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F.E.A.R. GPU Performance Tests: Setting a New Standard

 by Josh Venning on October 20, 2005 9:00 AM EST
117 Comments | Add A Comment
117 Comments
4xAA/8xAF Performance Tests

This is a good option for gamers with a high end card. Generally, the best way to get a better experience from a game is going to be increasing resolution. This is especially true of FEAR because the performance hit of enabling 4xAA is incredibly large. Much of FEAR is designed well to avoid noticeable aliasing (low contrast edges), and the most noticeable edges in the game are high contrast shadows.

When we enable 4xAA and 8xAF, the higher resolutions take an even bigger performance hit than with soft shadows (as we will see soon). At 1600x1200, the framerates of the 7800 GTX and GT are cut in half, making the game less enjoyable to play. At 1280x960, the 7800 GTX gets 39 fps, and the 7800 GT gets 33 fps; both of these are playable. The X1800 XL gets 32 fps at this resolution, which would also be playable. At lower resolutions, the cards didn't take as big of a performance hit with AA as with soft shadows enabled. You can see that all of these cards are playable at 800x600 except for the X1300 PRO, which is borderline at 640x480 with AA. Let's also make it clear that we stopped testing performance at higher resolutions when framerates dropped below 20 fps. Performance that bad or worse is simply useless.

No Soft Shadows and No AA/AF Performance Tests Soft Shadows Performance
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  • carl0ski - Sunday, October 23, 2005 - link

    I think this is an EXTREMELY bad review
    what card do you own?

    i know i own a ATI 9600XT bought 12 months ago and runs BF2 really well at medium-high

    but why dont Article like this include that info??

    Either these sites have lost the plot

    Or ATI and Nvidia dont want us to know that older/cheaper cards are still capable

    quote:
    latest drivers from ATI (press sample 8.183.1017 which should be available in catalyst soon)

    Yes because we all just happen to be playing FEAR with Drivers not yet available.

    quote:

    NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX
    NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT
    NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
    NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
    ATI Radeon X1800 XT (not yet available)
    ATI Radeon X1800 XL
    ATI Radeon X1600 XT (not yet available)
    ATI Radeon X1300 Pro
    ATI Radeon X800 GT


    And WHat is wrong with this list?
    alot at first glance for starts ATI Radeon X1800 XT (not yet available)
    ATI Radeon X1600 XT (not yet available)
    dont exist on the market yet. So yes just happen to be running those on FEAR already.


    This articler is to sell VIdeo Cards not fear.

  • Pythias - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link

    "This has become a never ending process that is wearing thin on me."


    Amen. If it wont run on whay I have now, I simply wont buy it. The software/hardware gouging can continue on without me. At least with a console, you know the games you buy are going to run on your machine.

  • DerekWilson - Friday, October 21, 2005 - link

    The games will run fine if you turn off maximum detail setting. There still isn't a card that can run EQ2 at extreme quality mode.

    I see this as a good thing because games out there are finally making use of the high end hardware some people have invested in. Until this half of the year there really hasn't been much out that could really make use of high end hardware.

    This is quite different than requiring high end hardware.

  • xsilver - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link

    you should have forewell known that the computer industry moves very fast
    if you want a bugdet gaming experience, I suggest a ps2/xbox....

    no one is telling you to toss your 6800gt, its just that if you WANT to run high resolutions with AA/ansio enabled then you need the latest/greatest card, its ALWAYS been like that

  • deathwalker - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link

    xsliver...I fully understand all of what you are saying...Im 58 yrs old and have been building customs systems for about 12 years...and...I "have" by in large kept up with new technology at all of my upgrade intervals. Perhaps in my position and at my age the payback just isn't what it use to be.

  • bob661 - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link

    quote:
    payback just isn't what it use to be.
    Sounds like you aren't having fun with todays games. I choose to stick to the old stuff until I see a game I like then I'll switch. I don't play new games just because they're new. I play BF2, UT2004 (the funnest game of these 3) and sometimes COD (and probably COD2 when I have a chance to play the demo). I don't play anything else because I don't like anything else. Also, my hardware upgrade path is solely dictated by the games I play.

  • arswihart - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link

    i agree the x800xt/xl should be included, i can't understand why they would be

  • ChronoReverse - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link

    I must have missed it, but what were the other settings used for each card?

    I'm particularly curious about the shader level used and the texture detail level.

  • Le Québécois - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link

    Everything was set to maximum except for the soft shadow, AA and AF.

  • capslock99999 - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link

    I was thinking about hte RAM issue too. I used 1GB for the demo, then I upgraded to 1.5GB. It removed a lot of stuttering and felt a whole lot smoother.

    This was the demo, of course.

    Why are 6800GTs used and not Ultras? I've found this trend recently, a little puzzling.
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