Overwatch in the benchmark – ComputerBase

– BitcoinMinersHashrate tested the tactics team game Overwatch 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 sixth 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 sixth title, Overwatch from Blizzard has to face the test. The tactical team game is currently in its 20th season, the start of the 21st is imminent. The remaining five articles will appear in the course of the next few weeks, there is no fixed rhythm.

Overwatch: The sixth game in the benchmark

Blizzard's Overwatch tactical team game was released on May 24, 2016, but was previously playable as a beta version. A specially developed Blizzard engine, which has no name, is used as the basic technology. Unlike World of Warcraft, only DirectX 11 is supported as an API, there is no low-level API.

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. The Adrenalin 20.2.1 and the GeForce 442.19 were used for the Overwatch tests. 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

To compare so many graphics cards from different performance classes in one 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 Overwatch.

A 25-second run over the Map Dorado shortly after the start of a new round with AI players is selected as the test sequence. While the map itself is demanding, the frame rate in battles can be even lower. However, the latter cannot be tested reproducibly.

Benchmarks in Full HD, WQHD and Ultra HD

Full HD with entry-level graphics cards & iGPUs

Overwatch does not place high demands on the graphics card. With reduced details, the game can also be played in 1,920 × 1,080 with a Ryzen 5 3400G (Radeon Vega 11) – the 60 FPS mark is not quite reached, but the title is playable. Overwatch can also be enjoyed to a limited extent with the Ryzen 5 2200G (Radeon Vega 3). Intel's graphics units integrated into the CPUs, on the other hand, are consistently too slow. Even the Core i3-9100 with the Graphics UHD 630 does not reach enough FPS.

For 60 FPS in Full HD with reduced details, a GeForce GT 1030 or a Radeon RX 550 is sufficient, the latter also reaches the same brand in frame times. The Radeon RX 560 and especially the GeForce GTX 1050 (Ti) even manage 100 pictures per second.

WQHD with mid-range graphics cards

For 2,560 × 1,440 with maximum details, the demands on the GPU increase noticeably, but without becoming extreme. For 60 FPS in Overwatch a Radeon RX 580 or Radeon RX 5500 XT is sufficient – the Radeon RX 570 and the old Radeon R9 390 just barely fail at the goal. On the Nvidia side, it must be a GeForce GTX 1060 or a GeForce GTX 1650 Super. In this case, a GeForce GTX 970 is sufficient.

The middle class suggests that Nvidia's Pascal generation is working hard, while the new Turing generation is performing worse than in classic AAA games. At AMD there is a tie between GCN and its successor RDNA, but the tests in Ultra HD will show that this is not the case.

Ultra HD with high-end graphics cards

For 60 frames per second in Ultra HD, the hardware has to be a lot faster, but not yet high-end. With Nvidia all models from GeForce GTX 1080 and GeForce RTX 2060 Super can do this, with AMD this is the case with Radeon RX 5700 or with Radeon VII – because the benchmarks in 3,840 × 2,160 show a rather weak GCN generation.

The new RDNA architecture is better positioned in Ultra HD. The Radeon RX 5700 XT is 27 percent faster than the Radeon RX Vega 64, otherwise it is only 22 percent in AAA games. With Nvidia, however, the picture turns around. The GeForce RTX 2060 Super usually works 13 percent faster than the GeForce GTX 1080, in Overwatch it is only 1 percent. The many improvements in the Turing architecture compared to Pascal have no effect in Overwatch. And so it happens that AMD's GCN is clearly inferior to Nvidias Pascal in Overwatch, whereas RDNA with Turing is on par.

Full HD benchmarks across all classes

Little exciting can be said about the higher-level benchmarks in Full HD, since the graphics cards behave very similar to the adjusted benchmarks. The exciting question is which hardware it has to be for 1,920 × 1,080 with maximum graphics details for 60 FPS. An APU is then no longer sufficient for Overwatch. Already from GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, GeForce GTX 1650, Radeon RX 570 or Radeon RX 5500 XT, the measured values ​​are again more than 60 frames per second.

closing Remarks

Overwatch places only modest demands on the graphics card. If the graphics details are reduced, the team tactics game is still playable on a fast AMD APU like the Ryzen 5 3400G, while slow, discrete graphics cards reach the 100 FPS mark quite quickly. And even with higher graphics details, the requirements do not increase too much, so that a high-end graphics card naturally has a higher frame rate, but is not absolutely necessary for gaming, even in Ultra HD.

If the requirements are still too high, Counter-Strike: GO will find a much more frugal tactical shooter that also relies on team play, albeit in a different form.

Overwatch is particularly enthusiastic about Nvidia's old Pascal generation, the GeForce GTX 1000 cards do well across the board. Since the game has been around for a few years, it comes as no surprise that the more modern Turing models cannot stand out so well from the predecessor. In contrast, AMD's new RDNA generation performs better than its predecessor GCN. But that's because GCN has its difficulties with Overwatch. So Turing and RDNA are on par in the game.

The following games have already been tested

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

Part 7: GTA V

The next game in this series will feature Rockstar's action title GTA V. As always, the editors would be happy to receive feedback in the forum on the series of articles.

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