Sierra FEAR 1.08	Source: Sierra

FEAR is Sierra's latest first person shooter which relies heavily on DirectX 9 features. With its "Soft Shadows" feature enabled, even the fastest videocards run at a crawl, FEAR is definitely the new benchmark for future FPS games to follow.

Sierra FEAR 1.08
1024x768:	FPS	Ranking
Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A	188
Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A	109
MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E	157
Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC	150
MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC	143
GeForce 8600GTS SLI	149
MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC	107
MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE	143
MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E	138
MSI NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC	112
Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH	78
Biostar Sigma-Gate GeForce 7600GS	68
Foxconn 8600GTS-256	111
GeForce 8800GTS 320MB SLI	162
1600x1200:	FPS	Ranking
Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A	114
Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A	59
MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E	132
Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC	108
MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC	103
GeForce 8600GTS SLI	97
MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC	54
MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE	110
MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E	79
MSI NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC	60
Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH	39
Biostar Sigma-Gate GeForce 7600GS	34
Foxconn 8600GTS-256	56
GeForce 8800GTS 320MB SLI	147
1024x768 w/Soft Shadows Enabled:	FPS	Ranking
Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A	91
Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A	66
MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E	134
Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC	113
MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC	112
GeForce 8600GTS SLI	110
MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC	60
MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE	114
MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E	85
MSI NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC	63
Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH	40
Biostar Sigma-Gate GeForce 7600GS	31
Foxconn 8600GTS-256	61
GeForce 8800GTS 320MB SLI	143
1600x1200 w/Soft Shadows Enabled:	FPS	Ranking
Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A	42
Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A	30
MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E	74
Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC	55
MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC	57
GeForce 8600GTS SLI	51
MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC	26
MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE	59
MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E	39
MSI NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC	30
Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH	18
Biostar Sigma-Gate GeForce 7600GS	14
Foxconn 8600GTS-256	27
GeForce 8800GTS 320MB SLI	103

At a lower screen resolution and image quality setting the GeForce 8800GTX and GeForce 8800GTS in SLI perform neck and neck. The story changes when the resolution goes up to 1600x1200, and soft shadows are enabled. The higher processing load split between two videocards allows the two GeForce 8800GTS videocards in SLI to blow past the single 8800GTX by almost 30FPS!! Looks like two Geforce 8800GTS videocards really are better than a single Geforce 8800GTX.

A true high priced alternative - SLI'd GeForce 8800GTS

If you're shopping for a new high end videocard do your homework and flip though PCSTATS long inventory of videocard reviews.

So here's the question, you have $600US to spend but don't know what to get? A single GeForce 8800GTX or two GeForce 8800GTS 320MB cards is your choice. Run the latter in SLI and it's pretty clear from what PCSTATS has shown you which option will give you the most gaming bang for your buck. Game developers are supporting SLI now, so the question is no longer as clear cut as with previous generations.

Technologically speaking the GeForce 8800GTX and 8800GTS are very similar, but those differences don't translate into much performance loss in the real world. DirectX 10 may change the equation entirely, since 768MB of onboard memory may have a significant impact...

As it stands now, two Geforce 8800GTS videocards running in SLI are better than one Geforce 8800GTX. Every test PCSTATS ran put two GeForce 8800GTS 320MB videocards out in front, particularly when resolution and image quality was pushed to the max. In some benchmarks the differences were quite substantial too.

Considering that the GeForce 8800GTX and two GeForce 8800GTS 320MB videocards are just about the same price, if you are looking for the best value for the money two GeForce 8800GTS 320MB videocards is the way to go. That's advice you can take to the bank.

Find out about this and many other reviews by joining the Weekly PCstats.com Newsletter today! Catch all of PCSTATS latest reviews right here.

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