Far Cry v1.3

Far Cry (Direct X)


The new Far Cry 1.3 patch finally brings the features that the 1.2 patch was supposed to give us.  This includes support for SM3.0 for the NVIDIA 6800 and 6600 line of cards as well as the SM2.0b that ATI has enabled in their latest drivers.  The result is increased performance across both lines of graphics cards.  Also included in this patch is support for HDR lighting (High Dynamic Range), though it wasn’t enabled by default, so our tests don’t include it yet. 

On Far Cry 1.3 we are using manual run throughs of Far Cry as well on the Regulator level using God Mode enabled with the DEVMODE cheat to get repeatable results.   

We set the in game quality settings as high as they would go, as you can see in the shot below. 

Budget GPU Comparison: TurboCache vs HyperMemory - Graphics Cards 31

For these tests, all the advanced video options were set to “Medium” in order for us to get playable framerates.  This dramatically affects the experience in the game as many of the details Far Cry is known for are left out.

Budget GPU Comparison: TurboCache vs HyperMemory - Graphics Cards 32

Budget GPU Comparison: TurboCache vs HyperMemory - Graphics Cards 33

Budget GPU Comparison: TurboCache vs HyperMemory - Graphics Cards 34

Budget GPU Comparison: TurboCache vs HyperMemory - Graphics Cards 35

ATI’s HyperMemory product has a lot more potential in Far Cry than it did in Doom 3, keeping pace with the best NVIDIA offering which is again the 32MB version, not the 64MB.  Far Cry was playable at 1024×768, but was more enjoyable at 800×600 with the higher speed but lower image quality. 

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