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Batman: Arkham Origins Benchmarked

The physics makes the game. In collaboration with Nvidia, Warner Bros. Montréal has produced the newest point of entry into the Batman universe. The third person title promises to be action-packed and to look great on the screen. How well does the Dark Knight perform on notebooks? The following review explores the answer.
Batman: Arkham Origins

For the original German article, see here.

Graphics

Nvidia's collaboration in the development of Arkham Origins is obvious. We see it not only in the presence of TXAA (a special form of anti-aliasing that expands on FXAA and MSAA), but also in a number of other technologies. The action thriller is optimized for both 3D Vision and multi-monitor operation, but that's not all. The new ambient occlusion technology HBAO+ (also used in Splinter Cell: Blacklist, for instance), PCSS (Percentage-Closer Soft Shadows) and NVDOF (Nvidia Depth-of-Field) are three further abbreviations thrown around by marketers.

Theory is all well and good, but what matters is how it plays in practice, right? Well, when all is said and done, Arkham Origins is definitely a success. Yes, some textures could be a little sharper, and yes, some shadow edges are a little bit unclean; but all in all, there isn't much to complain about. We were especially impressed with the deep footprints the characters leave behind in the snow, which are generated by tessellation.

Low Settings
Low Settings
Medium Settings
Medium Settings
High Settings
High Settings
Ultra Settings
Ultra Settings

With the GPU PhysX activated, the engine really struts its stuff. On the normal setting, the levels are decorated with textile banners and the floors are covered with all sorts of papers, both of which physically react to their environment; but on the higher setting, dynamic particles enter the scene as well (smoke, snow, fog, etc. are influenced by environmental factors like wind and explosions). Nvidia calls this technology APEX Turbulence. The disadvantage of PhysX is, of course, that it demands more resources. Switching from normal to high settings sinks the frame rate drastically.

Only the normal setting is available on AMD systems, and they (still) do a little worse at the moment. Their frame rates are middle-of-the-road, and their minimum results are lower than those of comparable Nvidia GPUs. As is to be expected, when PhysX is activated, their drop in performance is greater as well. The difference between the three PhysX settings is clear in our videos. Starting around the second half, we see marked improvements.

As is true of any good PC game, the options menu reveals a wide variety of possible settings. Alongside resolution and picture mode, you'll also find 10 further items that can either be turned on/off or set to “Off”, “Normal” or “DX11 Enhanced”. Excellent: Except for PhysX, changes are adopted without need for a restart.

Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins

Benchmark

Arkham Origins offers a benchmark with a duration of about two minutes. It's currently only accessible via a somewhat indirect route: If you right-click on the game in Steam, open “Properties” and in “Set Launch Options” input “benchmark”, after the annoying intro videos, the system runs an automatic test that calculates and displays the minimum, maximum and average frame rates. According to Nvidia, the benchmark should eventually be directly accessible from the options menu. Such a patch would certainly make the benchmarking process more comfortable.


Results

Depending on which PhysX option you select, the game's hardware demands fall somewhere between steep and reasonably moderate. Since, as previously mentioned, the highest option is unavailable on AMD systems, we only used the standard PhysX for our Ultra setting. Even so, for 1920x1080 pixels, 4x MSAA and the DX11 Enhanced setting, gamers will need a potent high-end model. The GeForce GTX 675MX is the first card to render the game at these settings with more than 40 fps.

However, anyone who can make do with 1366x768 pixels, 2x MSAA and deactivated PhysX can play the game with just an upper-middle class card (starting with the GT 750M). For normal details and 1366x768 pixels, you'll need at least a GeForce GT 630M or higher. Intel chips, like the HD Graphics 4000 or 4600, are generally only capable of rendering the game fluidly at minimum settings. With the HD Graphics 3000, Arkham jerks no matter what.

The clean GPU ranking indicates that the game demands very little of the processor at the lowest settings.

