F1 2018 PC Performance Review

HBAO+ VS ASSAO – Is there a visible/performance difference? 

When we discovered that AMD and Nvidia powered systems used different graphical settings when using the game’s “Ultra High” graphics preset, two questions came to mind. First, what is the graphical consequence of this change, and second, does this difference result in the best performance for both GPU brands. 

On the visuals side, we were hard pressed to find any differences between the two options, which both delivered nigh identical screenshots across every area of the game that we looked at, from races track, to pit crews and even the illumination of human characters from the game’s Grand Prix and Career modes. 

Both ASSAO and HBAO+ deliver a noticeable improvement over the game’s standard AO on option, though both ASSAO and HBAO+ provided nigh identical visuals on AMD and Geforce hardware. This means that the difference in these two graphical options must lie in performance. 

(ASSAO VS HBAO+)  
  

(ASSAO VS HBAO+)
  

Once we look at the performance impact of these two graphical options, things become clear. HBAO+ has a lower impact on Geforce-powered GPUs than ASSAO, with the opposite being true for Radeon, with ASSAO offering superior performance. 

Codemasters has offered these two options in F1 2018 to ensure the best possible performance on both Radeon and Geforce-powered gaming systems, offering the most efficient high-fidelity Ambient Occlusion technology for both brands while providing nigh-identical visuals. Well played Codemasters, well played.