VRAM usage and Concluding

Graphics memory (VRAM) usage

How much graphics memory does the game utilize versus your monitor resolution with different graphics cards and respective VRAM sizes? Well, let's have a look at the chart below compared to the three main tested resolutions. The listed MBs used in the chart are the measured utilized graphics memory during our testing. Keep in mind; these are never absolute values. Graphics memory usage can fluctuate per game scene and activity in games. This game will consume graphics memory once you start to move around in-game, memory utilization is dynamic and can change at any time. Often the denser and more complex a scene is (entering a scene with lots of buildings or vegetation, for example) results in higher utilization. With your close to the max "Ultra" quality settings this game tries to stay at a fill up to a 9 to 10  GB threshold. In Ultra HD that rises quickly towards roughly 10.5 GB. We deem 8GB a good default value for any mainstream graphics card. Raytracing eats away a bit more VRAM, roughly 150 MB of it when enabled.

It's important to note again that we enabled the HD texture pack for the game.

Image quality settings vs performance - is FSR a game changer?

There has been a great deal written and said about FSR. Realistically, this is an upscaler, which means that images are rendered at a lesser resolution and then upscaled and sharpened afterward. You can argue about that, however, it does function nicely with the game when the visual quality is set correctly as well. The advantage is significant, particularly when considering raytracing. However;

Above we take a mere GeForce GTX 1660 Super through three image quality modes. The grey bar is Ultra quality, but now with FSR enabled.  Yep, you do the math.

Concluding

Because this is a PC performance review, we'll keep things focused on that. Aside from the normal annoyances, Far Cry 6 appears to be a well-polished game on the PC. It goes without saying that any graphics card will function properly if the appropriate image quality settings are used. It's important to remember that visual quality is something you want and prefer while playing on a computer rather than a console, else you'd be playing on a console. Far Cry 6 really delivers in this regard; it's a visually appealing game, especially at high-quality and ultra settings. Ultra quality settings at resolutions up to 2560x1440 should not be a problem with a sufficiently current graphics card. So, in general, my advice and recommendation would be to use the ultra option because, from a framerate standpoint, there is no compelling reason to lower the setting below it. When it comes to memory, 8GB is the magic number; however, with the HD Texture pack, it's a little higher as the game aims to reach 10GB; still, this isn't a problem for the game even if you have an 8GB card.

With the exception of the occasional random stutters and some FPS dips during large-scale combat battles, the game will be quite playable and entertaining to watch in general. It is possible to attain adequate framerates in UHD at the maximum quality settings with an RTX 2070 or greater, however, this will necessitate the use of a Radeon 5700 XT or above.

As is always the case, raytracing has a negative impact on performance; yet, with an average delta loss of 25%, we're satisfied. When used in conjunction with FSR, you'll be able to easily recover the performance loss you experienced starting at resolutions of 2560x1440 or above. Whether or not you believe Raytracing is worthwhile is entirely up to you; however, we do agree that at times it can be difficult to tell the difference between standard rasterized shaded gaming and gaming with Raytracing enabled.

The Far Cry 6 render engine's FSR is a pleasant surprise; it performs admirably even with GeForce graphics cards, among other configuration options. Overall, we can say that AMD has the upper hand, which is to be expected given that this is an AMD-optimized and sponsored title. Both brands, on the other hand, will provide by far enough performance. In addition, the Far Cry engine will immediately experience the constraints that we've observed in past iterations. Normal rendering runs at approximately 110 frames per second in Full HD max as a bottleneck, and raytracing causes us to suddenly encounter a framerate wall at roughly 80 frames per second. This has absolutely nothing to do with the hardware being used, but rather with the game engine itself. The storyline is excellent, and the gameplay and scenery are both excellent. You will experience the occasional stutter here and there, but we believe FC6 will be a highly enjoyable game overall. In addition, depending on the quality setting you choose or desire, it will play and render exceptionally well on any and even somewhat dated PCs.

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