down from their powerful counterparts. (As pointed out in comments, Radeon 7000 is a newer series which is why it outperformed the older Nvidia 500)

The next graph shows the framerates. It looks as if the framerates match up with the benchmark scores.

Using Fraps, they mapped out the average and lowest frame rate recorded. The GPUs with benchmark scores above 5000 have an average frame rate of more than 80 fps. The GPUs that scored 3000; Nvidia GTX 550 Ti, Radeon HD 7750, and Radeon HD 6770, all averaged more than 60 fps. (The A8-3870K is kind of unique, it’s an APU where the graphics card is embedded within the processor. This processor has a ATI Radeon 6550D, so the fps is slightly better than Radeon 6450. We’re not quite sure why the FPS says 13.7, it could possibly be a typo since the bar is closer to 28.)

The next chart looks at if the processors made an impact over the benchmark scores. Four different processors were tested using the GTX 560 TI graphics card.

The four processors tested were Intel’s Sandybridge processors Core i7 and Core i3 (with hyperthreading on and off), a 2008 Core 2 Duo E8600, and AMD APU A8-3870K. The Core i3 processor has 2 cores, with Hyperthreading enabled, it turns these 2 cores into 4 virtual cores. Even so, there were hardly any differences with the scores, though the older Core 2 Duo score fell a bit.

For the Sandybridge CPUs, the number of cores didn’t make a huge impact on framerates. The older Core 2 Duo E8600 still had a reasonable framerate.

With the Nvidia 560 TI Graphics card, you can see that the Shadow Quality has made an impact on the frame rates.

The shadow quality seems to affect the scenery more than the characters themselves. You can see a profound effect on how buildings are highlighted. The benchmark score also seems to have taken a nosedive with shadows at 5.

Category: Phantasy Star Online 2
(42) Comments

42 Responses to Phantasy Star Online 2 Benchmark Analysis

weeaboo

April 10th, 2012 at 5:57 pm

is shadow quality 5 and 3 reversed? i feel like on the gif sq 3 looks better than 5

Mazarushi

April 10th, 2012 at 6:14 pm

Hate blowing my own horn but it's just as I suspected; this test isn't very CPU intensive. So long as nothing bottle-necking it, it's all about your graphics. Oh, and it's not shock the 7770 smashed the 550ti, you'll have to wait for the 650ti to make an even comparison. If nvidia keeps on the path the 600 vs the 7000 has been so far, it won't be too pretty for the 7770. So far the 600 series has beaten the 7000 radeons in every way possible (price AND performance). With the 670ti and 670 on the horizon, it won't be too long before the 7950, 7870 and 7850 get pushed aside. The main thing ati has on the nvidia right now is the fact that their 7000 series is releasing quickly from highs to mids which is real smart. Right now nvidia only has one of (but not their best) single gpu high end cards and no mids. If they keep up on this path, the 600 series might offer one of the best PfP ratios in gpu history. So keep your heads up!

Ricardo

April 10th, 2012 at 6:23 pm

I tested out with my card and got the same result but it's hard to screenshot it at the right moment.

The signboard's shadow lines up correctly.

[shadow 3] [shadow 5]

Mazarushi

April 10th, 2012 at 6:42 pm

What you got ricardo?

Ricardo

April 10th, 2012 at 6:54 pm

Crappy card ;3

Yuki-chan

April 10th, 2012 at 7:03 pm

I feel so tempted to test it in my Pentium D Intel GMA 950, but I fear I blow up my computer in the process. =O

Nilok

April 10th, 2012 at 8:19 pm

http://i.imgur.com/9mbfA.jpg with the requested settings

Nilok

April 10th, 2012 at 8:29 pm

oh and: Avg: 193.309 – Min: 97 – Max: 432

Mazarushi

April 10th, 2012 at 8:37 pm

I checked amazon…couldn't find "crappy card" :/ keeping secrets..

Nilok

April 10th, 2012 at 9:04 pm

it's on craigslist

Alexvrb

April 10th, 2012 at 11:13 pm

Mazarushi: There's no guarantee their P:P will be as good with future card releases. We don't know what the cut-down mid-level cards will look like. Heck, at the lower end we're seeing the more typical dieshrinks and rebranding. So not all 600 series are winners, which happens with all "new" series launches from both teams.

