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F1 2012 Benchmarked

Another round. Speed junkies will get their full fix when it comes to F1 2012. The modern racing game shines with the usual pretty appearance and high speeds, in addition to the official license package. Find out which notebook hardware has enough power to master the game in this review.
F1 2012

The developer and publisher Codemasters can be described as an expert in the area of racing games without a shadow of a doubt. Along with the Formula 1 series, the series DiRT and GRID (formerly DTM) are also part of the portfolio from the British studio. The years of experience in the field certainly make themselves noticeable in the released games. Although F1 2012 may not strictly adhere to the criteria of a bona fide racing simulation, the game is nevertheless still significantly more demanding than other racing game counterparts (Need for Speed, Burnout etc.).

Technology

Technically F1 2012 is treading water somewhat. While the vehicle models and the advertising effects are quite impressive (especially the depiction of rain is stunning), latent shortcomings come to light beyond the track boundaries. One of these is the texture quality, which occasionally lags behind the current possibilities. Another is some polygons and other objects with low details. What is also a shame is that the track surroundings hardly provide any animations, making them seem a bit sterile. More track marshals or a few flocks of birds would not go amiss for example.

The navigation also allows room for improvement: Although the main menu is able to impress with a very good look, the complicated and intricate submenus tend to get a little annoying with time. Meanwhile, the adequate engine sound is unfortunately not able to gloss over this shortcoming either.

Ultra Preset (1.920 x 1.080, 4x MSAA)
Ultra Preset
High Preset (1.366 x 768, 2x MSAA)
High Preset
Medium Preset (1.366 x 768)
Medium Preset
Ultra Low Preset (1.024 x 768)
Ultra Low Preset

Benchmark

Since the free demo version doesn't have a benchmark included, we opted for the full version priced at about 40 Euros (~$51), which was kindly provided to us by Codemasters. As with F1 2011, the included benchmark is located at the lower end of the graphics menu. During the over two-minute long sequence the KI drives one lap against 23 rivals, which represents a practical scenario. After the benchmark is complete, F1 2012 gives readings for the minimum and average frame rates. The latter of these was then always entered into our database.

Ultra Preset (1.920 x 1.080, 4x MSAA)
Ultra Preset
High Preset (1.366 x 768, 2x MSAA)
High Preset
Medium Preset (1.366 x 768)
Medium Preset
Ultra Low Preset (1.024 x 768)
Ultra Low Preset

Settings

Praise is due to the developer for the comprehensive array of graphics settings. In the options menu there are almost 20 options available. Along with the resolution, the frame rate and the anti-aliasing (MSAA or EQAA), the vertical synchronization and the picture mode can also be set. Anti-aliasing is worth the while even if just for the menus (without AA a staircase effect is clearly visible).

Those that don't want to spend ages searching for the perfect configuration of settings will be happy about the five global presets (Ultra Low, Low, Medium, High & Ultra). Advanced gamers are also able to adjust the individual graphics effects manually. Irritating: Some settings are only effective after a full restart. Since the game doesn't provide a corresponding message, this could possibly be a mistake.

Ultra Preset (1.920 x 1.080, 4x MSAA)
Ultra Preset
High Preset (1.366 x 768, 2x MSAA)
High Preset
Medium Preset (1.366 x 768)
Medium Preset
Ultra Low Preset (1.024 x 768)
Ultra Low Preset

Unfortunately we had more bugs to deal with during the course of the test. The fact that F1 2012 sometimes crashed when shutting down (black screen) was another of the smaller problems. Significantly more problematic however, was the crashing on some devices while starting up - despite an up-to-date NVIDIA driver (ForceWare 306.23). Following a little Internet research, the culprit was quickly found: Deactivating the Steam Community (right-click on the game / >>Properties<<) solved the problem immediately.

