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Digital Foundry Performance Analysis: Fallout 4

Durante

Member
I wouldn't sacrifice it in this case, but the ONLY reason that comes to mind is heat (and that doesn't hold water in winter). During this past summer, the temperature was so high in Europe that my AC unit just couldn't keep up. Running my PC increased room temperature by some degrees. Playing on consoles would keep the room cooler so I tended to do more of that this past summer. The PC stayed cool, of course, but it was blowing out tons of heat.

Aside from that, I'm really not sure what the reasoning could be.
If you run a modern PC at console settings and framelocked, with speedstep and its GPU equivalents turned on, it could produce comparable or even less heat than the consoles :p

Of course, that defeats the point a bit.
 
Was going to get this game on the XBOX ONE since it comes with Fallout 3 but now not sure what to do..The PS4 version looks great but the framerate on the XBOX ONE version is pretty bad, is that just a bug and has already been fixed, going to do the buy 2 get one free at target so need to know which version to get
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
How come the 770's pulling that many more frames than the 280x? Is it due to tesselation heavy effects?

Edit: Is that chart above even reliable? Saw a video on the Tubes with a 280x pulling 50-60 FPS on Ultra
 

FATALITY

Banned
Hey man, whatever floats your boat, but in this case I am really struggling to imagine why you would do such a thing. It's a single player game so there's no "my friends play on console" factor, you can connect the PC to the TV, play with a gamepad and get a vastly (seriously, vastly) superior experience. Is it a matter of brand loyalty or something?

lol
 
How come the 770's pulling that many more frames than the 280x? Is it due to tesselation heavy effects?

That and the driver, there are scenes that are CPU limited on i7s even with the AMD driver (drops into the 30s with lot's of GPU headroom still).
Edit: Is that chart above even reliable? Saw a video on the Tubes with a 280x pulling 50-60 FPS on Ultra

Yeah, it is scene dependent. Scenes where the CPU is hit harder could see cpu related drops in AMD from what I have seen so far.
 

owasog

Member
Fallout4texstream2.gif
Wow that is bad. It's similar to what you see in Unreal Engine 3 games sometimes. Textures that randomly fail to load properly.
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
That and the driver, there are scenes that are CPU limited on i7s even with the AMD driver (drops into the 30s with lot's of GPU headroom still).


Yeah, it is scene dependent. Scenes where the CPU is hit harder could see cpu related drops in AMD from what I have seen so far.

Ah I see. I saw an FX6300 (The CPU I got) paired with a 960 that got around 50-60 as well, in-doors in a shootybang action scene too, so hopefully AMD push out some nice drivers for the game eventually. I can wait, will get the eventual GOTY release next year :p.
Oddly enough I often see the FX cpu paired with Nvidia GPUs and the 280x paired with an i5 or i7 lol, never quite the combo I got, so I gotta draw some rough estimates as to how games run on my rig.
 

Kssio_Aug

Member
Was going to get this game on the XBOX ONE since it comes with Fallout 3 but now not sure what to do..The PS4 version looks great but the framerate on the XBOX ONE version is pretty bad, is that just a bug and has already been fixed, going to do the buy 2 get one free at target so need to know which version to get

Besides DF analysis showing those hiccups, I haven't read a report confirming to suffer from the same issues (except from Eurogamer itself).

I'd recommend to read more reports or take a look at Gamersyde videos (they have some analysis there aswell as gamplay for both version) before make up your mind.

Also, one of the Gamersyde (XB1 version) videos actually happens on the same location as the DF video analysis, and the hiccup doesnt happen.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
Can someone explain to me how a cheap core i3 and a GTX750 Ti out performs a PS4? I don't get it.
 

GnawtyDog

Banned
Seems like both console versions could do with some patches, specially the Xbox One. On the plus side, the game is not described as a buggy mess.
 
Besides DF analysis showing those hiccups, I haven't read a report confirming to suffer from the same issues (except from Eurogamer itself).

I'd recommend to read more reports or take a look at Gamersyde videos (they have some analysis there aswell as gamplay for both version) before make up your mind.

Also, one of the Gamersyde (XB1 version) videos actually happens on the same location as the DF video analysis, and the hiccup doesnt happen.


Thanks for the info..hopefully tomorrow since its release day the people getting the XBOX ONE version can confirm or deny the framerate problem. The only reason I want to get it on the XBOX ONE is because of Fallout 3 being free but if that game will eventually end up being free for us anyway mind as well get it for the ps4 will have to wait and see
 
Its impressive how the shadow draw distance on console is somehow lower then MGSV which at least had the excuse of maintaining a rock solid 60fps.

