PC Port Report: Call Of Duty WWII Open Beta (MSI GTX 1050 Ti Gaming X)

Just 2 week ago, Activision and Sledgehammer Games started Call Of Duty: WWII’s beta for the consoles thus separating the PC version of the beta. While we got an intensely great experience on PS4 and Xbox One in terms of performance and network connectivity, this might not be the same for PC users as there are range of different builds unlike consoles.

We’ve jumped out from the C-47s and fought our way against German troops (or American…) in wrecked city of Aachan.

So, how was the beta version of Call Of Duty: WWII for those who own a budget gaming PC rig? The experience was kind of a mixed bag of beans. The network was the bigger pain than its performance on PC, we assure you.

Test Build

OS: Windows 10 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz
GPU: MSI GTX 1050 Ti 4GB (Stock)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600
Storage: Western Digital 500GB
Nvidia Driver Version: 385.69
Resolution: 1920×1080
Benchmark Tool: FRAPS

In the past years, the Call Of Duty franchise has been friendly with lower-end rigs unlike DICE’s Battlefield that pushes the boundaries of the minimum system requirements. Will Call Of Duty: WWII be different from its predecessors when we talk about its forgiving side for budget rigs? As what we’ve experienced in this current build of Sledgehammer’s World War II title, the GTX 1050 Ti performance varies and we’ve encountered frequent frame-drops on High, how much on Ultra at 1080p.

The performance was rather, let’s say, inconsistent on High and Ultra settings. This kind of experience is already expected especially when running on an entry-level GPU like the GTX 1050 Ti. However, at some point in our run-and-shoot with M1 Garands and the Colt .45, the GPU was able to hit that golden spot of 60 frames per second average on High settings. We can conclude that the performance drops at some key areas, especially in heated gunfights in the game, are not the hardware limitations but the game’s current state because even on Normal settings we still got those below-30FPS drops.

While we take this part more seriously as frame-rates are important when it comes to experience, it’s only a matter of time when Sledgehammer Games can improve Call Of Duty WWII before it launches later this month. Overall, Call Of Duty WWII still looks amazing on Normal settings.

For those who don’t know, the GTX 1050 Ti offers a 4GB GDDR 5 GPU memory, 768 CUDA cores, and a 128-bit memory bus. While it’s not that far off from their previous entry level entry, the GTX 950, the GTX 1050 Ti however doesn’t support SLI.

We tested Call Of Duty: WWII at stock clock and we didn’t push our MSI GTX 1050 Ti Gaming X through overclock.

Benchmark

ULTRA
Average: 36.52
Minimum: 0
Max: 69

HIGH
Average: 69.74
Min: 1
Max: 102

NORMAL
Average: 77.28
Min: 22
Max: 119

LOW
Average: 111.81
Min: 56
Max: 161

What we like about Call Of Duty: WWII’s graphics configuration is that it gives players a lot of options to tinker with. So, while you’re gaming on a budget gaming rig, you’ll be able to run the game on High while disabling features like anti-aliasing and lowering the game’s shadows.

Final Thoughts

The frame-rate drops were horrible on High and Ultra, and even if the configurations were set to Normal, we still got inconsistent frames on GTX 1050 Ti. While GTX 1050 Ti is considered to be the entry level GPU of Nvidia’s GTX 1000 series, with GTX 1050 Ti hitting that sweet spot of 69 frames average on High settings is just impressive. And this shows that gamers who picks up the MSI GTX 1050 Ti Gaming X can get a smooth experience on games like Call Of Duty: WWII on High settings at 1080p when the game launches next month.

Aside from performance, the network connectivity was utterly disappointing. It’s evident this issue exists in peer-to-peer multiplayer, however, we live in the Philippines and the network experience on both PS4 and Xbox One version of Call Of Duty: WWII were great.

Issues and frame drop, and even network issues on beta builds are always apparent especially on entry-level gaming rigs, and this beta version of Call Of Duty: WWII is no different. We hope that Sledgehammer Games will improve Call Of Duty: WWII for budget builds. But so far, the game’s performance on MSI GTX 1050 Ti is solid.

Editor’s Note: We will do another Port Report when the game officially launches this month.