NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 (G80): GPUs Re-architected for DirectX 10
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Derek Wilson on November 8, 2006 6:01 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
F.E.A.R. Performance
With the latest 1.08 patch, F.E.A.R. has gained multi-core support, potentially using even up to quad core CPUs in order to deliver improved performance. We were able to confirm a performance increase with Core 2 Duo, and we will try to take a look at whether or not Core 2 Quad helps in the near future. Either way, this means that we should now be completely GPU limited in F.E.A.R. testing.
The new GeForce 8800 GTX card still manages to come out faster than the competition, but this time a single 8800 GTX is not able to surpass the performance of dual X1950 XTX cards (or 7900 GTX SLI for that matter). Quad SLI also manages to make a decent showing in this particular benchmark, coming in second place except at the highest resolution. Meanwhile, GeForce 8800 GTS doesn't fare as well, only managing to tie the X1950 XTX for performance, and it even loses that battle at 2560x1600. F.E.A.R. is a game that can use a lot of memory bandwidth, so it's likely that the 2GHz GDDR4 memory on the X1950 XTX is helping out.
If money isn't a concern, 8800 GTX SLI will finally allow you to play F.E.A.R. at 2560x1600 with 4xAA without dropping below 30 FPS. Is that really necessary? Probably not to most people, but if a similar situation exists in other games it becomes a bit more feasible.
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dwalton - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
When using older cards sacrificing IQ for performance is typically acceptable. Who needs AA when running F.E.A.R on a 9700 Pro.However, on a just launched high-end card, why would anyone feel the need to sacrifice IQ for performance? Some may say resolution over AA, but I find it hard to believe that there is a lot of gaming enthusiasts with deep pockets, who play with insane resolutions yet no AA.
JarredWalton - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
If I look for jaggies, I see them. On most games, however, they don't bother me much at all. Running at native resolution on LCDs or at a really high resolution on CRTs, I'd take that over a lower res with 4xAA. If you have the power to enable 4xAA, great, but I'm certainly not one to suggest it's required. I'd rather be able to enable vsync without a massive performance hit (i.e. stay above 60 FPS) than worry about jaggies. Personal preference.munim - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
"With the latest 1.09 patch, F.E.A.R. has gained multi-core support,"Where is this?
JarredWalton - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
I wrote that, but it may be incorrect. I'm trying to get in contact with Gary to find out if I'm just being delusional about Quad Core support. Maybe it's NDA still? Hmmm.... nothing to see here!JarredWalton - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
Okay, it's the 1.08 patch, and that is what was tested. Since we didn't use a quad core CPU I don't know if it will actually help or not -- something to look at in the future.Nelsieus - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
I haven't even finished reading it yet, but so far, this is the most comprehensive, in-depth review I've seen on G80 and I just wanted to mention that beforehand.:)
GhandiInstinct - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
What upcoming games will be the first to be fully made on DX10 structure? And does the G80 have full support of DX10?timmiser - Thursday, November 9, 2006 - link
Microsoft Flight Simulator X will be DX10 compliant via a planned patch once Vista comes out.JarredWalton - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
All DX10 hardware will be full DX10 (see pages 2-4). As for games that will be DX10 ready, Halo 2 for Vista will be for sure. Beyond that... I don't know for sure. As we've explained a bit, DX10 will require Vista, so anything launching before Vista will likely not be DX10 compliant.shabby - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - link
They're re-doing a dx8 game in dx10? You gotta be kidding me, whats the point? You cant polish a turd.