Things weren't quite as smooth with the Radeon HD 7970M, which still had to operate with a slightly out of date driver until the arrival of Catalyst 12.9 (Clevo 8.951.6.0). Using the AMD graphics card F1 2012 initially didn't want to start at all (the exe file showed as a process and not as an open application in task manager). We can only assume that the aforementioned problems will be resolved with the next set of patches and driver version.

Ultra Preset (1.920 x 1.080, 4x MSAA)
Ultra Preset
High Preset (1.366 x 768, 2x MSAA)
High Preset
Medium Preset (1.366 x 768)
Medium Preset
Ultra Low Preset (1.024 x 768)
Ultra Low Preset

Results

For those that want to enjoy F1 2012 in its full glory, a graphics card from the high-end segment will be necessary. 1920x1080 pixels and the Ultra Preset (inc. 4x MSAA) are provided to a decent standard from a GeForce GTX 660M upwards. Mid-range notebooks don't have to relinquish good appearance either though. Thus a GeForce GT 630M or a Radeon HD 7670M already cope well with high details, 2x MSAA and a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. The graphics chip in the current Ivy Bridge generation (HD Graphics 4000) meanwhile only manages to process medium details to a decent standard. Owners of Intel's HD Graphics 3000 will have no choice but to come to terms with low settings.

As can be seen on the comparison pictures, F1 2012 compromises considerably in terms of the atmosphere when using the preset "Ultra Low". Along with the shadows, the illumination and the textures, primarily the reflections suffer. The audience and the drivers are completely obscured, and the rear view mirror only shows a gray surface. From the medium preset the graphics quality improves significantly. A score of "Good" is only attributable to the game at the highest level with anti-aliasing enabled.

Benchmark-Tabelle F1 2012

Verdict

Not considering the new racing mode, Codemasters hasn't been daring enough to embark on any extensive experiments with F1 2012. Gamers that are looking for a successful symbiosis between arcade and simulation should definitely take a closer look at the game. In our opinion the developer could have invested a bit more effort into the appearance though. Despite the above average quality, the EGO engine is already a bit dusty in the meantime. Those that have already purchased the predecessor won't necessarily have to get their hands on the latest version. Thanks to the moderate hardware requirements, even a mid-range notebook should prove to be sufficient for a decent performance.

Ultra Preset (1.920 x 1.080, 4x MSAA)
Ultra Preset
High Preset (1.366 x 768, 2x MSAA)
High Preset
Medium Preset (1.366 x 768)
Medium Preset
Ultra Low Preset (1.024 x 768)
Ultra Low Preset

Test Systems

The majority of the devices used were from the company Schenker Notebooks (mysn.co.uk):

  • XMG P502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 660M, GTX 670M, GTX 675M, GTX 680M & Radeon HD 7970M, 8 GB RAM)
  • XMG A502 (Core i5-3360M, GeForce GT 650M & HD Graphics 4000, 8 GB RAM)
  • Xesia M501 (Core i7-2630QM, GeForce GT 630M & HD Graphics 3000, 8 GB RAM) 

The driver versions of the aforementioned notebooks: 306.23 (Nvidia), 8.951.6.0 (AMD) and 8.15.10.2761 (Intel).

From left to right: Schenker XMG A502, Xesia M501 & XMG P502
From left to right: Schenker XMG A502, Xesia M501 & XMG P502