Anyway, until they release something and show us what they've got, AMD is doing fine in the sub $400 price brackets, which is great for competition. If I were building a new machine today, I'd get a 7850. Good solid mid-range card for approx $250, fairly strong and flexible architecture for handling today or tomorrow's 3D engines and GPGPU.

Another good benefit to the 7000 series – now there's discounts and rebates on the Nvidia cards. So if you're an Nvidia fan, you can get some good deals on their older tech, including Fermi cards.

But as for waiting? Well, I rarely wait for a specific launch. You never know exactly what's going to happen, for one thing. But basically I build when I'm ready and able to build. If you are waiting for the next piece of fresh hardware, you'll be waiting forever – there's always something around the corner. I might need something sooner rather than later.

Alexvrb

April 10th, 2012 at 11:19 pm

Also keep in mind they're testing at a somewhat high resolution and default settings. Lower end cards will perform MUCH better at lower resolutions and settings. Even a budget laptop with a lowend Llano should be fine with a panel res of 1366 x 768.

Ricardo

April 11th, 2012 at 3:54 am

@Mazarushi It's a Radeon HD 4250

DanijoEX

April 11th, 2012 at 4:49 am

Mine's is a ATI Radeon X1270. It runs on my Dell Inspiron 1526 laptop.

The demo runs fine on it. But I may try changing the screen resolution to get better results.

Mazarushi

April 11th, 2012 at 5:52 am

Alexvrb: There's already been a leaked breakdown as to which cards are slated to do what and for how much. So far with the then 670 being the now 680, it's following the path minus the model jump.

http://thetecherra.com/2012/02/06/nvidias-gtx-600…

To follow for the new adjustments Nvidia made by making the then 670ti the now 680, step each card up one level in model number (the NEW 680 was really the 670 for 499, 660ti as the 670ti, 660 as the 670, etc). If you follow the model the 250$ card falls at the 650ti (which will be launched as the 660ti most likely) and is stated to be =>570 which outperforms a 7850 by about 13%. That's why I say if Nvidia follows this path then yeah, there's a good chance that they will have one of the best P:P ratios ever. Never mentioned a guarantee but you have to admit it's looking pretty likely.

Mazarushi

April 11th, 2012 at 6:03 am

And like you said, there is a dropoff but that comes from both series. So far nvidias cards are in competition one step ahead on ati's scale (680 is second best, beats first best 7970, 660ti (new 670ti) is third best, said to be ~10% better than 7950 which is second best). Nvidias first best single gpu has yet to be released (gk110), so there's a good chance that they can continue on the trend they have. For instance, why would I buy a 7950 for 450$ when it's 50$ cheaper than a 680 which is even better than a 7970? Why don't I just cough up the extra 50$ and have the best or just get a 670ti at 399 and save 50$ AND be better than a 7950? See where I'm going? If the breakdown continues that way it'll just be a domino effect always ending with the better choice being one of the Nvidia cards (either the one that cost a little more and is better than the ati comparison card in price and possibly one card ahead of that OR the one that cost less and outperforms the ati card ahead of it in price.) This being said, ati's best decision was pumping out their cards faster, cause you're right, most people won't want to wait for that, and you could find yourself growing grey waiting for a "good" time to buy a piece of technology.

Alexvrb

April 11th, 2012 at 12:53 pm

680 isn't second best until we have something better actually released (especially talking about single-chip cards). Right now it's top dog as far as gaming is concerned. The reality is that the new process node is giving AMD and Nvidia yield issues, and the larger and more aggressive the chip design, the bigger an issue this becomes.

Regarding future Nvidia cards, we can't tell if a trend will continue until we have concrete benchmarks from reputable hardware sites, AND actual real-world pricing. I'm hoping for competition's sake they'll release something soon in the $250 ballpark. But I've been burned too many times waiting for something – from every company. I could list examples… but suffice it to say I don't play that game No Mo'.

Ricardo: Your 4250 isn't THAT horrible, for an old style integrated GPU. It's better than an equivalent Intel GMA integrated chip from that era, and it's better than poor Danijo's old X1270. Did you run it long enough to get a final score, and if so, at what settings?

