Dota 2 in the benchmark – ComputerBase

– BitcoinMinersHashrate tested the F2P-MOBA Dota 2 in the benchmark with 29 graphics cards and 5 graphics units (iGPUs) integrated in CPUs. Both high-end as well as entry-level and older models take part in the comparison. The article is the eighth in a twelve-part benchmark test series.

A series of articles with twelve games

In the standard test course for graphics cards, processors and even gaming notebooks, BitcoinMinersHashrate usually focuses on AAA games. In addition to their high popularity and modern technology, there is another reason for this: They generally allow comparable results over a long period of time. But even if the number of players is high, the highest have other titles.

We are talking about games that focus exclusively on multiplayer and whose goal is to reach as many players as possible. Battle royale shooters like Fortnite or PUBG as well as e-sports heavyweights like League of Legends or Counter-Strike are among them. Technically, they are usually designed to be simpler than the AAA offshoots and harder to benchmark consistently due to continuously provided updates. Nevertheless, millions of players around the world keep asking themselves: How fast is or would GPU XYZ be in this game? BitcoinMinersHashrate will now look into this question again in a twelve-part series of articles.

In all twelve games, 29 graphics cards and 5 GPUs integrated in processors in two different quality settings will have to endure benchmarks. From GeForce RTX 2080 Ti to Radeon RX 5700 XT and GeForce GTX 1650 as well as older representatives such as the Radeon R9 390, numerous price, performance and age groups are represented.

So that the overview is not lost, each game gets its own article. The following titles are on our agenda, the linked ones have already been tested:

As the eighth game, Dota 2 from Valve has to face the test. The MOBA title ("Multiplayer Online Battle Arena") is currently in its fourth season, with the fifth being expected to start in April or May. The remaining three articles will appear over the next few weeks, there is no fixed rhythm.

Dota 2: The eighth game in the benchmark

Valve's Free 2 Play game Dota 2 was released on July 9, 2013 and is one of the most famous MOBAs. The source engine developed by Valve is used as the basic technology. With Dota 2 Reborn, the technology was converted in 2015 to the newer version Source 2, which primarily ensured better performance. Dota 2 now offers numerous APIs for use. In the article, BitcoinMinersHashrate focuses on the two relevant for the PC: DirectX 11 and Vulkan.

The AMD and Nvidia graphics cards in the test

The 29 graphics cards are 13 3D accelerators from AMD and 16 from Nvidia. In addition, three APUs from AMD are represented and also two CPUs from Intel, each of which has to use the integrated graphics units for the benchmarks. In addition, there are tests with a very cheap CPU, each with an inexpensive Radeon or GeForce to show whether such a double team is worthwhile compared to a more expensive APU.

All GeForce and Radeon graphics cards adhere to the reference specifications, overclocked models for more performance do not take part in the comparison. How much faster they are can be seen in the many graphics card tests or the graphics card ranking on BitcoinMinersHashrate.

Driver and test system

Since several GPUs are taken into account in the numerous benchmarks, different drivers are used. Adrenaline 20.2.1 and GeForce 442.19 were used for the tests of Dota 2. The 26.20.100.7755 is installed for the Intel GPUs. The driver settings are left at the standard, only special optimizations like the theoretically possible adjustment of the maximum tessellation level with AMD are switched off.

An AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and the MSI MEG X570 Godlike with the X570 chipset of the same name are used as the test system. 16 gigabytes of RAM (2 × 8 GB, DDR4-3200-14-14-14-32-1T, single rank) are available to the system. Windows 10 1909 with all updates is installed.

Different resolutions and quality settings

Comparing so many graphics cards from a wide range of performance classes in a single article requires different quality settings, because it is clear that those with a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti can drive completely different resolutions and levels of detail than one with a GeForce GTX 1050. Nevertheless, the need for benchmarks that compare all GPUs is great. This series of articles offers both.

Firstly, BitcoinMinersHashrate divided the test field into three different performance classes. Each of them receives its own resolution and level of detail, which is appropriate for its representatives. The fastest performance class includes the Radeon RX 5700 XT and the GeForce RTX 2070 Super. In the middle class, for example, the GeForce GTX 1060 and the Radeon RX 580 have to duel, while typical representatives for the slowest class are the Radeon RX 390 and the GeForce GTX 970.

In the highest performance class, the goal was to achieve around 50 to 60 FPS on a Radeon RX 5700 XT in 3,840 × 2,160. One class below were 50 to 60 FPS in 2,560 × 1,440 with a GeForce GTX 1060, while in the slowest class 50 to 60 FPS in 1,920 × 1,080 were to be achieved with a Ryzen 5 3400G.

An identical setting for all benchmarks

However, in order to be able to compare all products directly with one another, there is a fourth series of tests that comes with a single comprehensive resolution and quality setting. It is a compromise that does not fully utilize high-end graphics cards and still completely overwhelms low-end APUs – but there is no other way to compare all 29 graphics cards and 5 iGPUs directly with each other.

The following quality settings were used for the four scenarios in Dota 2.

