F1 2015 is the current-gen only F1 racing game that Codemasters has been working on these past few months. Green Man Gaming was kind enough to provide us with a key, so it’s time now to see how this game performs on the PC platform.

As always, we used an Intel i7 4930K (turbo boosted at 4.2Ghz) with 8GB RAM, NVIDIA’s GTX690, Windows 8.1 64-bit and the latest WHQL version of the GeForce drivers. While F1 2015 is powered by an enhanced version of the EGO engine – an engine used in both F1 2014 and DiRT Rally – we were unable to force SLI. NVIDIA has not included yet any official profile for this game, and the aforementioned profiles brought extreme amounts of flickering. Unfortunately, for the time being there is no way to run this game in SLI mode.

A lot of users have reported hard crashes with F1 2015. And even though the first PC update improved things, we did experience a number of hard locks. These crashes occurred when we were trying to simulate a dual-core or a tri-core CPU. For the record, we did manage to run the game’s benchmark on a simulated tri-core CPU, however we have to note that the game is not as stable as we had hoped.

In order to find out whether the game runs fine on older CPUs, we tried to simulate a, dual-core, a tri-core and a quad-core CPU. F1 2015 was constantly crashing on our simulated dual-core system. The game also crashed a number of times on our simulated tri-core system, though we managed to run its benchmark tool a couple of times.

F1 2015 does not require a high-end CPU and can be easily considered a GPU bound title. In order to avoid any GPU limitations, for our CPU tests we ran the benchmark at 1024×768 with all graphical settings set to Ultra. Our simulated tri-core system was more than enough to provide a constant 60fps experience. Going into more details, the game’s benchmark tool ran with an average of 93fps on both our simulated tri-core and our hexa-core systems. This basically means that those with weaker CPUs will be able to enjoy F1 2015, unless they are limited by their GPUs.

Regarding its GPU requirements, F1 2015 needs a modern-day GPU in order to be enjoyed with constant 60fps at 1080p and with Ultra settings. Since there is no SLI profile, our GTX690 performed similarly to a GTX680. During the benchmark tool our framerate dropped at 45fps and the game ran with an average of 60fps at 1080p with Ultra settings. In order to maintain a constant 60fps experience, we had to reduce our settings to High.

Thankfully, the visual difference between Ultra and High is minimal. Below you can find some comparison screenshots between the game’s Ultra (left) and High (right) settings. While reflections are more accurate and there are more particles effects on screen, we strongly suggest lowering your settings to High so that you can get a 60fps experience. That’s of course if you own a GPU that is weaker than a GTX970.

Graphics wise, F1 2015 feels like a mixed bag. While its lighting system has been overhauled, some of its effects have been toned down. Also, some of the game’s textures do not feel as crisp or high-res as those found in F1 2014. And if that wasn’t enough, Codemasters has added Chromatic Abberration, resulting in really blurry visuals. Of course this wouldn’t be an issue if there was an option to turn it off but as you may have guessed, there isn’t any way to disable this awful effect.

And to be honest, F1 2015 does not feel like a generational leap – visually – over F1 2014. Yes, the game looks better, however it does not feel like a next-gen visual experience compared to its predecessor. And this makes us wonder why Codemasters decided to abandon the old-gen systems. Because honestly, F1 2015 feels more like a polished old-gen F1 racing game rather than a current-gen ‘showcase’ title.

All in all, F1 2015 is not as polished as we had hoped. The game supports keyboards, gamepads and wheels, but that’s to be expected from a racing game. F1 2015 suffers from stability issues, and does not feel like a game built to showcase what current-gen platforms are capable of. F1 2015 is a GPU bound title and requires a GTX970 in order to be enjoyed with constant 60fps at 1080p with Ultra settings. Codemasters has provided a number of graphical options to tweak, therefore players with weaker GPUs will be able to achieve that “constant 60fps” holy grail.

Those interested can purchase the game from GMG via the following button.

Enjoy!
No additional screenshots as we’ve shared a lot in these past few days