‘Quantum Break’ Steam Release: Is The Steam Version Better Than The Windows 10 Release?
Quantum Break has made the leap onto Steam this week, and while the game has been out for most of the year on PC, this move means more consumers have a chance to check out Remedy’s time-bending, story-driven game.
Quantum Break blends a television show and a video game pretty seamlessly, creating one of the more unique takes on storytelling in the medium. Now with the Steam release, Quantum Break gives those not running Windows 10 a chance to try out the game. However, is there a difference between the two versions?
Digital Foundry released their analysis of Quantum Break’s Steam release versus the original Windows 10 release. The major difference is the lack of a DirectX 12 requirement on Steam, meaning users still running Windows dated back to Windows 7 can now enjoy the game. But is there a difference in terms of performance between the two? According to Digital Foundry, it depends on your hardware.
In the video, the outlet ran Quantum Break at ultra settings, 1080p, and with the upscaling effect enabled. Essentially, as the Inquisitr reported earlier this year, the upscaler is taking four 720p images and combining them into one 1080p image. Turning this off will see a performance drop, but it does clean up the image tremendously. However, for the purposes of the test, they decided to keep it on as that is the optimal setting.
When running on Nvidia hardware, the Steam version found itself running at a much higher clip than the Windows 10 counterpart, sometimes on average of 10 or more frames per second. This is telling, as Nvidia hardware has struggled in terms of DirectX 12 performance, so the change to DirectX 11 has definitely improved things for Nvidia users.
This writer has noticed the same during testing, as the game is running smoother on Steam than it ever has on my EVGA GTX 980 SC graphics card, paired with an Intel i7-6700K and 16GB of RAM, clocked at 3200 MHz. The game feels smoother, and it runs better than it ever did on the Windows store release. That being said, it’s not perfect. Playing with the upscaling off, for instance, immediately cuts the framerate in half, and while that does give a crisper, clearer image, its performance feels sluggish by comparison.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU17_kd-e4w
AMD users have a different story unfold for them, however. Team Red’s hardware leads the pack when it comes to DirectX 12 performance in many titles, but its interesting to see there is not much of a difference in terms of metrics between the two Quantum Break versions. Showing some test footage of AMD’s Rx 480 card, the framerates are a wash, pretty much within a few decimal points and well within the “margin of error” for Digital Foundry. However, it’s incredible to see the gulf of difference between the Nvidia GTX 1060 and the Rx 480 when the settings are fiddled with to target a full 60 frames per second in the Steam version. At times, the video showed the Nvidia card running a full 40 frames better than the AMD card, a staggering gulf between them.
If you’ve never played Quantum Break before, this is definitely the version to go with, unless you want the ability to cross save with your Xbox One should you choose to grab the game there too. The Steam version doesn’t sync with your Xbox Live ID, so your progress doesn’t carry over. However, if you’ve held off waiting for a potential Steam release, this is the version for you.
Are you playing Quantum Break on Steam this weekend? Sound off with your comments below about what you think of the game.
[Featured Image by Remedy]
