by Rob Williams on February 4, 2010 in Graphics & Displays
This past fall, AMD launched its latest graphics generation with the high-end HD 5870, and today, it looks to the opposite end of the spectrum with its $50 HD 5450. Though inexpensive, the HD 5450 has a surprising amount of spunk. Coupled with its passive design and full media capabilities, it looks to be the ideal solution for your HTPC.
I admit that I’m not a huge fan of RTS titles, but World in Conflict intrigued me from the get go. After all, so many war-based games continue to follow the same story-lines we already know, and WiC was different. It counteracts the fall of the political and economic situation in the Soviet Union in the late 80’s, and instead provides a storyline that follows it as if the USSR had succeeded by proceeding with war in order to remain in power.
Many RTS games, with their advanced AI, tend to favor the CPU in order to deliver smooth gameplay, but WiC favors both the CPU and GPU, and the graphics prove it. Throughout the game’s missions, you’ll see gorgeous vistas and explore areas from deserts and snow-packed lands, to fields and cities. Overall, it’s a real visual treat for the eyes – especially since you’re able to zoom to the ground and see the action up-close.

Manual Run-through: The level we use for testing is the 7th campaign of the game, called Insurgents. Our saved game plants us towards the beginning of the mission with two squads of five, and two snipers. The run consists of bringing our men to action, and hovering the camera around throughout the duration. The entire run lasts between three and four minutes.

Like Call of Juarez, World in Conflict to some degree favors ATI cards, but even with that, the HD 5450 looks to be nearly twice as fast as the 210.

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|
|
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NVIDIA GTX 295 1792MB (Reference)
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2560×1600 – Max Detail, 8xAA, 16xAF
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40
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55.819
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ATI HD 5870 1GB (Reference)
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2560×1600 – Max Detail, 4xAA, 16xAF
|
35
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47.195
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ATI HD 5850 1GB (ASUS)
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2560×1600 – Max Detail, 4xAA, 16xAF
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29
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40.581
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NVIDIA GTX 285 1GB (EVGA)
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2560×1600 – Max Detail, 0xAA, 16xAF
|
34
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49.514
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NVIDIA GTX 275 896MB (Reference)
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2560×1600 – Max Detail, 0xAA, 16xAF
|
36
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46.186
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NVIDIA GTX 260 896MB (XFX)
|
2560×1600 – Max Detail, 0xAA, 16xAF
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23
|
39.365
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ATI HD 5770 1GB (Reference)
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2560×1600 – Max Detail, 0xAA, 16xAF
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28
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37.389
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NVIDIA GTX 250 1GB (EVGA)
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2560×1600 – Max Detail, 0xAA, 4xAF
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24
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32.453
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ATI HD 5750 1GB (Sapphire)
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2560×1600 – Max Detail, 0xAA, 4xAF
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23
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31.769
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NVIDIA GT 240 512MB (ASUS)
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1920×1080 – Max Detail, 0xAA
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22
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33.788
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ATI HD 5670 512MB (Reference)
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1920×1080 – Max Detail, 0xAA, 16xAF
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21
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31.872
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NVIDIA GT 220 1GB (ASUS)
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1280×1024 – Medium Detail, 0xAA
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41
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52.089
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ATI HD 5450 512MB (Reference)
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1280×1024 – Medium Detail, 0xAA
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19
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23.620
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NVIDIA 210 512MB (ASUS)
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1280×1024 – Medium Detail, 0xAA
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30
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40.354
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Intel HD Graphics (Clarkdale)
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1280×1024 – Low Detail, 0xAA
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30
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39.449
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With performance as high as it was, there was no reason to lower the settings any further for a best playable. Going one step higher made the gameplay laggier, so there was no point. Because of the sheer number of graphic options found in the game, though, you could have a field day if you really wanted to fine-tune things.