Monday, October 27th 2014
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AMD Radeon Supercharges Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth with Mantle API
AMD today joins Firaxis Games in celebrating the release of Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth, which features day-one support for AMD's Mantle graphics API to enable top gaming performance for AMD Radeon graphics customers.
"AMD Radeon GPUs with Mantle are over a year ahead of other graphics companies in delivering high-throughput, high-efficiency graphics to gamers and developers," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, Product and Platform Solutions Business Unit, AMD. "As gamers settle in for a marathon session of Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth, we're proud that the potent combination of Mantle and the award-winning Graphics Core Next architecture effortlessly enable the definitive experience."Mantle is a "low-overhead" graphics API that can help improve performance for gamers by making better use of multi-core CPUs, streamlining game code execution, virtually eliminating software bottlenecks and utilizing GPU resources with incredible efficiency.
In performance testing, the AMD Radeon R9 290X GPU with Mantle rendered Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth at higher frame rates than any other single-GPU graphics card.[iii] Gamers looking to secure Mantle's blistering performance for their own empires can do so today with the purchase of an AMD Radeon R9 or R7 Series GPU starting at just $99 USD.
"AMD Radeon GPUs with Mantle are over a year ahead of other graphics companies in delivering high-throughput, high-efficiency graphics to gamers and developers," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, Product and Platform Solutions Business Unit, AMD. "As gamers settle in for a marathon session of Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth, we're proud that the potent combination of Mantle and the award-winning Graphics Core Next architecture effortlessly enable the definitive experience."Mantle is a "low-overhead" graphics API that can help improve performance for gamers by making better use of multi-core CPUs, streamlining game code execution, virtually eliminating software bottlenecks and utilizing GPU resources with incredible efficiency.
In performance testing, the AMD Radeon R9 290X GPU with Mantle rendered Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth at higher frame rates than any other single-GPU graphics card.[iii] Gamers looking to secure Mantle's blistering performance for their own empires can do so today with the purchase of an AMD Radeon R9 or R7 Series GPU starting at just $99 USD.
64 Comments on AMD Radeon Supercharges Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth with Mantle API
Who needs Mantle anyway?
In BF4 DX11 is faster. And stalactite formation is faster than Civilization gameplay.
Mantle on this game seems to be very nicely working to begin with which shows how far it has matured. It still is not the end of all thing that will justify a video card (At least yet).
Anyhow, this is about Mantle. It's still not relevant enough to make a difference, no matter how good it is at what it does. If AMD's own financials mention declining desktop sales, it's not going to be worthwhile for devs to implement mantle if they see more green cards than red.
Again the thread devolves into a bitter fight between ill informed people however facts are facts:
1) Mantle is very good when implemented well. It really is.
2) It's great if you have the hardware to use it.
3) It's still a gimmick until it's endorsed by Nvidia because fact is, Nvidia have a huge market presence and lots of cash to throw at devs (as shitty as that is as a tactic - it's still just a business, with shareholders and profits to make).
(Mantle, like OpenGL, isn't tied to OS versions the way DirectX is)
I read that shit as it's importent as it can add terrible sadness that you brought some thing but there is a catch to it lol.
In other news, World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, another game that seems to do well on NVidia Graphic Cards, isn't using PhysX for the purpose of boosting up Frame Rate Performance because of the amount of Particle Effects that are generated in raids, on older, outdated computers. Instead, they have gotten rid of MSAA, and replaced it with either FXAA or CSAA. In addition, they have added features were if you're character's camera view isn't watching other characters animate their particle effects, they would be faded out so it doesn't take a large toll on the CPU side. This is my point. You speak so highly of PhysX and how it's better than AMD Mantle. In most games, AMD Mantle work, and in the games that support PhysX, they either work, don't work, or just provide less than 1% performance gains. The list of games that support AMD Mantle is about to outpace, or has outpaced the amount of PC and MMO games that support PhysX. If World of Warcraft felt the same way as you, devoted, blindly delusional about this idea that NVidia is bleeding edge tech, do you think PhysX would have been implemented in World of Warcraft for the sole purpose of improving performance with the increase amount of Particle effects. No. Sadly, Blizzard-Activation haven't implemented it into WoW due to not wanting to use it, seeing cheaper and more efficient way to solve the issue, or feeling that forcing their customers to purchase NVidia Graphic Cards over AMD would diminish their hemorrhaging community. Simple and short, having PhysX wouldn't be in the game's best interest. It's probably not in a lot of game's best interest. 1. Really no point in buying a GTX 970 when in a few months, GTX Titan-Maxwell will be out. If you want to go for the best, saving some funds on the side would do you good.
2. Isn't GTX 970 and 980 still dropping frames on single and SLI like mad still unless you take G-Sync Monitor Route? Dropping frames on a single card, isn't that worst than dropping frames on SLI/CrossfireX setups. Well, I feel it is.
Personally, I am waiting for that 3rd party benches of 22nm R9-390x with Stacked VRam and GTX Titan-Maxwell before I make another investment. One of my bigger investments that I would love to make is purchasing a $4,000.00 88key Korg Khronos X Workstation Syth just for song production alone... At the moment, I can only dream, or wait till Xmas :D. AMD 5000 Series was pretty bad back in the days. I can agree with you on this. In my imagination, with a pinch of being down to Earth and rational, I think secretly, all NVidia consumers want NVidia to monopolize the Gaming Graphic Card market because they want the Government to determine how NVidia should price their products, and competition isn't really necessary in our ever changing pursuit of entertainment and pretty colors. The arguments of AMD 7990 woe and driver fails are arguments in the past that are getting weaker and weaker by the day.
