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Ashes of the Singularity Escalation
Ashes of the Singularity Escalation is a Sci-Fi real-time strategy game built for the PC platform. The game includes a built-in benchmark tool with DirectX 12 support. We run the CPU-focused benchmark using DirectX 12, a 1080p resolution and the Extreme quality preset.
Gears of War 4
Gears of War 4 is a third-person shooter available on Xbox One and in the form of a well-optimised DX12-only PC port. We run the built-in benchmark using DirectX 12 (the only API supported), a 1080p resolution, the Ultra quality preset, and Async Compute enabled.
Note: The Core i7-2700K, i5-3570K, and i7-4790K are not shown in Gears of War 4 as the game download was too large to install on their system SSD and the clunky Windows Store platform gives errors when moving games installed on a secondary SSD between test systems.
Game version 9.8.0.2 used for current testing (earlier version used for previous testing).
Rise of The Tomb Raider
Rise of The Tomb Raider is a popular title which features both DX11 and DX12 modes. Heavy loading can be placed on the CPU, especially in the Syria and Geothermal Valley sections of the built-in benchmark.
We run the built-in benchmark using the DirectX 12 mode, a 1080p resolution, the Very High quality preset, and SMAA enabled.
Note: Rise of the Tomb Raider numbers were showing variation to the data gathered in previous reviews. As such, we have retested with the CPUs relevant for this comparison and removed the previously-acquired data.
Total War: Warhammer
Total War: Warhammer is another title which features both DX11 and DX12 modes. Heavy loading can be placed on the CPU using the built-in benchmark. The DX12 mode is poorly optimised and tries to force data through a low number of CPU threads rather than balance operations across multiple cores. As such, this gives a good look at pure gaming performance of each CPU in titles that aren't well multi-threaded.
We run the built-in benchmark using the DirectX 12 mode, a 1080p resolution, and the Ultra quality preset.
Note: A game update for Total War: Warhammer has provided a performance increase on AMD and Intel CPUs to the tune of 5%. As such, we have retested with the CPUs relevant for this comparison and removed the previously-acquired data.
Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation and its recent Ryzen performance-boosting update fairs well on the 1500X. The similarly-priced i5-7400 is outperformed and an overclock for the Ryzen 5 quad-core takes it close to default 7600K performance.
Gears of War 4 does not show good performance on Ryzen 5. The 4C8T 1500X is placed at the bottom of our performance hierarchy and only manages an average frame rate just above 70 FPS. That is despite registering around 50-60% overall CPU utilisation with the loading spread well across all eight threads. Intel’s Core i5-7400 is faster in this benchmark, even if it is running at full load throughout.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is another DX12 benchmark where Intel performs better. Ryzen 5 1500X doesn’t look so bad in this test as the performance loss from the six-core 1600X is lower. However, Intel’s similarly-priced Core i5-7400 is considerably faster in this game’s in-built benchmark. CPU usage was around 80-90% for the 1500X in this benchmark, with the load being spread across all eight threads but one of those being pinned close to 100% utilisation. What our numbers do not show, however, is the pop-in that we noticed with the Core i5-7400. This was not present on Ryzen 5 chips and therefore gives the 1500X an advantage despite its lower headline framerates.
Total War: Warhammer in its DX12 mode likes clock speed and IPC. That IPC point is what gives Intel’s i5-7400 the victory over Ryzen 5 1500X. This benchmark forces one or two threads to very high levels of utilisation while another two threads are also used quite heavily and the four SMT threads are barely loaded.
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