Batman: Arkham Origins
    1920x1080 DX11 Enhanced / On (PhysX Normal) AA:4x MS     1366x768 DX11 Enhanced / On (PhysX Off) AA:2x MS     1366x768 Normal / On (PhysX Off)     1024x768 All Off
HD Graphics 3000, 2630QM
Schenker Xesia M501
21 (0min) fps ∼8%
32 (0min) fps ∼9%
HD Graphics 4000, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
6 (0min) fps ∼4%
12 (0min) fps ∼5%
30 (0min) fps ∼11%
52 (0min) fps ∼15%
HD Graphics 4600, 4702MQ
Schenker M503
7 (0min) fps ∼5%
15 (0min) fps ∼6%
32 (0min) fps ∼12%
56 (0min) fps ∼16%
GeForce GT 630M, 2630QM
Schenker Xesia M501
10 (0min) fps ∼7%
20 (0min) fps ∼8%
37 (0min) fps ∼14%
54 (0min) fps ∼16%
Iris Pro Graphics 5200, 4750HQ, Intel SSD 525 Series SSDMCEAC180B3
SCHENKER S413
12 (6min) fps ∼9%
30 (16min) fps ∼12%
65 (18min) fps ∼24%
105 (36min) fps ∼31%
GeForce GT 750M, 4702MQ
Schenker M503
17 (0min) fps ∼12%
37 (0min) fps ∼15%
80 (0min) fps ∼30%
133 (0min) fps ∼39%
GeForce GTX 660M, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
27 (0min) fps ∼19%
58 (0min) fps ∼23%
118 (0min) fps ∼44%
187 (0min) fps ∼55%
GeForce GTX 670MX, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
31 (0min) fps ∼22%
64 (0min) fps ∼25%
132 (0min) fps ∼49%
201 (0min) fps ∼59%
GeForce GTX 765M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
34 (0min) fps ∼24%
69 (0min) fps ∼27%
141 (0min) fps ∼52%
226 (0min) fps ∼66%
GeForce GTX 675MX, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
43 (0min) fps ∼31%
87 (0min) fps ∼35%
162 (0min) fps ∼60%
230 (0min) fps ∼67%
Radeon HD 7970M, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
46 (0min) fps ∼33%
109 (0min) fps ∼43%
170 (0min) fps ∼63%
236 (0min) fps ∼69%
GeForce GTX 770M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
47 (0min) fps ∼34%
94 (0min) fps ∼37%
181 (0min) fps ∼67%
248 (0min) fps ∼72%
Radeon HD 8970M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
50 (0min) fps ∼36%
114 (0min) fps ∼45%
191 (0min) fps ∼71%
244 (0min) fps ∼71%
GeForce GTX 680M, 3610QM
Schenker XMG P502
54 (0min) fps ∼39%
107 (0min) fps ∼42%
189 (0min) fps ∼70%
249 (0min) fps ∼73%
GeForce GTX 780M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
70 (0min) fps ∼50%
141 (0min) fps ∼56%
221 (0min) fps ∼82%
276 (0min) fps ∼80%
GeForce GTX 660 Ti, 3770K
Desktop-PC
73 (0min) fps ∼53%
147 (0min) fps ∼58%
250 (0min) fps ∼93%
343 (0min) fps ∼100%
Radeon R9 280X, 3770K
Desktop-PC
79 (0min) fps ∼57%
175 (0min) fps ∼69%
261 (0min) fps ∼97%
320 (0min) fps ∼93%
PhysX Performance: Arkham Origins

Verdict

Whether the content of the new Batman title is appealing is more a matter of individual preference, but we can definitively say that graphics-wise, the developers have done a good job. With PhysX activated, the game's atmosphere becomes even more enchanting than it already is at normal settings. If you have the necessary hardware, Arkham Origins is definitely worth a closer look.

Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins

Test Systems

Our four main test devices are courtesy of Schenker Technologies (mysn.de):

  • W503 (Core i7-4700MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 765M, GTX 770M, GTX 780M, Radeon HD 8970M & HD Graphics 4600)
  • M503 (Core i7-4702MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 750M & HD Graphics 4600)
  • XMG P502 (Core i7-3610QM, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 660M, GTX 670MX, GTX 675MX, GTX 680M, Radeon HD 7970M & HD Graphics 4000)
  • Xesia M501 (Core i7-2630QM, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 630M & HD Graphics 3000)

A further thank you goes to Micron for providing the 480 GB Crucial M500, on which Windows 7 Professional 64-bit is installed.

