ATI Radeon CrossFireX Review - H.A.W.X.

Article Type: 
Review

CrossFireX Scaling

HD 5870 E6 2GB CFX
  1680x1050 1920x1200
WS 67% 77%
EF 60% 50%

 

HD 5870 1GB CFX
  1680x1050 1920x1200
WS 67% 71%
EF 39% 40%

 

HD 5850 1GB CFX
  1680x1050 1920x1200
WS 79% 78%
EF 63% 68%

 

HD 5770 1GB CFX
  1680x1050 1920x1200
WS 78% 79%
EF 71% 69%

H.A.W.X. is one last title that ATI has been showing off with regards to its Radeon 5000 line. While the other titles are Hor+ and offer cutting-edge DX11 features, HAWX is quite the opposite. While it is a Hor+ title, it is only a DX10 title and runs quite well on a wide variety of hardware. While you can't hit 60fps on a 5700 or 5600 card with any great detail, 30fps is rather easily attainable.

The well running and scalable title makes it a natural fit when showcasing both lower-end hardware pushing three panels, and high-end hardware pushing six panels. It also comes as no surprise that the additional VRAM largely goes unused, considering the title runs capably on lower hardware.

One note in the HAWX benchmark. Above 1920x1200 the game simply would not allow 4xAA. While the scores provide that the title could handle it, the option simply is not available. Though it isn't our norm, we chose to accept 2xAA so that we could get consistent readings across the spectrum of hardware.

Like most games before, HAWX scales exceptionally well at widescreen (though it's not needed). In most instances the cards scale very well. Widescreen scales in the 70% - 80% range. Eyefinity scales slightly less well. The 2GB 5870 scales at 50%-60%, while the 1GB cards only improves by 40%. The two lower cards are in the 65% - 70% range.



HAWX