A 25-second sequence from a replay is used for the test, since only this enables reproducible and demanding scenes. You can see numerous units, battles and effects, the frame rate fluctuates quite intensely in the sequence. Most of the time Dota 2 runs with a higher frame rate.

DirectX 11 is usually clearly superior to Vulkan

On the Windows PC, the choice of the APIs is not a pain, but rather simple: Although there are enough interfaces to choose from, DirectX 11 is the best API – with most graphics cards even by far. There are only a few special cases on the Ryzen processor used in the test in which there have been advantages with Vulkan.

It's not just about the FPS, which are better in most cases with DirectX 11 in Dota 2. The real problem of the low-level API is the frame times, because with Vulkan the game gets annoying from time to time, which is not the case with DirectX 11.

Vulkan still works best with AMD's Navi generation. Not within the GPU limit, DirectX 11 is faster on a Radeon RX 5700 XT. However, in the CPU limit, the picture suddenly turns on a Radeon RX 5700 XT, a Radeon RX 5700 and a Radeon RX 5600 XT, then Vulkan has both the higher frame rate and the better frame times. Only RDNA succeeds, the Radeon VII with Vega is consistently better with DirectX 11. That is why Vulkan is only used on the three fastest Navi products in Full HD, otherwise DirectX 11 is always used.

Benchmarks in Full HD, WQHD and Ultra HD

Full HD with entry-level graphics cards & iGPUs

Dota 2 has such moderate hardware requirements in Full HD with low graphics details that even Intel's Graphics UHD 630 in the Core i3-9100 comes close to the 60 FPS mark. The MOBA is always playable. Only with the Graphics UHD 610 of the Pentium G5400 is Dota 2 no pleasure.

The Core i3-9100 can crack the Athlon 3000G with Vega 3, but AMD's integrated Radeon Vega 8 in the Ryzen 3 2200G is again significantly faster and easily delivers more than 60 frames per second. The Ryzen 5 3400G is hardly ahead with the Radeon Vega 11, while the discrete graphics cards then make a big leap. The Radeon RX 550 and the GeForce GT 1030 GDDR5 already easily deliver more than 100 FPS and the frame times are also significantly better.

WQHD with mid-range graphics cards

Even if the requirements for the graphics card in 2,560 × 1,440 are significantly higher with maximum details, they are easily mastered by all test candidates. Only the Radeon RX 570 does not achieve 100 FPS in Dota 2, but only just fails because of the value. The frame times, on the other hand, show either a CPU or an engine limit, because almost all graphics cards perform identically.

Ultra HD with high-end graphics cards

The benchmark results are a little more interesting in 3,840 × 2,160. Not because of the frame rates, because Dota 2 is easily playable in Ultra HD on the test candidates. However, since the frame rates are somewhat lower than in WQHD, the differences between the individual architectures can now be better identified. AMD's old models with the GCN architecture and the new navigation generation with RDNA behave in Dota 2 pretty much like in AAA games. However, Dota 2 cannot benefit from Nvidia's numerous changes to Turing, which is not surprising given the age of the game. In Dota 2, the GeForce GTX 1080 is 6 percent faster than the GeForce RTX 2060 Super. In AAA games, on the other hand, the latter is 13 percent faster than the old Pascal model. So Dota 2 doesn't seem to respond to Turing's better architecture.

Full HD benchmarks across all classes

In the higher-level benchmarks in Full HD, most graphics cards are limited by the CPU or the game and work at absolutely the same speed. Differences can only be seen from the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or the Radeon RX 560. 60 FPS in 1,920 × 1,080 with maximum graphics details are achieved from a GeForce GTX 1050 or a Radeon RX 560.

The better performance of the Radeon RX 5600 XT, the Radeon RX 5700 and the Radeon RX 5700 XT is interesting. These take the lead over all other graphics cards in the frame times, but especially in the FPS, since these are the only models that work with the Vulkan API settings and can benefit accordingly. With this API, the Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers 6 percent more FPS and 4 percent better frame times than the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. However, this has no practical effects.

Final words

If you only have a slow computer, you will find a good gaming partner in the free MOBA title Dota 2, which runs properly in Full HD even on Intel's graphics processor integrated in desktop processors – as long as it is not the version in the smaller Pentium. And if you want to turn the graphics details higher, you can get to 100 FPS quite quickly with a low-end graphics card – so Dota 2 has the lowest hardware requirements of all e-sports games tested so far.

Apart from that, there is little that can be said about the benchmark results, because even in Ultra HD, a mid-range graphics card is sufficient for high FPS with maximized graphics. Also worth mentioning are the early CPU and engine limits, which slow down all graphics cards. The Vulcan low-level API does not change this, but in Dota 2 it is only recommended in Full HD for the navigation graphics cards.

The following games have already been tested

Apart from Dota 2, the following content has appeared in the article series so far:

Part 9: World of Tanks

The next game in this series will feature Wargaming's Free 2 Play tactic, World of Tanks. As always, the editors would be happy to receive feedback in the forum on the series of articles.

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