Unless AMD get off their arse and get Mantle out there, it's gonna be nothing more than a pipe dream.
wccftech.com/amd-never-settle-bundle-gaming-evolved-roadmap-leaked-battlefield-4-watch-dogs-gird-2/
and looking at the list Lichdom Battlemage was in pending list to get Mantle support. and this is developer respond when asked about Manttle support for the game:
steamcommunity.com/app/261760/discussions/0/45350791077030986/ Bullet Physics was supposed to be PhysX alternative in gpu physics and it suppose to work with any video card. why developer didn't use it? it is not a matter about hard to implement or limited hardware support (like PhysX it only works with nvidia card). it is simply developer have no interest to implement gpu physics if not pushed by gpu maker. is there prove that mantle can work outside GCN? even Richard Huddy mention in one of his interview that the very benefit of Mantle is the API is build specifically for GCN and not for generic hardware like Direct X is. AMD also keep claiming that mantle is open source but from the way i see it what AMD do is the opposite. if Mantle is open source then where is the open body that maintain the API like what Khronos Group did with OpenGL? why AMD needs to finish Mantle spec first before going public with the spec? isn't it better if AMD allow other hardware vendor to join Mantle development right now so by the time they officially release the spec pretty much everyone have their driver ready (just like when Khronos Group officially announce their OpenGL 4.5 spec nvidia already have their driver ready for it).
Let's hope AMD can deliver with Mantle, their window of opportunity is shrinking fast, a bit like their revenue and sadly staffing levels.
Atleast they are doing some innovation that can advance the gaming/computing community compared to ms sitting on their laurels and tying dx to os releases compared to what DX 9 was in the past.
Reason NV doesnt want to use mantle or any other tech is because they cant be paid for royalties(Forcing physx on nv only hardware or pushing gsync, sli). I feel the only reason dx 12 is being launched with W10, is because AMD Launched Mantle and they are worried theyll lose money in their console ( which is powered by AMD anyway, meaning mantle can be utilized on consoles).
I'm all for a proper debate here, and will happily be proven wrong and/or accept counter arguments, but please try to be rational and not bring in fanboy statements like 'haters gonna hate'.
yeah. me too. i will wait until full "powered" maxwell comes out and AMD's 20nm GPU released.
Thats why i still treat Mantle as something good because it improves AMD users experience but doesnt affect NVIDIA users at all. They are at what they used to be all the time before (D3D). Where PhysX, well, lets just say i don't share the enthusiasm around it seeing how they screwed so many games to make PhysX look better than it really is or the fact that CPU's can do all the effects except maybe fluid calculation which is probably the most taxing, but then again anaone who ever played Hydrophobia game knows you can make jaw dropping water without any harwdare physics acceleration...
On the other hand Mantle has no effects on Nvidia hardware except if we compare a DX11 version and a Mantle version and find that the DX11 version looks worst. But most die hard Nvidia fanboys swear that DX versions look better, so this isn't the case.
Before you jump at me for 'being an Nvidia fanboy', just note that I do not personally care about anything PhysX may bring to the table. I don't actively seek games that have it as a feature, in fact, I probably have a few games that have it, but am completely unaware. I do however think it being proprietary, does however hurt every gamer, regardless of hardware vendor.
I have yet to see an AMD supporter provide a genuine, rational counter-argument (this thread or other); they either blame Nvidia for crap prices (which is most likely AMDs fault), whinge about PhysX (fair enough), or just call out people as 'fanboys'. Maybe they really don't have a leg to stand on.
PhysX also does give performance disadvantages to AMD users if trying to run any of the PhysX effects your allowed on the CPU (Even using an Nvidia GPU and defaulting it shows huge loss of performance). Even with high end hardware you can lose numbers to the point it makes the experience horrible (Hence why tests keep it off on both sides in most forums) even on a high end Nvidia card (Like this Metro: Last Light post). As shows here Mantle only makes the game perform better on the hardware with an AMD GPU but does not give you anything extra or keep you from experiencing certain aspects of the game (Unless you count the FPS improvements as a deterrent form the experience). I can see the benefits from any of these technologies but I also can see the drawbacks from both sides which do render both a niche product at the moment at least. Though I do think we should refrain from continuing on about the PhysX vs Mantle debate at least on this thread.
I actually am going to pick this game up, I did enjoy the previous civilization game and I would think the same care went into this game so Ill bite. Do like the bonus performance ill getas it might be nice in 4K (If it works right).
Same note Consoles will not run Mantle, that was already made clear unless something serious changes.
So many Ill informed people with exceptionally poor reasoning. When I mentioned Physx it was clearly not as a feature comparison to Mantle. The only relevance Physx has in this discussion is that its proprietary, nothing more.
That's my only point against Mantle, all other arguments are irrelevant.
This is the only meaningful statement - Mantle is an excellent development but without MS and Nvidia backing it, it is doomed to obscurity. Any proprietary tech, or tech not in the competitions interest to develop is a 'gimmick' whether it be 'meh' Physx or the rather excellent Mantle.
It's ridiculous people are referring to each other as fanboys. Or that anyone espousing a reasoned argument is labeled as one. And this whole 'haters gonna hate' mentality is the recourse of a lost argument.
Stop dissing Mantle, it works.
Unfortunately, not for many at all. And that's how it stays.
Tomorrow who knows.Maybe Nvidia will discover incompatibility with AMD APUs in the future, when for example the on die GPU is not disabled for HSA purposes.
And now that I am thinking about it, does PhysX disables itself in the present of an AMD APU?