For our next set of tests, we moved on to some in-game benchmarking with Crysis (DirectX) and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (OpenGL). When testing processors with Crysis or ET:QW, we drop the resolution to 1024x768, and reduce all of the in-game graphical options to their minimum values to isolate CPU and memory performance as much as possible. However, the in-game effects, which control the level of detail for the games' physics engines and particle systems, are left at their maximum values, since these actually place some load on the CPU rather than GPU.
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Low-Resolution Gaming: Crysis and ET:Quake Wars
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Taking the GPU out of the equation
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In Crysis, the scores were all within one FPS of each other, with the exception of the G1.Sniper 5 and Z87X-OC Force. However, in ET:QW you can see that there's a marked difference between the Maximus VI Formula's high score of 298.85 FPS and the lowest score--289.72, posted by the MSI Z87 MPOWER Max. Percentage-wise, though, that's a very small gap. We are talking about nearly 300 FPS here.