Can someone explain to me how a cheap core i3 and a GTX750 Ti out performs a PS4? I don't get it.

latest


Most of the issues with Fallout 4 are issues that existed with Morrowind and have been found though every game they have made since then.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
We would need an unlocked console build to see whether or not it outdoes it, as it stands it's enough to reach the same capped framerate.

As Dictator93 said. PS4 version seems to struggle to keep to 30fps. The less powerful 750 Ti has no such difficulty. You could probably under clock it and it would still perform better.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Can someone explain to me how a cheap core i3 and a GTX750 Ti out performs a PS4? I don't get it.
The i3 is a better CPU than what the consoles have. I assume the situation is more complicated than just that with RAM/bandwidth factored in but I think the CPU is most of the difference.
 

213372bu

Banned
Its impressive how the shadow draw distance on console is somehow lower then MGSV which at least had the excuse of maintaining a rock solid 60fps.

I have to commend the FOX engine, it certainly does its job on consoles in an age where lots of these issues are blatantly sticking out.
 

Kezen

Banned
well, to be fair, the 750 TI doesn't go below 30 according to DF, while the ps4 does.

As Dictator93 said. PS4 version seems to struggle to keep to 30fps. The less powerful 750 Ti has no such difficulty. You could probably under clock it and it would still perform better.

Good catch I overlooked that part. What is weird is that the PS4 version drops frames in situations where the GPU takes center stage.
 

cjp

Junior Member
I wouldn't sacrifice it in this case, but the ONLY reason that comes to mind is heat (and that doesn't hold water in winter). During this past summer, the temperature was so high in Europe that my AC unit just couldn't keep up. Running my PC increased room temperature by some degrees. Playing on consoles would keep the room cooler so I tended to do more of that this past summer. The PC stayed cool, of course, but it was blowing out tons of heat.

Aside from that, I'm really not sure what the reasoning could be.

Didn't you say in a post once that when you played on PC you'd end up playing through the same scene multiple times to get the best performance, whereas on console you'd be focusing on the game itself?

I'm sure you said something like that in a post. It resonated with me from when I had a desktop gaming PC.
 
So the Bethesda engine still loads areas in "quads" instead of streaming continuously and every time you leave one "quad' and traverse to the next one, it has to load the next area in real time and that causes the game to chug.

This has been the same problem since Oblivion.
 

EloquentM

aka Mannny
So the Bethesda engine still loads areas in "quads" instead of streaming continuously and every time you leave one "quad' and traverse to the next one, it has to load the next area in real time and that causes the game to chug.

This has been the same problem since Oblivion.
Surprise surprise and they said gamebryo is dead. This is a new engine my friend surprise surprise.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Didn't you say in a post once that when you played on PC you'd end up playing through the same scene multiple times to get the best performance, whereas on console you'd be focusing on the game itself?

I'm sure you said something like that in a post. It resonated with me from when I had a desktop gaming PC.
That may have been me. I was mostly PC in high school but spent far too much time paranoid about tweaking, performance, and settings.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
The i3 is a better CPU than what the consoles have. I assume the situation is more complicated than just that with RAM/bandwidth factored in but I think the CPU is most of the difference.

An i3 is only dual core right? Compared to 7 working cores for the PS4.
 
Super weird how Xbox One outperforms the PS4 in open firefights... there's no reason for that to happen.

I'm already in on the Xbox One version, so I guess that's what I'm playing. Can't be arsed to dredge out my PS4 from the deepest bowels of storage and my PC is less powerful than an Xbox One so it will have to do...

Really hope that 0 fps thing is just a bug that can be fixed with a patch though.

Is it just an isolated incident coming around the corner to Diamond City or is it widespread throughout the game?

So the Bethesda engine still loads areas in "quads" instead of streaming continuously and every time you leave one "quad' and traverse to the next one, it has to load the next area in real time and that causes the game to chug.

This has been the same problem since Oblivion.

Interesting... so if I'm interpreting this correctly, the Xbox One version drops to 0fps when loading the apparently dense Diamond City "quad" because of the same memory access issues that make it stutter slightly when equipping a new weapon for a first time in a while, except it's loading a shit-ton of stuff instead of just a single weapon model so the game freezes for a full second?
 

FyreWulff

Member
So the Bethesda engine still loads areas in "quads" instead of streaming continuously and every time you leave one "quad' and traverse to the next one, it has to load the next area in real time and that causes the game to chug.