Overview

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >F1 2012
 F1 2012 (2012)
low
1024x768
Ultra Low Preset
med.
1366x768
Medium Preset
high
1366x768
High Preset
2xMSAA
ultra
1920x1080
Ultra Preset
4xMSAA
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M SLI
128
118
100
AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire
101
69
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M SLI
173
141
134
109
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
132
107
114
96
AMD Radeon HD 7970
120
106
95
81
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti
140
112
103
79
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M
184
136
125
100n3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX
97.5
AMD Radeon HD 8970M
144
101
91
65
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M SLI
158
127
116
99
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M
158
120
111
76n2
AMD FirePro M6100
185
156
138
115
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX SLI
124
102
98
79
NVIDIA Quadro K5000M
155
96
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M
182n3
136n3
121n3
76n3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX
104
97
62
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M SLI
92
87
61
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M
169n2
133n3
117n4
57n5
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M
150
113
96
48
PosModel< PrevNext >F1 2012
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 6990M
59
AMD Radeon HD 7770
116
103
95
45
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M SLI
140
114
109
53
NVIDIA Quadro K3100M
161
83
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX
154
122
110.5n2
44.5n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M
137
100
91
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M
155
120
105
41
NVIDIA Quadro K3000M
168
141
125
52
AMD FirePro M6000
167
122
101
51
AMD FirePro M5100
182
149
137
72
NVIDIA Quadro K2100M
172
132
114
50
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M
155
119
108
40
AMD Radeon HD 8790M
112
75
69
34
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
128n2
87n3
77n3
33n3
NVIDIA Quadro K1100M
136
110
93
41
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
110.35n2
87.75n2
63n2
35.65n2
NVIDIA Quadro K620M
111
96
90
47
NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
149
112
96
46
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M
137n4
96n4
73.5n4
29n3
NVIDIA Quadro K2000M
142
103
85
41
PosModel< PrevNext >F1 2012
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
53
NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M
77
60
30
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M
89
77
71
34
NVIDIA GeForce GT 645M
137
103
81
28
AMD Radeon HD 8750M
73
57
39
30
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M
78n3
70.6n3
69.5n3
34n3
AMD Radeon HD 8730M
32
29
25
NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M
74.5n2
66n2
51.5n2
19n2
AMD Radeon HD 8650G + HD 8670M Dual Graphics
44
35
34
AMD Radeon HD 7660G + HD 7670M Dual Graphics
32
26
24
15
AMD Radeon HD 8550G + HD 8670M Dual Graphics
41
33
32
AMD Radeon HD 8670M
58n2
44n2
39.5n2
20.5n2
AMD Radeon HD 7660D
88.5n2
65n2
47.5n2
17n2
AMD Radeon HD 8650G
48
46
39
AMD Radeon HD 6620G + HD 7670M Dual Graphics
35
29
27
AMD Radeon HD 7670M
86
67
47
16
NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M
83n3
68n3
49n3
21n3
AMD Radeon HD 7560D
82
51
43
14
NVIDIA GeForce 820M
79
60
51
21
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M
66
56
46
27
PosModel< PrevNext >F1 2012
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 8450G + Radeon HD 8570M Dual Graphics
16
12
NVIDIA Quadro K610M
73
58
52
21
Intel Iris Graphics 5100
52
39
32
18
AMD Radeon HD 7660G
39
33
32
14
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
63
46
38
13
NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M
59
31
29
AMD Radeon HD 7610M
57
53
43
16
Intel HD Graphics 4400
47.5n4
32.5n4
25.5n4
14n3
AMD Radeon HD 7550M
72
45
30
AMD Radeon HD 7600G
21
15
13
AMD Radeon HD 7480D
45
32
28
12
Intel HD Graphics 4000
32n15
27n13
21n13
12n3
AMD Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5
51
38
17
12
AMD Radeon HD 7500G
13
AMD Radeon HD 8450G
20
17
15
AMD Radeon HD 7470M
12
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX
39
34
30
AMD Radeon HD 7520G
18
17
16
AMD Radeon HD 8330
29
25
22
AMD Radeon HD 7420G
19
18
15
PosModel< PrevNext >F1 2012
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon HD 8240
12
12
Intel HD Graphics 3000
36n2
21n2
14.5n2
12
Intel HD Graphics 2500
38.5n2
23.5n2
21.5n2
12n2
Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge)
22.5n2
19n2
16n2
12
Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)
24
15
12
AMD Radeon HD 7340
12
(-) * 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, 2012-10- 3 (Update: 2013-06- 6)