Test Drive Unlimited 2: PC Performance Benchmarks for Graphics Cards and Processors
Release date: February 11, 2011
Genre: Arcade / Racing (Cars) / 3D
Developer: Eden Studios
Foreign publisher: Atari
Russian publisher: 1C-SoftKlab
System requirements for maximum visual quality in Test Drive Unlimited 2 recommended by the gameGPU website:
Effective
Operating system: Vista®, Windows 7
Processor: Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0 GHz or Phenom II X2 550 3.1 GHz or higher
RAM: 2 GB Video card: DirectX®9 compatible video card with 512 MB RAM Radeon HD 4770 or GeForce 8800 Ultra or higher DirectX: DirectX®9 Hard drive: 10 GB free space
Optimal
Operating system : Vista® , Windows 7
Processor : Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66 GHz or Phenom II X4 920 2.66 GHz or higher DirectX: DirectX®9 Hard drive: 10 GB free space
System requirements for the implementation of NVIDIA 3D Vision technology in Test Drive Unlimited 2 recommended by the gameGPU website:
Operating system: Vista®, Windows 7
Processor: Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66 GHz or Phenom II X4 920 2.66 GHz or higher
RAM: 3 GB Video card: DirectX®10 compatible video card with 1024 MB RAM GeForce GTX 560Ti or higher DirectX: DirectX® 10
System requirements for implementing AMD Eyefinity technology in Test Drive Unlimited 2 recommended by the gameGPU website:
Operating system: Vista®, Windows 7
Processor: Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66 GHz or Phenom II X4 920 2.66 GHz or higher
RAM: 3 GB Video card: DirectX®11 compatible video adapter with 1024 MB RAM Radeon HD 5850 or higher DirectX: DirectX® eleven
Overview: Playability
Test Drive Unlimited 2 - continuation of the simulator of the same name. The developers have made many changes and innovations while creating their game. Now your character does not just have a big bank account and a lot of cars in the garage. You have to immerse yourself in the image of a major, become the favorite of the "golden youth". But, as befits a righteous person, we need to achieve everything ourselves, so we will start our journey from the very bottom of society ... The plot is a bit naive, but fades into the background and practically does not bother.
This time, the game takes place on the wonderful Spanish Riviera - Ibiza. This time you take on the role of a car valet who sleeps and sees how to become a racing champion. And then luck smiled at you, and you were invited to participate in grandiose races on cars from various eminent manufacturers ...
In total, as the game progresses, we can reach the 60th level. There are four ways to earn a new level in TDU 2: - win races, explore the environment, the social part (friends, gatherings, etc.), buying / selling things, real estate, etc. The game has a strong fleet of vehicles and a bunch of all sorts of additional goodies: 208 cars, 100 houses, 195 items of clothing, 154 items of furniture and, of course .... yachts!
A system of weather conditions and a daily turnover were introduced into the game. The behavior of the car can be unpredictable on wet pavement, much worse off-road. In addition to “asphalt consumption” cars, you can meet the so-called “SUVs” and real SUVs. There will be three main types of coverage in the game: asphalt (urban roads and autobahns), off-road (shoulders and country roads) and off-road (field of plowed land).
But before you start racing, you have to go through all the training courses - each type of driving has its own, and eventually get the appropriate rights ... This will seem like a strange and unnecessary undertaking on the part of the developers, because almost all PC players are familiar with games of this genre and it doesn't take much effort to memorize the 4 main keys. However, this is not so - Test Drive Unlimited 2 does not forgive mistakes, and any flight off the track can be fatal...
We bring to your attention to evaluate a part of the game passage Test Drive Unlimited 2, where you can see for yourself about the quality of this product:
Perhaps the only drawback of the game is the control. It is immediately clear that the game was sharpened for console manipulators and, under the control of the keyboard, the machine behaves like a mad train, but when switching to the xbox 360 pigtail, everything went like clockwork. In general, the game left quite positive impressions and will allow many players to pass their leisure time and quench their thirst for speed.
Overview: Graphics
Test Drive Unlimited 2 has received a major graphical overhaul. According to the developers, they had to re-write the engine. One of the main reasons is changing weather conditions and daily turnover. The dynamics and physics of cars have also been redesigned. The car models in the Test Drive series were always on top, so Unlimited 2 was no exception. All cars in the game are licensed, so they are exact copies of their "live" prototypes.
The surroundings are huge, beautiful and simply magnificent - in a word, it must be seen, although it still looks a bit wooden. Apparently, cross-platform makes itself felt - game consoles have long exhausted the limit of their performance reserve. The only negative is the quality of the water surface, apparently all the developers believe that this seems to be a secondary graphic element.
The physics engine used is Havok Physics (better known simply as Havok), a physics engine developed by the Irish company Havok. The engine creates a simulation of physical interaction in real time, which makes the game world more alive and realistic. Of course, you will not be able to smash the cars to a complete kill, but the more or less appropriate physical behavior of the cars, light dents on them, scratches and selective destructibility of the game environment are quite acceptable.
The graphical menu is more expanded than its predecessor, so Eden Games has prepared for PC owners not just a console port... Now we can more flexibly maneuver the graphical settings. As we pointed out when reviewing the beta version, along with improved graphics, the system requirements for the game have also increased.
