DX11: Unigine Heaven 2.2

The Unigine "Heaven 2.1" benchmark is a free publicly available tool that grants the power to unleash the graphics capabilities in DirectX-11 for Windows 7 or updated Vista Operating Systems. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode, emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

The distinguishing feature in the Unigine Heaven benchmark is a hardware tessellation that is a scalable technology aimed for automatic subdivision of polygons into smaller and finer pieces, so that developers can gain a more detailed look of their games almost free of charge in terms of performance. Thanks to this procedure, the elaboration of the rendered image finally approaches the boundary of veridical visual perception: the virtual reality transcends conjured by your hand. The "Heaven" benchmark excels at providing the following key features:

• Native support of OpenGL, DirectX 9, DirectX-10 and DirectX-11
• Comprehensive use of tessellation technology
• Advanced SSAO (screen-space ambient occlusion)
• Volumetric cumulonimbus clouds generated by a physically accurate algorithm
• Dynamic simulation of changing environment with high physical fidelity
• Interactive experience with fly/walk-through modes
• ATI Eyefinity support

Cost Analysis: Unigine Heaven DX11 (1920x1080)

• $140 GeForce GTS 450 1GB (MSI Cyclone) = $9.15 per FPS
• $145 Radeon HD 5770 1GB (PowerColor 1GBD5-PPVG2) = $10.74 per FPS

Test Summary: The DX11 Unigine Heaven benchmark strays from the results of the other two DX11 titles. The AX5770 PCS+ falls back behind the GTS450 by a couple of FPS and can't manage to make up the difference, even when overclocked. At the prices at which both of these GPUs are set right now, the GTS450 seems to be a more valuable GPU. The prices of the Radeon HD 5770 cards have already fallen since the release of the GTS450, but they will have to come down a little more in order to make it a more competitive opponent.

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