F.E.A.R.
The F.E.A.R. single player demo was a big win for Radeon X1800 XT hardware in our run-through, on release. The full release of the game promised to be something different, NVIDIA claiming their hardware did much better in that version. Our run-through switches sections (to an easier one for the HEXUS reviewer, but barely less taxing on the hardware) to an encounter with a few clones, just after you see the girl for the first time (the peeling flesh bit is, err, fun). It's the section in between that clone encounter and the first big one outdoors, that's still playable in the demo, that we use.Gratuitious use of slow-mo and bookcases sees the first clones off in no time, before we hit the second set outside.
With IQ enhancements applied, the ATI hardware retains a lead over the GTX across the board, although the gap is tiny at 1600x1200 and 1920x1200. The GTX 512's initial promise without IQ enhancements is carried on when those are turned on, the new product dominating at the higher resolutions. 1280x1024 is a tie with X1800 XT. At the higher resolutions that these 512MiB boards are somewhat engineered for, the GTX 512 is nearly 30% faster than the X1800 XT.
The difference in performance is largely down to the clock increase, rather than available memory bandwidth or framebuffer size.
Best playable setting for the GTX 512 was 1280x1024 with 4xAA and 16xAF, although the hitching issues with that board (not present on the 256MiB GTX) caused problems in places, seemingly at random. Best playable for the X1800 XT was 1280x1024 with 4xAA, 16xAF. Best for the GTX was 1024x768 with 4xAA, 16xAF. In each case best playable was found using the highest resolution possible that retained good gameplay, at the settings shown.
