Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
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We have purposely chosen Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor because it's a fantastic game and, with the latest HD pack, can use well over 4GB of framebuffer when set to maximum settings. If any game is going to show the worth of a single 8GB-equipped card, this is it.
We've also included the recently reviewed Palit GeForce GTX 980 Super JetStream and, from the last generation, a GTX 780 Ti accommodating an unusually-large 6GB framebuffer.
Run at 1080p and very high quality settings, the GTX 980 card holds sway. The quartet all produce excellent numbers though, and the game looks terrific. It's already telling that the 8GB card is faster. Common sense tells us that it shouldn't be, as the 4GB Vapor-X version should perform to the same levels, but we report what we observe.
Jumping it up to ultra quality reduces average framerates by about 20 per cent. We can't see the visual difference between the two settings. Poring over side-by-side screenshots does little to differentiate them. Sapphire's 8GB card keeps the lead over the 4GB version, while the GTX 980 remains 30 per cent faster than the GTX 780 6GB variant.
4K
4K increases the resolution four-fold. The roles are reversed in this instance, with the Vapor-X 8GB coming out on top. The game isn't what we'd call smooth, particularly when making quick turns when fleeing away from the Orc horde.
And if very high quality settings are hard, ultra and 4K, the premium solution, is too much for one GPU. Of rather more importance is the continued leadership of the 8GB card. The chances of an 8GB framebuffer playing a key role in determining gaming performance are low for most titles, but when they do appear, as in Shadow of Mordor, the effect is often noticeable.