Far Cry & Painkiller
Far Cry
Vendor: UBI Soft - (Website)API: DirectX 9.0
Pixel Shader Version Supported: Mix PS1.1, PS1.4, PS2.0 with PS2.0 forced
At 1024x768 4xAA/8xAF the ASUS 6800's lead over a regular card is around 24%. Thanks to 256MB of RAM and greater overall bandwidth, the lead stretches to around 90% at the highest setting. GeForce 6800 cards need 256MB RAM to shine when bogged down by high resolutions and high image quality settings.
Painkiller
Vendor: People Can Fly - (Website)API: DX9.0
Pixel Shader Version Supported: Mix, unknown versions
A similar case presents itself in our Painkiller benchmark. Most cheaper cards, and I'm thinking of Radeon 9200/GeForce 5200s here, don't really benefit from 256MB frame buffers. Manufacturers usually add it in due to its low cost (DDR1 running at ~500MHz is relatively cheap) and perceived performance benefits. Given a substantially greater rendering setup, however, and frame buffer sizes become important. Think of the ASUS 6800 as a slightly crippled GT.
