Dying Light: The Following PC Performance Review – AMD VS Nvidia

HBAO+ Performance testing

 

One of the largest differences between the graphical settings was the changes in shadow and lighting quality, with the major differences being provided by Ambient Occlusion and at higher Graphical presets Nvidia’s HBAO+.

Being an Nvidia made effect it is common for people to argue that using it will make a game favor Nvidia GPUs, with many claiming that it is used to intentionally harm AMD’s performance. 

For both GPU makers moving from standard AO to HBAO+ results in a framerate drop of around 4 FPS, showing that HBAO+ is not harming AMD’s performance any more than Nvidia’s. 

Ambient Occlusion is one of the most demanding effects that Dying Light uses, resulting in a 6-7 FPS boost in minimum framerates for both GPU makes when turned off, which is around a 17-25% performance boost in minimum framerates, which is pretty significant. 

If you need to get a higher framerate in this game disabling AO should be your first port of call, as most of the other graphical options have a minimal effect by comparison.