Review: Game resource intensive
For Test Drive Unlimited 2, you will need a Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0 GHz or Phenom II X2 550 3.1 GHz or higher processor and 2 GB of RAM.
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Hardware configuration |
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Processors |
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550@ 4.25GHz 12MB L2 Cache Intel® Core™ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 8MB L3 Cache Intel® Core™ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 8MB L3 Cache |
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motherboards |
Maximus II Formula socket LGA775 product provided by Asus MSI X58 Pro socket LGA1366 product provided by MSI MSI P55-GD55 socket LGA1156 product provided by MSI |
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Memory |
GOODRAM PLAY 1600MHz (8-8-8-24) product provided by GOODRAM GOODRAM Pro 2000MHz (8-8-8-29) product provided by GOODRAM |
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Video cards |
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multimedia equipment |
3D monitor LG W2363D 3D Vision Kit product provided by Nvidia |
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Power supplies |
FSP GROUP EVEREST 800W 2xSeaSonic S12D 850 Silver 850 W product provided by Syntex |
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System software and drivers |
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operating system |
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 |
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DirectX |
DirectX 11 |
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Platform driver |
Intel INF Chipset Update Utility 9.1.0.1012 |
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Graphics driver |
Nvidia GeForce/ION Driver Release 266.58 AMD Catalyst 11.1 |
All video cards were tested at maximum graphics quality by the Fraps program in the most resource-intensive part of the game. Lower performance cards up to the GeForce GTS 250 and Radeon HD 4830 are tested with the Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor, while higher performance cards are tested with the Core™ i7 processor. Overclocked versions of video cards presented by sponsors were equated to conventional counterparts by reducing their clock speeds.
Our video cards were tested in 2 resolutions in normal modes and one each for NVIDIA 3D Vision and AMD Eyefinity technologies, with and without full-screen anti-aliasing enabled. Using our graphs, you can evaluate how your video card behaves relative to other modern solutions in almost all modern visual modes.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1280x1024 no AA
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920x1080 no AA
At a resolution of 1280x1024, the minimum for the game is cards of the Radeon HD 4830 or GeForce GT 240 level. When the resolution is increased to the level of 1920x1080, this level rises to video cards of the Radeon HD 4870 or GeForce 9800 GTX level. The most optimal for this game without activating full-screen anti-aliasing should be considered video accelerators of the Radeon HD 5770 or GeForce GTX 260 level.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1280x1024 8X AA
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920x1080 8X AA
When activating full-screen anti-aliasing at a resolution of 1280x1024, you will need graphics accelerators of the Radeon HD 4770 or GeForce 8800 Ultra level. At a resolution of 1920x1080, the minimum quality level rises to video cards of the Radeon HD 5770 or GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 level. Video accelerators of the Radeon HD 5830 or GeForce GTX 275 level should be considered the most optimal for this game. Based on the purchase of a video card specifically for this game, then Currently, the Radeon HD 5830 or GeForce GTX 460 SE look the most preferred.
Testing with NVIDIA 3D Vision Technology
3D Vision in the game, as in the case of Dead Space 2, despite the lack of a rating in the driver, looks very attractive. However, some refinement of the 3D game will not hurt, so we are waiting for a new version of drivers with a stereo rating for Test Drive Unlimited 2. In 3D mode, there is an internal frame limit of 60 FPS.
Testing at maximum quality settings using NVIDIA 3D Vision technology 1920x1080 no AA
Testing at maximum quality settings using NVIDIA 3D Vision technology 1920x1080 8X AA
In 3D, the performance of the cards is reduced within 35-450% of the standard mode, depending on the model of the video card. The minimum required for a comfortable game in 3D is a GeForce GTX 285-level video card without anti-aliasing activated and a GeForce GTX 470 with activation. When anti-aliasing was activated, cards with a small amount of video memory did not pass the test - the minimum amount of memory for video cards in 3D mode must be at least 1 gigabyte in Test Drive Unlimited 2. For comfortable playability, we recommend the GeForce GTX 560Ti or higher.
Testing with AMD Eyefinity Technology
All our video cards were tested at maximum quality settings on two Full HD monitors combined thanks to Eyefinity technology at a resolution of 3840x1080. As we can see from the screenshot above, at a resolution of 3840x1080, the game has some problems with displaying the interface, a little unusual, but not critical for the gameplay.
Testing at maximum quality settings using AMD Eyefinity technology on two monitors at a resolution of 3840x1080 no AA
Testing at maximum quality settings using AMD Eyefinity technology on two monitors at a resolution of 3840x1080 8X AA
With the use of Eyefinity technology, the performance of cards is reduced within 4-50% of the standard mode, depending on the model of the video card. The minimum required for a comfortable game at a resolution of 3840x1080 without activating full-screen anti-aliasing is a video card like the Radeon HD 5830 and Radeon HD 6850 with its activation. For comfortable playability, we recommend the Radeon HD 5850 or higher.
Conclusion : Test Drive Unlimited 2 is a good large-scale addition to the first part with a bunch of online lotions. Some people will like this game, and some won't. The graphics are quite good, but do not fully meet the requirements that it imposes on the video system.