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Test
System Setup:::...
Epox
8RDA3G (nForce2 Ultra400) (Kindly supplied by Epox)
2x256MB
Corsair (TWINX3200LL) Memory (Kindly Supplied By Corsair)
AMD
AthlonXP 3200+ (Kindly Supplied By AMD)
WD80JB
80GB Hard Drive (Kindly Supplied By Western
Digital)
Windows
XP Pro + SP1
ATi CATALYST 4.7 drivers
The
following driver settings were used unless otherwise stated
Far
Cry v1.1:::...
If
you want the marketing speak it goes like this - "The
meticulously designed next-generation CryEngine pushes the
threshold of action gaming with proprietary Polybump™
mapping, advanced environment physics, destructible terrain,
dynamic lighting, motion-captured animation, and total surround
sound."
If
you want my personal thoughts, this is a true visual tour-de-force
with challenging game play, incredible physics, highly detailed
environments and simply stunning graphics. In many, many
ways this is the new standard against which others will
be judged.
Because
we've been testing out the benany comparisons to put up
yet. Here in the UK cards go back before you've even finished
reviewing them so when there's a new benchmark or driver
on the scene all your old results become meaningless.
Incidentally,
I'm still not entirely happy that we're getting the results
I'd like from this benchmark. To begin with you need to
completely discount the first run as it's always a good
few percent on the low side, then you ideally need to average
the next three or four runs to get a repeatable result.
I'm sure this situation will improve with better maps, drivers
or benching utilities but for now I'll include the results
just for your information.
Also remember that the timedemos don't draw on any of the
actual game's AI and therefor the results aren't necessarily
indicative of real gameplay.
I'm
using the v1.1 patch currently due to the v1.2 patch having
been officially withdrawn at the time of this review.
Clearly
we're CPU limited until we push away up to 1600x1200.
Regardless of this, the X800 Pro does an excellent job
of rendering this impressive new game in all its visual
splendour and there should be no hesitation in choosing
it over its bigger brother, the XT/PE.
Compared
to our reference 5800 Ultra those results border on scary.
At 1600x1200 we witness a ridiculous 325% boost in framerates!
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