Anand's FEAR Article Up

[ZobarStyl]

Didn't see another thread (in Video at least) concerning this, so here you go.

I honestly expected a little better lead from the x1800XT considering the beta results, but it looks as if the GTX really hadn't had any optimizations at all. Either way, all of them get pretty beat up at 16x12 AA/AF, and I think to run a 2405 you are pretty much required to have SLI (although they didn't test that, I'm just estimating).

Discuss.

 

[Munky]

I'd be interested in what kind of optimizations they did to the final release to bring up the performance of the 7-series cards, and how it impacts IQ.

 

[Keysplayr]

I have been playing this game a little over the past 2 nights. Soft shadows on my character (the shadow I cast upon objects) IS NOT SOFT!. Soft shadow option is on.
I'll post a screenie so you all can see what I mean.

The SPdemo soft shadows worked on my character. I have to triple check my settings.

Good review. Seems performance is restored to the nvidia cards. Even the 6800GT does much better. And the 7800GTX are only within a few frames of each other now, with the XT about 2fps higher than the GT with 4xAA 8xAF and the GTX 5-8 fps above the XT without AA AF. FYI, I don't even consider 6x4 or 8x6. Bare minimum for todays video cards, even the mid range should be 10x7. Soft shadows really puts the hurtin on all of the cards.

 

[bamacre]

I may pick this game up afterall. The results show an average of 53 fps with a GTX at 16x12 with no aa/af and no soft shadows. That's where I would like to play the game. I'm a little worried though, because while I also have 2GB of ram, my cpu is a Pentium 630. The reviews look good, so I'll give it a try I guess.

 

[ZobarStyl]

Looking at it again, the numbers really do fall in line with pretty much everything else out there: GTX leads slightly in non-quality mode, but the XT leads slightly in quality performance (RAM speeds are a likely reason). I think the beta just hadn't had any GTX work done on it yet, thus reports of a 50% faster XT.

Either way, I doubt IQ is going to be a big factor between the two cards considering neither sides high end can push playable framerates with AA/AF past about 800x600, or 10x7 if you don't mind some drops in framerate. I doubt many people will be using AA/AF and running 8x6 or 10x7 on their 600 dollar cards.

 

[Kogan]

Man, I would have liked to have seen an x800xt benched in the article.. It's important to us AGP users since that's one of the fastest cards we can upgrade to

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Kogan
Man, I would have liked to have seen an x800xt benched in the article.. It's important to us AGP users since that's one of the fastest cards we can upgrade to

Look at the numbers for the 6800 GT and add 10%

 

[Deception]

Good article.

What's particularly notable is that the performance between the ATI/NVIDIA cards is very competitive, unlike the demo. Also, what's interesting is that they not that games run better on the NVIDIA cards.

Anyhow, the most important thing is that the performance is acceptable, especially under average resolutions (<1600) and with moderate IQ.

Deception

 

[Keysplayr]

Actually, I have been playing at 1280x1024 with 2xAA 8xAF Soft Shadows ON Volumetric Lights ON and everything set to maximum that can be set to maximum.

I have Fraps running and I seldom drop below 32fps when there is a lot of action. Usually stays in the 60 to 70 fps range with medium action and often tops out at around 100fps when just walking around. This is with a P43.0E. One thing that is EXTREMELY annoying is the hitching. I had one GB of RAM and my system was using 1.08GB of RAM (mixture of RAM and pagefile) and there was some MAJOR hitching. I stole a GB of RAM out of my other P4 rig and installed it in my main rig for a total of 2GB. Hitching is now very rare if at all. They say the 81.85 beta are supposed to eliminate this problem, but I'm not going near beta's. I'll wait for the full release.

 

[lifeguard1999]

I was surprised by the horrible soft shadows, though I have seen shadows like that in real life. Still, I am glad my 6600GT has enough horsepower to play it, and am surprised by how well the 7800GTX turned out given the demo's results.

 

[Kogan]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: Kogan
Man, I would have liked to have seen an x800xt benched in the article.. It's important to us AGP users since that's one of the fastest cards we can upgrade to

Look at the numbers for the 6800 GT and add 10%

I wouldn't be so sure about that. From reports I've seen from real users, x800xt's are going slower than 6800gt's in fear.. I just want to see it from a real review site

 

[Keysplayr]

If anyone has a comparable system to mine with the exception of an X800XTPE instead of a 6800GT, I would be happy to compare benchmarks with you.

P4 2.66/533
1GB PC3200 (DC)
ASUS P4P800
WD 160GB

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Actually, I have been playing at 1280x1024 with 2xAA 8xAF Soft Shadows ON Volumetric Lights ON and everything set to maximum that can be set to maximum.

I have Fraps running and I seldom drop below 32fps when there is a lot of action. Usually stays in the 60 to 70 fps range with medium action and often tops out at around 100fps when just walking around. This is with a P43.0E. One thing that is EXTREMELY annoying is the hitching. I had one GB of RAM and my system was using 1.08GB of RAM (mixture of RAM and pagefile) and there was some MAJOR hitching. I stole a GB of RAM out of my other P4 rig and installed it in my main rig for a total of 2GB. Hitching is now very rare if at all. They say the 81.85 beta are supposed to eliminate this problem, but I'm not going near beta's. I'll wait for the full release.