Mazarushi

April 12th, 2012 at 9:46 am

Alexverb: Well yeah, that's why I said "if" it continues this way. Like I said I never said it was guaranteed. What you're saying is "well we don't know for sure" and that's fine and you're right, but I'm saying that "if" it does and things roll out that way Nvidia's going to be in a pretty good spot. As far as the problem with TSMC that's a universal issue as you said, so it doesn't tip the scale in anyone's favor, but it does hold the fate of the unreleased gk110. Guess we'll both just have to wait and see.

Kyuu

April 12th, 2012 at 1:08 pm

The 680 is a nice card, no doubt, but as soon as you can actually find them reliably, you can count on AMD to cut the prices on the 7950/7970, so it's a bit premature to call the 600-series the P:P ratio winner.

Also, if you're not going to spend $400+ on a card, the 7850/7870 are easily the best cards out right now.

About the benchmark… it's curious how they didn't have a competitive card to the 560ti on AMD's side (which would be a 7850/7870 or 6950), so nVidia kinda won by default. Although, given the big nVidia splash-screen displayed by the character creator demo, it's pretty much a given it's optimized better for nVidia hardware than AMD.

Mazarushi

April 12th, 2012 at 3:11 pm

….Some of you guys don't understand the concept of "if" XD Nobody called the 600 series the best P:P so please don't twist words. I said it could be one of the best. It could be one of the best. It could be one of the best lol. It was just a forecast based on how well the leaked info is following the real results and past trends. If you think it's weak that's fine, but like I said, I never claimed that anything is or will be.

Changing the price won't necessarily interrupt that either (i.e same prices for direct matchups but less performance (7970 for 499$ vs 680 499$)) But I won't run my mouth. Like I said…"we'll both just have to wait and see".

Alexvrb

April 12th, 2012 at 6:34 pm

Well… you did say "So far the 600 series has beaten the 7000 radeons in every way possible (price AND performance)". I'll ignore OEM cards for now and just assume you meant the 680, which currently does have the best P:P. So I agree, if you can lay your hands on one, they do have the best price, performance, and best P:P ratio. No word twisting. I'm not even disagreeing with you. I'm just saying I temper expectations of the future with wisdom gained from the past.

For example: As 680 becomes more readily available, and as future Keplers are released, AMD will adjust prices to remain competitive. This happens all the time in the industry. Heck, the 7700 and 7800 series have pushed prices on Fermi cards down, so Fermi cards still represent a very good value in some segments.

I'm far from vendor-specific. I've owned video hardware in the past from Nvidia, AMD, S3, Intel, PowerVR, and more.

Nilok

April 12th, 2012 at 7:49 pm

@Alexvrb: I got one no problem O_o they're not that hard to get if you want one. Amazon gets new shipments of them twice a week.

Anyway sounds like you like arguing seeing as if you don't disagree and you are both saying "if' all you're doing now is talking for the sake of talking. You both agree so this discussion is completely pointless. You just sound like some kid still in highschool testing his ability to run his mouth.

Fireword

April 13th, 2012 at 7:54 pm

HD 7970 with old Core 2 Quad Q8300

Shadow 5 http://puu.sh/pvMv
Shadow 3 http://puu.sh/pvMC

Mazarushi

April 13th, 2012 at 9:11 pm

I'll second that statement about Nvidia's supply; their well is completely dried up…like all of it. I think what nilok was trying to say was that it seemed like you were looking for spots to make argument. If you want me to be honestly I had that feeling as well at first, having to constantly clarify my statements with you and Kyuu, though if that wasn't the intention then by all means, I love talking hardware every now and again too It's good to know you buy performance, not names.

Mazarushi

April 13th, 2012 at 9:28 pm

@Firesword

Somethings wrong, did you get the latest drivers? There's no way your score should be that low. Games in 1080p right? Either the card is faulty (probably not) or components in your system are holding it back (probably so).

Alexvrb

April 13th, 2012 at 9:23 pm

I have no idea where your hostility is coming from, Nilok. I was just discussing graphics cards with Mazarushi. I enjoy having a conversation about computer hardware from time to time. I *really* don’t appreciate the insult, however.