GPU drivers used: Nvidia 331.65, AMD 13.11 Beta 7, Intel 9.18.10.3257 and 9.17.10.3223

From left to right: Schenker Xesia M501, M503, XMG P502 & W503
From left to right: Schenker Xesia M501, M503, XMG P502 & W503

Overview

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >Batman: Arkham Origins
 Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)
low
1024x768
All Off
med.
1366x768
Normal / On (PhysX Off)
high
1366x768
DX11 Enhanced / On (PhysX Off)
2x MSAA
ultra
1920x1080
DX11 Enhanced / On (PhysX Normal)
4x MSAA
NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q
330
270
177
82
AMD Radeon R9 280X
320
261
175
79
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
331
244
172
89
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti
343
250
147
73
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M
276
221
141
70
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M
199
111
54
AMD Radeon HD 8970M
244
191
114
50
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M
249
189
107
54
AMD Radeon HD 7970M
236
170
109
46
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
228
186
98
48
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M
248
181
94
47
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M
164
89
47
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX
230
162
87
43
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M
139.5n2
102n2
55n3
29n3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M
226
141
69
34
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX
201
132
64
31
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M
67
32
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M
187
118
58
27
AMD Radeon R9 M265X
78
45
20
PosModel< PrevNext >Batman: Arkham Origins
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
133
80
37
17
NVIDIA GeForce 940M
92
62
26
12
NVIDIA GeForce 840M
97n2
60.5n2
28.5n2
8
NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
132
77
36
17
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200
105
65
30
12
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M
83
47
22
NVIDIA GeForce 830M
87
52
24
NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M
75
44
21
NVIDIA GeForce 825M
80
48
22
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M
85
52
22
AMD Radeon HD 8750M
70
43
27
AMD Radeon R7 M270
99
47
25
11
AMD Radeon R7 M265
73
43
15
AMD Radeon R7 (Bristol Ridge)
48
29
15
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M
108
69
34
15
AMD Radeon R7 M260
56
32
19
AMD Radeon HD 8670D
79
46
26
14
AMD Radeon R6 (Kaveri)
30
17
11
AMD Radeon HD 8570D
64
37
21
10
AMD Radeon HD 8650G + HD 8570M Dual Graphics
42
24
15
PosModel< PrevNext >Batman: Arkham Origins
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 8670M
40
22
AMD Radeon HD 7660D
69
40
23
8
AMD Radeon HD 8650G
31
18
NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M
54
37
20
10
AMD Radeon HD 7560D
62n2
36n2
23n2
10.5n2
AMD Radeon R5 M255
64
37
21
9
NVIDIA GeForce 820M
74
38
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M
70
39
18
AMD Radeon R5 M230
44
24
8
AMD Radeon R5 (Stoney Ridge)
44
26
14
Intel Iris Graphics 5100
44
25
14
7
Intel HD Graphics 4600
56
32
15
7
Intel HD Graphics 5500
30
17
11
AMD Radeon R5 (Kaveri)
28
16
10
AMD Radeon HD 7660G
56
33
18
7
AMD Radeon HD 8470D
53
32
17
7
Intel HD Graphics 4400
29
17
AMD Radeon HD 7480D
40
24
12
5
Intel HD Graphics 4000
52
30
12
6
AMD Radeon R5 (Beema/Carrizo-L)
26
15
10
PosModel< PrevNext >Batman: Arkham Origins
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon R4 (Beema)
27
16
9
AMD Radeon R3 (Mullins/Beema)
32
18
9
Intel HD Graphics 4200
24
14
7
AMD Radeon HD 8450G
29
17
AMD Radeon HD 8400
26
14
AMD Radeon HD 8330
23
Intel HD Graphics (Haswell)
21
12
AMD Radeon HD 8280
21
13
Intel HD Graphics 3000
32
21
AMD Radeon HD 8210
14
Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail)
14
8
(-) * Smaller values are better. / n123 Number of benchmarks for this median value / * Approximate position

 

Legend
5Stutters – This game is very likely to stutter and have poor frame rates. Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, average frame rates are expected to fall below 25fps
May Stutter – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, stutters and poor frame rates are expected.
30Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 58fps
May Run Fluently – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, fluent frame rates are expected.
?Uncertain – This graphics card experienced unexpected performance issues during testing for this game. A slower card may be able to achieve better and more consistent frame rates than this particular GPU running the same benchmark scene.
Uncertain – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game and no reliable interpolation can be made based on the performances of surrounding cards of the same class or family.
The value in the fields displays the average frame rate of all values in the database. Move your cursor over the value to see individual results.
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Florian Glaser, 2013-11-14 (Update: 2021-05-18)