This has been the same problem since Oblivion.

That's pretty much what every open world game does. It just so happens that Bethesda has a shit ton of unique, moveable and permanently remembered objects in their game world versus Grand Theft Auto, etc.
 

jelly

Member
The i3 is a better CPU than what the consoles have. I assume the situation is more complicated than just that with RAM/bandwidth factored in but I think the CPU is most of the difference.

Yeah, AMD are no match unfortunately .Probably costs about twice the price though so it was never an option.
 
Just buy it on GMG for $48 or whatever it's going for now. Don't suffer the console version for no reason.

GMG use code SAVE20-NOVEMB-GAMING

I have 20 dollars credit as well at Best Buy, that GMG deal is tempting though. It would cost me around 30 dollars total at Best Buy. I have 2 AMD 7900's in my PC which I think will be way better then what my PS4 will offer. Is it possible that the boxed version has a download code in it as well for the full game and I don't have to use the disc?
 

Timu

Member
lowhighkang_LHK said:
That's what I'm asking. Does the PC version stream textures slower? Is this a one area type of thing.

There are also reports of the game crashing after using computer hacking on the pc version from the pc performance thread.
Reminds me of Skyrim as that game crashed on my PC when it was new.

I'm glad I'm waiting this one out until it's proper, I learned my lesson with Bethesda games.
 

Lingitiz

Member
I have 20 dollars credit as well at Best Buy, that GMG deal is tempting though. It would cost me around 30 dollars total at Best Buy. I have 2 AMD 7900's in my PC which I think will be way better then what my PS4 will offer. Is it possible that the boxed version has a download code in it as well for the full game and I don't have to use the disc?

I assume it's just a disc with a Steam code on a piece of paper so yeah.

I am totally sharing Jeff's opinion.

I am also shocked that there is no really uproar. Sad.

Same thing happened with Witcher 3 on consoles. The vast majority of reviewers played the PS4 version and somehow managed to completely ignore the 20 FPS lock in the swamps and when throwing bombs or entering a zone with fog. It's commonplace at this point to have zero expectations for most writers to judge what is considered a stable framerate. Most of them will say they didn't notice it or it didn't impact the game.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
As far as we know it's 6 cores available to games for the PS4 but I hope that changes soon. The i3 has a much, much higher clock speed.

PS4 has 8 working cores, I think 6 are available to game developers.

I would love to see the performance graphs of those 6 cores.
I get the feeling that not a lot of work was done to optimise this for consoles. They worked on it until they got to around 30fps and said fuck it. That's enough. Ship it.
 
Wow, after seeing that chart from the performance thread I'm glad I didn't impulse buy a 980ti or even a 970. I'll be more than happy with my 770. Then when we hit pascal I'll go crazy with mods.
 
Was going to get this game on the XBOX ONE since it comes with Fallout 3 but now not sure what to do..The PS4 version looks great but the framerate on the XBOX ONE version is pretty bad, is that just a bug and has already been fixed, going to do the buy 2 get one free at target so need to know which version to get

FPS for both seems all over the place (0 FPS, big jumps on both, XB1 at times being above PS4, etc.).

I suspect the 0 FPS thing is a bug that can be patched, and in the end the PS4 will have the upper edge on FPS - but right now I don't really think either version is stellar from the FPS perspective.

PC is really the only one that is consistently good.
 

jelly

Member
I would love to see the performance graphs of those 6 cores.
I get the feeling that not a lot of work was done to optimise this for consoles. They worked on it until they got to around 30fps and said fuck it. That's enough. Ship it.

Think of it this. 6 slow ass cores versus 2 very fast ones. You can spread the load but it's still very slow in comparison.
 
I would love to see the performance graphs of those 6 cores.
I get the feeling that not a lot of work was done to optimise this for consoles. They worked on it until they got to around 30fps and said fuck it. That's enough. Ship it.



clock per clock, the i3 4xxx CPU is at the very least twice faster than a Jaguar core.

So you would think that at 3.2ghz, an i3 4xxx CPU would be on par with a 8 core 1.6ghz Jaguar CPU. Although, the reality is the i3 is likely clocked higher than that and the PS4 CPU only has access to 6 cores.
 

JP

Member
...I'm really hoping that this gets the same support Witcher 3 has had since release.
I know I'm quoting myself but what have Bethesda been like historically in fixing stuff post release? Never really got into their Fallout and Elder Scrolls games before.
 
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