Age of Conan Hardware Performance Review

FiXT · | July 16, 2008

Video Card (GPU) Comparison

Video Cards (GPUs), are the backbone to any 3D Game, whether it be plasma pong or Age of Conan. AoC has been set apart due to its unusually high requirements. Most MMORPG’s attempt to appeal to a wide range of gamers by making the game compatible with a variety of systems, however, as we have seen so far this is no ordinary MMO. In order to play at a decent level (graphics wise not your character) it has already been determined you are going to have to invest in something current and relatively mainstream. Your not going to be able to get full potential out of the game with something a few years old. But exactly what type of video card should one be considering?

Test System:
OS: Windows Vista SP1 x64
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus X38
RAM: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2

We went with the Q6600 quad core in order eliminate as much of the CPU bottlenecking as possible and allow the GPU to perform as best possible.

The charts show virtually indistinguishable numbers with settings at medium; not much load on the graphics cards at all. This takes a sharp turn as we raise the resolution and detail levels. Unfortunately the ATI cards wind up driving off cliff, tumbling down into a ravine and erupting in a ball of flames. That is to say the ATI Radeon 3870 takes a 60% FPS hit over the nVidia 8800GT, even though in other arenas the two are fierce competitors.

The intro scene reciprocates the same scaling and results we saw in our previous test

The Tarantian reports show some interesting information. First, we see a decrease in the gap between the 8800GT and the 3870 - while still very much separated, one easily surpass par, while the other continues to perform dismally - the impact appears to be lessened by other factors. Also, the gap between the 9800GTX and 8800GT is not nearly as pronounced as during our single player campaign. When comparing with our earlier CPU results we see that even with the quad core, in the city with all the player activity and heavy load, the processor is still a limiting factor.

With such a large gap between nVidia and ATI based cards, it is quite clear that the nVidia logo on the game’s intro screen is not just advertisement, but a clear signal as to where Age of Conan’s optimization lies. While user reports give tweaks and changes to improve the frames with ATI cards it is nowhere near the level that an equivalent nVidia counterpart outputs. We are not saying ATI cards will function poorly no matter what. If you are a proud red owner however, you will want to look at spending some time adjusting certain aspect of the advanced graphical settings in order to achieve the best looking playable frames possible, which may require certain sacrifices. With ATI’s upcoming offering, the Radeon 4850 (check back here for a review in the coming weeks ), we hope to see some stunning performance boosts for users in AoC for a very reasonable price.

Graphical Presets: Medium (Left) High (Right)