Turn 10 and Microsoft recently launched the open beta of Forza Motorspot 6 Apex on Windows 10 and it gave us a chance to see how it compares against the Xbox One version. Forza Motorspot 6 Apex marks the first instance that the series will be losing its console exclusivity and will be heading to Windows 10 later this year. However, how is the transition handled? Is Forza 6 really all that different when compared to its console counterpart?
To begin with, Turn 10 Studios have added a plethora of graphical settings in the game. Players can change the Dynamic Rendering Quality, Shadow Quality, Particle Effects and more. The Xbox One version used an EQAA solution for making the on screen image free from jaggies; however the PC build uses MSAA which is not only an expensive but a much better solution than AMD’s custom EQAA solution. As a result, the image quality is much sharper compared to the console version. Furthermore, the quality of screen space reflection, reflection on the front mirror and the vehicle’s bonnet are much clear and crisper when compared with the Xbox One version side by side.
Further improvements on the PC build include slightly better lens flare quality. This is something that is not clearly evident right away and most players won’t even notice it. The PC version further widens the graphical gap from the Xbox One version by employing a higher level of anisotropic filtering resulting into better looking tracks and generally better object detail.
Although the Xbox One version looks amazing; it runs at 1080p and 60 fps after all, there is no denying that the PC build is the superior version here. But it will be almost impossible to notice the differences unless you are running them side by side. You really need to zoom in so that you can catch the discrepancies such as better shadow quality and object filtering.
As far as requirement goes, the developers recommend a Radeon R9 290X / GeForce 970 and an Intel Core i7-3820 @ 3.6Ghz to run the game at 1080p and 60fps. During the test we ran the game on a GeForce 970 and i7 5960x and had no issues in reaching 60fps during day races. During the night as well as the races set in rain, we hardly saw any frame drops giving us a mostly 60fps performance throughout.
Forza Motorsport 6 Apex is running on DX12 and to be honest we are still waiting to see the full potential of the API. It obviously offers better CPU performance but there is more to DX12 than just that. We are pretty sure that the graphical upgrades that we are seeing in Apex could have easily realized with DX11. It may also be a possibility that the Xbox One version was already using an API that was close to DX12 to begin with so Apex on the PC was merely a case of adapting it to the PC environment without actually taking full advantage of DX12.
We will keep a track on how Forza Motorsport 6 Apex develops on the PC in the coming months. So stay tuned for more Forza Motorsport 6 Apex right here on GamingBolt.
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