Gaming Benchmarks
We have recently updated our gaming test platform with an RTX 2080 Ti, and thus the data isn’t comparable with our older results. We have also modified the testing suite to include some more recent titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Watch Dogs Legion.
3DMark 10
In this test, we see a result of 13,933 3D Marks in our stock configuration. While the all core overclock doesn’t generally benefit in actual games, it did improve our scores in this test.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
In this test, our B550 Aorus Master achieved roughly the same results both overclocked and at stock speeds. Interestingly, the minimum FPS dropped below 60FPS on the B550 Aorus Master even at 1080P.
At 4K, the minimum FPS was similar, but because we are moving into GPU bound territory, the minimum FPS across all three test configurations was largely the same. The averages and maximums were also broadly the same as well. Oddly, the B550 Aorus Master turns in a higher score with an all core overclock over stock speeds with higher boost clocks. This would seem unusual, but Shadow of the Tomb Raider is more heavily multi-threaded than most titles. It’s also worth noting that although the margin is small, the B550 Aorus Master and 3900X achieved a slightly better result than a stock Intel Core i9-10900K.
Hitman 2
Like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Hitman 2 often favors higher core counts as we’ve seen over the year or so we’ve been testing with it. The B550 Aorus Master turns in an abysmal 10FPS minimum at low quality for reasons unknown. Overclocked, it no longer suffers this achieving a result of 31FPS which trails the Maximus XII Extreme’s minimum of 37FPS.
The averages were still relatively close with the B550 Aorus Master coming in a at 105FPS overclocked and 110FPS at stock speeds. This is a case where an all core overclock isn’t helping and the higher boost clocks are more beneficial. The Intel 10900K achieves a few FPS more than our 3900X, but excluding the minimums, the result is academic.
Things change a bit at 4K. The deltas are broadly similar between the 1080P and 4K results, but the gaps between Intel and AMD oddly increase despite the increasing dependency on the GPU.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint – Vulkan
Ghost Recon shows the same minimum FPS across all our test systems. The B550 Aorus Master was a bit slower at stock speeds on average, and oddly faster when overclocked by a substantial margin. This trend continued with the maximum FPS as well. This is very odd, but Ghost Recon Breakpoint does appear to make use of up to 12 threads, giving these CPU’s an advantage. It’s also worth noting that this is an AMD sponsored title and therefore, we don’t see an advantage in Intel’s favor, which is the opposite of what we are used to seeing.
We’ve always seen Ghost Recon Breakpoint achieve virtually identical results on all test platforms at 4K using an RTX 2080 Super. With the RTX 2080 Ti, we can actually see some differences at 4K. The minimums are the same on the B550 Aorus Master when overclocked as compared to the 10900K. However, at stock speeds its 7FPS slower, dropping us below 60FPS. While not awful, this is less than ideal. Averages again were much lower on the Aorus Master, Oddly, overclocking made a huge difference here with the Aorus Master achieving parity with Intel. The B550 Aorus Master was a good 20FPS+ slower at stock speeds. Again, the game is more heavily multi-threaded than one might expect.
Watch Dogs Legion
In this test, overclocking hindered the B550 Aorus Master vs. stock speeds. Intel still dominates in this game gaining a rough 30FPS advantage in minimums and maximums. The averages were only about 20FPS higher on Intel’s 10900K though.
At 4K, the CPU really ceases to matter as the differences across the board were largely within a margin of error. It’s interesting to note that the 3900X actually beat Intel here in maximum FPS and overclocking provided slightly worse results for the B550 Aorus Master. But across the board the results are so close that the difference is really negligible.
Cyberpunk 2077 v1.1
Cyberpunk 2077 is the Crysis of this generation. I’m not sure that it will age the same way as Crysis did, crushing systems for multiple GPU generations to come. However, for right now it punishes both NVIDIA and AMD’s best. You will notice a huge gap between minimum and average or maximum FPS here. The game engine can best be described as erratic. Our test scenario does involve driving through the city, and the asset streaming that brings the city to life does hitch even on high end systems, which is probably the reason for the ultra-low minimums.
At 1920×1080, we are CPU limited and as you can see the average and maximum FPS achieved by our test configurations isn’t what you would normally see in a game. The results are much lower than most games albeit, still very smooth and playable. However, you can see a large gap between Intel and AMD here. The game is very hard on CPU’s and works upwards of eight threads or more very well.
When it comes Cyberpunk 2077 and 4K gaming, DLSS is a must. Without it, the RTX 2080 Ti wouldn’t be able to use the “Ultra Ray Tracing” preset at all. Setting DLSS to Balanced provided reasonably good image quality most of the time while making 4K playable on the RTX 2080 Ti. While averages below 60FPS wouldn’t be acceptable in a multiplayer game like Call of Duty, Cyberpunk is very playable above 30FPS. That being said, our minimums are below the 10FPS mark and again are generated by the occasional hitches while traversing the game world. You don’t ever feel the game’s performance tank like that as it presents as a quick “hitch” in the framerate.
Our test run is at night with rain effects and really leverages ray tracing. The B550 Aorus Master does far better allowing the 3900X to boost fully, versus an all core manual overclock. 4.2GHz just doesn’t get it done all that well in Cyberpunk 2077.