This game is precisely the reason I didn't go with a very high resolution display, but opted for a good middle resolution on my LCD-TV monitor of 1280 X 768. I knew that the GTX wasn't going to run all games at 1600 X 1200. Anyway, this is good for me. The AT article had mentioned it was the best looking game out there right now. If so, my props for Monolith, because they have always been a second rate dev... It would be interesting to see the same game on Source, though, to see if it would run twice as fast... I doubt it though.

 

[TGS]

After playing with soft shadows, I was impressed with the fact people are actually making efforts to get rid of the single sharp shadow effect per lighting source. Though it just looks really bad in fear. I'm still the kind of person that would turn off all shadow effects for better overall performance, because no shadow effects will distract me less than seeing poor shadow effects.

Seriously, games would benefit more from some half decent bump or displacement mapping and better textures. For the love of god, some of those Q4 textures look like they got lifted out of Q2 or Q3...

 

[Genx87]

Not too shabby for the 7800GTX.

It looks like this game just kills today hardware. And if you want good AA and AF you should plan on playing at 1600X1200.

 

[CPlusPlusGeek]

So it appears, after the shack of the demo results, that the GTX IS actually the best card to use for FEAR.

 

[crazydingo]

People who said FEAR would be optimised for the Geforce7, admit your mistake. (OUCH)

All cards even GF6 cards perform better in the retail game as compared to the demo.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: crazydingo
People who said FEAR would be optimised for the Geforce7, admit your mistake. (OUCH)

All cards even GF6 cards perform better in the retail game as compared to the demo.

What do you mean?

 

[crazydingo]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: crazydingo
People who said FEAR would be optimised for the Geforce7, admit your mistake. (OUCH)

All cards even GF6 cards perform better in the retail game as compared to the demo.

What do you mean?

See the other thread, where some people suggested the final version of FEAR will be optimised for GF7.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: crazydingo

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: crazydingo
People who said FEAR would be optimised for the Geforce7, admit your mistake. (OUCH)

All cards even GF6 cards perform better in the retail game as compared to the demo.

What do you mean?

See the other thread, where some people suggested the final version of FEAR will be optimised for GF7.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 50% performance lead the XT had over the GTX no longer exists according to AT's article correct? How in the world do you think that the final release of FEAR has not been optimised for the 7800GTX? XT and GTX are now neck and neck. You don't see the improvement? I think someone else needs to admit their mistake, and it's not those people you are referring to in the other thread.

Unless I am misunderstanding you.

 

[CPlusPlusGeek]

Umm... it is as far as i can tell..

 

[crazydingo]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 50% performance lead the XT had over the GTX no longer exists according to AT's article correct? How in the world do you think that the final release of FEAR has not been optimised for the 7800GTX? XT and GTX are now neck and neck. You don't see the improvement? I think someone else needs to admit their mistake, and it's not those people you are referring to in the other thread.

Um, read my posts WITHOUT your bias. I'm not saying that didnt optimize it for the GF7 rather that they optimized it for all cards including GF6. Get it?

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Unless I am misunderstanding you.

Isnt that always the case?

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

Originally posted by: Kogan
Man, I would have liked to have seen an x800xt benched in the article.. It's important to us AGP users since that's one of the fastest cards we can upgrade to

Seconded.

Driverheaven has something close but not quite in the X850XT:

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/r520reviewxvxv/flashers/fear.jpg

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: crazydingo

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 50% performance lead the XT had over the GTX no longer exists according to AT's article correct? How in the world do you think that the final release of FEAR has not been optimised for the 7800GTX? XT and GTX are now neck and neck. You don't see the improvement? I think someone else needs to admit their mistake, and it's not those people you are referring to in the other thread.

Um, read my posts WITHOUT your bias. I'm not saying that didnt optimize it for the GF7 rather that they optimized it for all cards including GF6. Get it?

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Unless I am misunderstanding you.

Isnt that always the case?

Yes, it is always the case as you do not post things very clearly. Your post was at best, cryptic. Hence my response. If you don't want to be questioned and you want people to thoroghly understand EXACTLY what you mean, take the extra 30 seconds to make your point understood. And you may want to stop using the happy smiley for every single post you make. It makes everything you type appear sarcastic and can lead to misinterpretation.

If you intend to cause confusion with cryptic emoticon filled posts, then by all means, disregard my post. It would just be nice to be able to take you seriously when you post something and not have to guess what you mean.

Keys

 

[trinibwoy]

Originally posted by: crazydingo
Um, read my posts WITHOUT your bias. I'm not saying that didnt optimize it for the GF7 rather that they optimized it for all cards including GF6. Get it?

ROFL, calm the hell down man. The way you worded your earlier post didnt convey that at all. It sounded like you were saying there was no improvement on the GF7 from the demo to the retail product.