I've done quite a bit of benchmarking in the past, both to benchmark the overclocking of my PC (2.8 ghz -> 4.0 ghz
). and to do comparisons of different versions of EU4 to check for slowdowns.
Windows 7 benchmark results - 1579 bookmark, as France.
With all graphics options set to ON: My current average for the years 1583 - 1589 is
34.5 seconds a year.
Turning off all the graphics options reduces this to around 32 seconds a year.
Mac (Hackintosh) benchmark results
My PC is dual-boot Windows and OSX 10.8.5. The OSX is a Hackintosh setup, not real Mac hardware.
Performance in OSX is
terrible. The best results I get is around 60 seconds a year - nearly double the time per year - and that's only with all graphics options off.
I don't know to what extent that's just the OSX version of EU4 being slow, and/or whether it's because I am using a Hackintosh not proper Mac hardware and with all the hacks they have to put in to get it to work, there might be some slowdowns.
If there are slowdowns, I think it's related to graphics. Because if I turn all graphics options to Off, the speed is 25% faster on Mac whereas on Windows it only made a 7% difference.
I'd be very interested to hear of benchmark comparisons from Mac users who also have Windows 7 installed in Bootcamp. Penguintopia has already said he'll run such a comparison when he gets his new 3.4ghz iMac this weekend. Doing a comparison like that would show us the exact difference in speed between EU4 Windows and EU4 Mac, and would tell me how whether my Hackintosh has a problem with games/graphics.
My PC hardware
- OS: Windows 7 SP1 64bit
- CPU: Intel i7 930 running at 4.0ghz
- Quad Core, Hyperthreading (8 total threads), overclocked from 2.8ghz stock to 4.0ghz (200 BCLK x 20 multiplier; Turbo Boost disabled.)
- RAM: 12GB Corsair DDR3 RAM running at 1600mhz
- Graphics: MSI NVidia GTX 760 2GB
- Disk: SATA2 SSD
- Having an SSD does not impact the in-game benchmarks, but it does significantly improves the time it takes to load EU4 and save/load games.
EU4 slowdown between versions
I found that version 1.4.0 was significantly slower than 1.3.2. - around 25% slower. This is mostly because of the Colonial Nations and Observer nations.
Version 1.5.0 is the same speed as 1.4.1 in my tests.
My benchmarking principles
I do all my benchmarking from the 1579 bookmark, as the game gets slower the later in the timeline you are, so I wanted a timing that was representative of a sort of 'average'. 1579 isn't exactly half way through the game, but as many people don't play past 1750 - myself usually included - I felt that 1579 was a good compromise date.
I also don't use Observe mode. I play as France, who are at peace from the 1579 bookmark. Before starting a benchmark, I use the Console to boost Prestige, Stability, do some Harsh Treatment etc to minimise chance of loads of rebellions.
I play as a real nation because I figure that is most representative of a real game with a human player. Arguably this will actually be slightly improving my benchmarks, because if I was in Observe there would be one more nation controlled by the AI.
I will do some 1444 benchmarking later. I'll also try Observe mode to see if that differs much from playing as France.
How I benchmark
Take note of the need to let the game 'warm up' before collecting data:
- You should let the game 'warm up' before benchmarking: run the game on Speed 5 for a number of years before you record any times.
- I run it for about 3.5 years before I start timing.
- Then I benchmark seven years in a row and take an average of those figures.
- It's important that you don't record the first few yearly figures you get after starting a new game. They will be much slower.
- I get 34-35 seconds a year after the game has run for a few years. But the 'cold' figure - i.e. the figure for the first year after loading EU4 - could be as high as 45 seconds.
- That's because it runs much faster once all the game files have reached your filesystem cache, and once regularly accessed data has reached your CPU caches.
- My benchmark method:
- Load EU4
- Autosave off.
- Start from 1579 bookmark, or load a save from that point, from where I've already prepared my French nation in terms of Prestige, Stability etc.
- Run the game on Speed 5 from 1579 until 1583.01.01, without timing
- I pause on 1583.01.01, get the stopwatch ready, then hit Unpause at the same moment I start my stopwatch
- I then leave the game running on Speed 5 until end of 1589.
- Every time it gets to Jan 1st, I hit the Lap button on my (phone) stopwatch.
