We now turn our attention to DirectX 10 performance under Windows Vista. Although Windows XP remains a popular operating system for gaming, there are specific graphics features that are exclusive to Windows Vista.
Crysis
Crysis was the benchmark of choice for this series of tests. Please note that results are limited to the EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked and do not include the GeForce GTX 280.
Windows XP vs. Windows Vista
A comparison of the average frame rate from the standard demo island with the high quality graphics setting using the DirectX 9 code path under Windows XP and Windows Vista showed equal performance.
Crysis DirectX 9 Performance
However, the minimum frame rate, exhibited some variation between the operating systems at the resolutions tested.
Crysis DirectX 9 Performance
High vs. Very High Graphics
As depicted below, results from Crysis running under the very high graphics setting under Windows Vista caused a significant hit on performance, although the visual qualities are outstanding as demonstrated by the screenshots on this page. The very high graphics setting is also an option exclusive to Windows Vista.
Crysis DirectX 10 Performance
Very High Gameplay
Playing through the intoductory level on the very high setting with no antialiasing yielded results that were slightly higher than the standard benchmark. At the resolution of 1680x1050, the average/minimum frame rate was 27/18, which declined to 23/16 at the resolution of 1920x1200.
Crysis
At the resolution of 1280x800, the average frame rate was 35 while the minimum was 27.
