nV News - MSI NX8800GTX Review and Mixed-Vendor SLI - Page 5 of 9
Review By Mike Chambers - January 23, 2007
HALF-LIFE 2 PERFORMANCE
Half-Life 2 performance was determined using the Lost Coast Video Stress Test and in Episode One by playing back a recorded demo. The Lost Coast episode is a playable technology demo that features bloom effects and HDR rendering. A comparison of the visual quality offered by each setting is demonstrated below.
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Click Image to Enlarge - 2560x1600 - 16x CSAA
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast Settings
The following JavaScript applet demonstrates no HDR, bloom, and HDR as implemented in Half-Life 2: Lost Coast.
The following scene is from The Tech Reports's trdem1 demo (~ 9 MB) from Half-Life 2: Episode One.
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Click Image to Enlarge - 2560x1600 - 16x CSAA
Half-Life 2: Episode One Settings
PERFORMANCE AT 2560x1600
Testing was limited to a resolution of 2560x1600 and average frame rate since the Half-Life 2 timedemo feature does not report the minimum frame rate. In both benchmark results, the MSI NX8800GTX delivered solid performance up to 16x CSAA and SLI provided a significant improvement in performance.