Battlefield 1 DirectX 11 & 12 Performance Analysis

Final Thoughts

Battlefield 1 is a graphically impressive game, and it’s a great example of PC gaming graphics, but it’s also pretty taxing on your hardware when pushed beyond 1080P. Picking the right API to run this game couldn’t be more complicated, as some cards improved or lost performance dependant on the resolution used, making my analysis a bit of a headache.

For 1080p gaming performance, it doesn’t seem to matter too much which API you’re running. Most modern gaming systems should be able to run the game past 60FPS with relative ease, even on ultra settings. If you’re hovering below 60FPS, step down to high settings and you should be good to go. The same is true for those running high frame rate displays, if you’re seeking 144Hz performance, you’re either going to want the GTX 1080 or above, or simply step down the graphics settings until you hit your desired target.

For those gaming on 1440p displays, you should fair rather well with this game too, with almost all of the cards we tested maintaining an average frame rate above 60FPS. The R9 Nano, Titan X, Fury X, 1070, 980 Ti, and 1080 all managed a minimum frame rate above 60FPS even with ultra settings. Obviously, none of those cards is known for being slow, but it’s a good sign that the game is optimised for high-resolution gaming. As for using DirectX 11 or 12, the GTX 1080 and 980 Ti each lost a little performance, but most cards did see some small gains in average FPS, but also some losses in minimum FPS, so overall I don’t think there are any net gains to be had with either API.

Stepping up to 4K and the game is a lot more demanding, even on the high-end cards. Only the GTX 1080 managed an average above 60FPS, although the 980 Ti, 1070 OC, Titan X and Fury X can get there too with a few tweaks to the graphics settings, such as turning off AA, reducing shadows, and HBAO. DirectX 11 is the best API for the GTX 1080, and the 980 Ti. However, the GTX 1070 saw a few FPS gains, as did the 390X, but overall the scores are either a little higher or lower on the average, and on the minimum. This is nothing that would make me say “OMG look at the difference”, and I wonder if anyone notice see any real benefit.

So there you have it, the API change doesn’t make much difference. If you’re running the top Nvidia cards from this generation or the last, it does look like DX11 is the best option. If you’re running mid-to-high performance cards from the last two generation, there are some gains to be found with DirectX 12, but in the real world, you may not even notice.

The game does run very well, and even with ultra settings, and the frame rates were much better than expected. So now we have to ask, where does your system fit in. Are you able to hit ultra settings, a good frame rate and the resolution you hoped for? Let us know in the comments section.

Want to see these tests on Ryzen, the GTX 1080 Ti, 21:9 resolutions? So do we, and work is being done to make that happen as soon as possible!