F.E.A.R. GPU Performance Tests: Setting a New Standard
by Josh Venning on October 20, 2005 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
No Soft Shadows and No AA/AF Performance Tests
This is the setting that we would recommend most people establish. Anisotropic filtering can be enabled for a minimal performance drop, but many people just won't have hardware that can handle soft shadows or antialiasing. Also note that we have made quite a big deal about the fact that soft shadows in this game just aren't worth it.
Without soft shadows or AA enabled, you can see that until you get to a resolution as high as about 1024x768, all of these cards get playable framerates. The X1300 Pro is the most limited of these cards and can really only play this game well at 640x480 and 800x600 without AA or soft shadows enabled. But you can see how low the framerates are in general at 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 for all the cards, giving us a first look at the graphical demands of this game. The 7800 GTX and 7800 GT get very respectable framerates at 1600x1200 though, and at this same resolution, the 6800 GT and X1800 XL are low, but still playable. 25 fps is about as low as we would consider barely "playable", but to really enjoy the gameplay, you'll want a framerate of about 35 fps. Now, let's look at what happens when we turn on 4xAA and 8xAF.
This is the setting that we would recommend most people establish. Anisotropic filtering can be enabled for a minimal performance drop, but many people just won't have hardware that can handle soft shadows or antialiasing. Also note that we have made quite a big deal about the fact that soft shadows in this game just aren't worth it.
Without soft shadows or AA enabled, you can see that until you get to a resolution as high as about 1024x768, all of these cards get playable framerates. The X1300 Pro is the most limited of these cards and can really only play this game well at 640x480 and 800x600 without AA or soft shadows enabled. But you can see how low the framerates are in general at 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 for all the cards, giving us a first look at the graphical demands of this game. The 7800 GTX and 7800 GT get very respectable framerates at 1600x1200 though, and at this same resolution, the 6800 GT and X1800 XL are low, but still playable. 25 fps is about as low as we would consider barely "playable", but to really enjoy the gameplay, you'll want a framerate of about 35 fps. Now, let's look at what happens when we turn on 4xAA and 8xAF.
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dev0lution - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
How is it that the X800XL is consistantly left out of the benchmarks? You have multiple ATI cards in the test that aren't even available, but leave out one of their best sellers in this and plenty of other reviews.Avalon - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
I would not declare 30fps playable when your game settings involved sound disabled. No one is going to play with sound off, and thus their framerates will be even lower. This game runs like ass. I hope I can get my copy to run at all on my 6600 @ 400/700.Leper Messiah - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
Fo' sho'.cmon AT, where's the SLi benchies? Can 2 7800GTX's run this game at 1600x1200 with AA/AF and sound?
aldamon - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
For the NVIDIA cards, was Forceware set to Quality or High Quality?Were Transparency AA and Gamma Correct AA turned on?
If Transparency AA was turned on, was Multipsampling or Supersampling used?
Ender17 - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
is AnandTech ever going to get with the times and use 1920 x 1200 for all us widescreen users?DerekWilson - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
In our most recent graphics performance article we did include 1920x1200For FEAR, the resolution is not an option (physically) and would have been too difficult to hack into existance.
the game does not run widescreen resolutions. Check tweakguide for more details.
Le Québécois - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
Normally I would agree but with FEAR why bother with 1920 when 1600 is barely an option.lexmark - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
very good read AT! New software benches makes me all gimpy inside :)I know im probably beating the dead horse here, but I was actually looking foward to purchasing a x1800XT for my main computer. (building one with a 7800GT for my son) :-) Now I either have to settle for the XL, jump on the 7800GTX bandwagon, or wait to mid-November :/
As much as I love ATI products, I think they might have lost me as well as other customers who are tired of playing the waiting game.
lexmark - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
purchasing a card to play F.E.A.R. that is.lexmark - Thursday, October 20, 2005 - link
Jeez i need a break. ><"I'M" purchasing a card to play F.E.A.R.that is.