Regarding availability, I like Amazon (I love my Kindle, for starters) but I buy most of my computer hardware from Newegg for various reasons. With that said, they are currently completely out of GTX 680s. Nvidia is having a hard time keeping up with the demand, and I’m sure Mazarushi would agree with that. That certainly doesn’t diminish the fact that it is a fantastic card if you can afford it.

Nilok

April 14th, 2012 at 1:54 am

Such a waste of a GPU. No offense, firesword, but why do you have such an expensive GPU in such an old machine? There's a serious bottleneck there.

Ricardo

April 14th, 2012 at 3:58 am

I know you guys are very passionate about technical things, but please try not to make this place a hostile environment. I would rather suggestions be written in a neutral tone. I'm not really one to do comment moderation but I might have to if I keep getting complaints.

Mazarushi

April 14th, 2012 at 5:53 am

@Ricardo

Hopefully I didn't come off as hostile I was more shocked than anything else, and I had heard of the cards having bad yields. Though if I seem to be attacking someone at any point do let me know. For the most part posting here is very free and open without having to worry about fighting for your life like a few other sites (we all know em') and I'd hate to be one of the people that brings it down. So I apologize for any mischief I may have caused.

Firesword

April 14th, 2012 at 6:20 am

@Mazarushi

nothing wrong, just old motherboard with PCE 1.1.

I'm waiting for the release 3770K, for a complete system upgrade

Alexvrb

April 14th, 2012 at 9:49 am

Mazarushi, I don't feel like you said anything offensive. It can be a little difficult to read "tone", but I wasn't trying to be hostile myself, and I'm sure Kyuu wasn't either.

Nilok

April 14th, 2012 at 9:57 am

Definitely a misunderstanding there, Ricardo.

alex

April 17th, 2012 at 1:24 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgGW9oKRWUc

rattles

May 7th, 2012 at 2:53 am

I got a score of 99999 I guess thats good enough to play the game

Ricardo

May 7th, 2012 at 3:25 am

What's your graphics card?

Nilok

May 7th, 2012 at 11:43 am

more importantly what are his settings. if he's running level 1 at 480p, his card is irrelevant

rattles

May 9th, 2012 at 9:50 am

O sorry forgot to put my stats down

(display) – 1920 x 1080

(Ram) – 16gb

Graphics – Radeon Hd 6950 2gb

(Processor) – I7 2600k quad core 3.4 ghz

Windows 7 Premium 64bit

Nilok

May 9th, 2012 at 3:18 pm

yeah you've got it turned down and are probably in windowed mode. no way you're getting 99999 on a 6950 at max settings full screen

Rei

July 7th, 2012 at 12:41 am

Im running at GT220, Im amazed my card isnt burning up.

Anonymous

July 24th, 2012 at 9:45 am

I fan two tests, a lot more before this with and without Shadows on and off and I can tell you having them on or off makes or breaks your FPS and Benchmark score. Fullscreen Mode Graphics set to 5 Shadows set to OFF 9059. Same settings in Windowed Mode give me 21759. I have an AMD Phenom Quad Core 9950, am running the game in 1280×720 with my computer hooked up to an LG 32 Inch HDTV, IceQ MSI Radeon HD 6570 Graphics Card, 4 GBs of DDR3 RAM, and am on Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. When I had shadows set to on I didn't even reach the 1000 mark, so my advice is to leave them off for good.

Recap:

Processor: AMD Phenom 9950

Video Output Device: LGTV

Graphics Adapter: MSI IceQ Radeon HD 6570 1 GB DDR3 RAM

Memory: 4GB DDR3 RAM

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Score: Windowed, Shadows OFF 21759

Score: Fullscreen, Shadows OFF 9059

Score: Windowed, Shadows ON 464

Score: Fullscreen, Shadows ON 434

Anon

July 24th, 2012 at 1:30 pm

Forget all the AMD 7k & NVIDIA 6xx BS. I'm happy with my GTX580 1080p max settings. It's 125 fps all the time except on some PSE BURST/CROSS BURST/ONE MOAR!!!1! + 4way-chain-PB situations where there are some sudden slows to 45~60 or 80 fps.

Vladimir