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Quake 4

Just like what we did with F.E.A.R, we played through the level three times at different resolutions, recording frame rates for each run. You can see the results in the table below - we're focusing on variations between runs here.

Data Processing Terminal (Gameplay) - 1024

6 Quads
	1st	2nd	3rd	Average	Variations	Variations (Percent)
Average fps	119.78	119.53	118.56	119.29	0.49	0.41%
Minimum fps	69	68	67	68	0.67	0.98%
5 Quads
	1st	2nd	3rd	Average	Variations	Variations (Percent)
Average fps	119.44	119.53	119.7	119.56	0.09	0.08%
Minimum fps	69	68	67	68	0.67	0.98%
4 Quads
	1st	2nd	3rd	Average	Variations	Variations (Percent)
Average fps	119.56	119.41	119.16	119.38	0.15	0.12%
Minimum fps	69	69	68	68.67	0.44	0.65%

Data Processing Terminal (Gameplay) - 1600

6 Quads
	1st	2nd	3rd	Average	Variations	Variations (Percent)
Average fps	106.06	105.53	105.68	105.75	0.2	0.19%
Minimum fps	66	64	65	65	0.67	1.03%
5 Quads
	1st	2nd	3rd	Average	Variations	Variations (Percent)
Average fps	103.19	101.46	101.95	102.2	0.66	0.65%
Minimum fps	67	67	66	66.67	0.44	0.67%
4 Quads
	1st	2nd	3rd	Average	Variations	Variations (Percent)
Average fps	98.36	97.46	97.67	97.83	0.35	0.36%
Minimum fps	65	65	65	65	0	0.00%

all numbers are in frame rates (except for percentages)

This is one of Quake 4 levels that is more responsive to resolution changes, the results seems to show that at 1600 x 1200, having more pixel processing power isn't going to give you much. The sweet spot with this graphics card seems to 1280 x 1024, which unfortunately we didn't use for this article.

Variations between runs are minimal, despite the fact that these are gameplay testing sessions. At 1600 x 1200, the differences between 6, 5 and 4 quads is minimal. Minimum frame rates are generally the same, which leads to the conclusion that even at this setting Quake 4 is system limited (though less so than 1024 x 768). Below is the graph for this test.


Data Processing Terminal (Gameplay) - 1024

	6 Quads	5 Quads	4 Quads		4 to 6	4 to 5	5 to 6		4 to 6 (Percent)	4 to 5 (Percent)	5 to 6 (Percent)
Average fps	119.29	119.56	119.38		-0.08	0.18	-0.26		-0.07%	0.15%	-0.22%
Minimum fps	68	68	68.67		-0.67	-0.67	0		-0.97%	-0.97%	0.00%

Data Processing Terminal (Gameplay) - 1600

	6 Quads	5 Quads	4 Quads		4 to 6	4 to 5	5 to 6		4 to 6 (Percent)	4 to 5 (Percent)	5 to 6 (Percent)
Average fps	105.75	102.2	97.83		7.89	4.37	3.52		8.07%	4.47%	3.45%
Minimum fps	65	67.67	65.67		-0.67	2	-2.67		-1.02%	3.05%	-3.94%

all numbers are in frame rates (except for percentages)

By removing the frame cap in Quake 4, we allow the system to render the scene as fast as it can - much like a timedemo. Because of that, it's actually pretty easy to spot which setup is the fastest with Quake 4 - you pick the setup with the shortest run. At 1600 x 1200, where we are not as system limited, the 6 quads setup is obviously faster. Although it has basically the same minimum fps, it 'bounces back' to higher frame rates quicker - thus the shorter run. A timedemo run at these settings would likely give higher results, because the system doesn't have to do AI, physics and sound.

Now, we're going to take a look at a level that's more representative of frame rates you'll likely see through the entire game (though not necessarily represent the gameplay). The Nexus level is the ending boss level, with an ending cutscene. While it doesn't have a checkpoint save, we can generally separate it into two parts - the cutscene and gameplay. First of, we'll be looking at the entire level.

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