Total War: Warhammer Dx12 Performance Analysis

Final Thoughts

Total War: Warhammer is the latest big budget game to utilise a DirectX 12 mode which provides a fascinating insight into the current performance levels of graphics hardware. Furthermore, it also helps us to predict the ranking order for future games as DirectX 12 becomes more widely adopted by developers. At the moment, this API isn’t a priority and being implemented as an optional extra to please hardware enthusiasts’ curiosity. While the evidence thus far is interesting, the real picture will emerge once games are exclusivity built around the DirectX 12 API. Nevertheless, it’s clear that AMD graphics cards perform extremely well across every DirectX 12 title we’ve tested and exhibited a large boost compared to their NVIDIA counterparts.

This situation remained the case throughout Total War: Warhammer, although NVIDIA’s top-tier offerings did much better than I expected. For example, the GTX 980Ti managed to surpass the AMD’s flagship during 1440P and 4K testing. Granted, the performance benefit was relatively small but it’s the first instance I’ve seen of the GTX 980Ti coming out on top in a DirectX 12 game. It’s important to remember that the Gigabyte G1 Gaming model features a hefty overclock which means the Fury X probably defeats a reference GTX 980Ti. On another note, the R9 Nano performs brilliantly and consistently trades blows with the GTX Titan X. This is incredible given the respectable price point and this particular card continues to make an impact. Saying that, the Nano appears to suffer slightly at higher resolutions.

Speaking of the GTX Titan X, the performance remained solid and competed with the GTX 980Ti rather well. On the other hand, the numbers aren’t great from a performance per dollar point-of-view and you’re better off opting for the R9 Nano. The R9 390X posted marvellous frame-rates and consistently defeated its nearest rival, the GTX 980. Even more astounding, the R9 390 went toe-to-toe with the GTX 980 despite being significantly cheaper. The GTX 970 fell behind the R9 390 and offered disappointing performance. Towards the lower end, the R9 380X and 380X fared surprisingly well providing you’re using a 1080P monitor. In contrast to this, the GTX 960 hovers around the 30 frames-per-second mark and lingers behind the R9 380. Also, the GTX 950 cannot cope with the engine’s graphical demands and requires lower settings to achieve a playable framerate.

When it comes to optimisation, Total War: Warhammer is excellent and scales across various hardware configurations extremely well. To maintain a fluid framerate at 1920×1080, it’s recommended to use a GTX 970 or higher. Despite this, it’s relatively easy to reach 60 frames-per-second with an R9 380X or R9 380 with slightly reduced settings. GTX 960 and GTX 950 users will need to make larger concessions to enjoy a smooth experience. If you own a 2560×1440 display and want the best possible image quality, the minimum choice should be the GTX Titan X.

Saying that, a more sensible approach would be to opt for an R9 390 and play the game with lower settings. I’m surprised how well the majority of graphics cards fared throughout 1440P testing and there are enough options to make the game complement your monitor and graphics hardware. Finally, no single graphics card can hit the desired 60 frames-per-second mark with a 4K monitor, but the higher-end models like the Fury X, GTX 980Ti, Titan X and R9 Nano should be able to maintain a stable frame-rate with reduced settings.

Evidently, this is another very strong set of results for AMD despite the GTX 980Ti reaching the top spot at higher resolutions. Barring this achievement, AMD graphics cards fare much better and the company’s wonderful performance in DirectX 12 games doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

Thank you to all our partners who provided the hardware and software that made this performance analysis possible.