Game-related benchmarks

The synthetics

3DMark 11 and Firestrike are useful tests to track changes within the same system although they are often used to give a rough comparison between platforms.

3DMark 11

First, we look at Futuremark’s 2011 DX11 graphics-heavy test.

The results are:

• 8GB FURY, 1866MHz – 11616
  
• 16GB Beast, 2133MHz – 12749
• 8GB Predator, 2800MHz –12710

Firestrike

Now we look at Futuremark’s 2013 DX11 graphics-heavy test.

The results for the Basic Test:

• 8GB FURY, 1866MHz – 9568
  
• 16GB Beast, 2133MHz – 9681
• 8GB Predator, 2800MHz –9707

The results for the Extreme Test:

• 8GB FURY, 1866MHz – 4828
  
• 16GB Beast, 2133MHz – 4881
• 8GB Predator, 2800MHz –4862

Practically, there is little difference. We can also see the scores summarized in the Game Benchmarks chart below.

The Game Benchmarks with the GTX 780 Ti

Here are the benches for the three Kingston HyperX RAM kits. All games have their setting completely maxed out and levels of AA are identified on the chart. The GTX 780 Ti is run at reference clock speeds, while our i7-4770K is clocked at 4.0GHz.

If you are a gamer, you can definitely “get by” with using RAM at stock speeds although 4GB of system RAM is no longer sufficient to play some games (Call of Duty: Ghosts, for example), and 8GB appears to be the new minimum for a fast gaming platform. Using FURY compared to the fastest Predator RAM with nearly 1000MHz difference, only Crysis and Far Cry 3 showed a small deficit of 1-2 fps at 1920×1080, hardly noticeable.

Let’s head for our conclusion.