Crysis 3 Gaming Graphics Card Benchmark Showdown Linus Tech Tips

Linus Tech Tips presents a Crisis 3 graphics card benchmark showdown, evaluating multiple GPUs across four price segments to determine the best value for Crisis 3 at 1080p with various details on overclocking and driver optimization. The hosts explain why they break their usual rules for this video, noting Crisis 3’s then-new driver optimization situation which influenced early results. They describe their test bench setup in detail, including a 3960x CPU, 16GB Mushkin memory, a 1000W power supply, a 128GB SSD, and Afterburner 2.3.1 for overclocked testing. The team explains that they overclock every card to a practical, safe level and rely on a publicly shared spreadsheet for the exact settings viewers can replicate. Price brackets are clearly laid out: around $100, $200, $300, and $400-plus, with side-by-side head-to-head comparisons between AMD and Nvidia offerings. They discuss the results, noting that early driver optimizations favored AMD at launch and that Nvidia’s later optimized driver closed the gap, leading to several near-ties across the tiers. The panel emphasizes bang-for-buck, pointing out that mid-range cards like the GTX 660 and Radeon HD 7870 offer strong performance improvements over cheaper options, while higher-end cards show diminishing returns relative to their price. They conclude with practical recommendations for different gaming setups, including 1080p playability with anti-aliasing off and the benefits of Nvidia Surround and 3D Vision in their respective ecosystems. The video ends with a reminder to subscribe for more benchmarks and hardware insights, and a nod to the broader Linus Tech Tips community for future testing and reviews.

Topics · graphics cards · benchmarking · hardware reviews · pc gaming