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 HQ: Points Ranking Palit HD4870 X2 2GB 266 Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A 290 Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A (Crossfire) 256 MSI R3870X2-T2D1G-OC 294 Gigabyte GV-R587SO-1GD 329 ASUS EAH5850 DirectCu Top/2DIS/1GD5 309 ASUS EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5/A 197 Gigabyte GV-R567OC-1GI 117 Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A (rev.A) 251 Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A 247 Asus EAH4850 HTDI/512M 259 MSI R4830 T2D512-OC (Radeon 4830) 243 Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB 158 Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB Crossfire 257 Asus EAH4770 FML/DI/512MD5/A 156 Asus EAH4770 HTDI/512MD5/A 150 ASUS EAH4550 512M 60 Gigabyte GV-R435OC-512I 20 Diamond HD 3650 PE 512 56 Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT 177 Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT CrossFire 207 MSI RX2600XT Diamond 103 Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A 188 Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A 109 ASUS ENGTX480 2DI/1536MD5 257 Gigabyte GV-N285OC-2G1 256 Gigabyte GV-N26SO-896I 249 ASUS ENGTX260 MT/HTDI/896MD3-A 228 Gigabyte GV-N26OC896H-GA 237 Sparkle GTX260 Core 216 228 ASUS ENGTS250 DK 173 ASUS ENGTS250 DK in SLI 270 ASUS EN9600GT DI/512MD3/A 124 Gigabyte GV-N96TSL-1GI 132 nVidia Geforce 9600GTs in SLI 210 Asus EN9600GT Top/HTDI/512M 179 Foxconn 9600GT-512NOC 195 Palit Geforce 9600GT 512 183 Biostar V903GT52-NV1AN 197 ASUS EN9400GT DI/1GLP 35 MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E 168 Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC 150 MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC 143 Palit 8800GT Super+ 1GB 209 MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC 159 Asus EN8800GT TOP/G/HTDP/512M/A 160 GeForce 8600GTS SLI 149 Foxconn 8600GTS-256 111 MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC 107 Albatron 8600GT-256 94 Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H SLI 97 MSI NX8500GT-TD256E 54 MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE 143 MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E 138 MSI NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC 112 Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH 78 Biostar Sigma-Gate GeForce 7600GS 68 1600x1200 HQ: Points Ranking Palit HD4870 X2 2GB 203 Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A 213 Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A (Crossfire) 189 MSI R3870X2-T2D1G-OC 209 Gigabyte GV-R587SO-1GD 194 ASUS EAH5850 DirectCu Top/2DIS/1GD5 179 ASUS EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5/A 101 Gigabyte GV-R567OC-1GI 59 Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A (rev.A) 139 Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A 135 Asus EAH4850 HTDI/512M 144 MSI R4830 T2D512-OC (Radeon 4830) 136 Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB 81 Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB Crossfire 147 Asus EAH4770 FML/DI/512MD5/A 169 Asus EAH4770 HTDI/512MD5/A 78 ASUS EAH4550 512M 28 Gigabyte GV-R435OC-512I 10 Diamond HD 3650 PE 512 27 Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT 119 Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT CrossFire 153 MSI RX2600XT Diamond 49 Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A 114 Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A 59 ASUS ENGTX480 2DI/1536MD5 207 Gigabyte GV-N285OC-2G1 162 Gigabyte GV-N26SO-896I 147 ASUS ENGTX260 MT/HTDI/896MD3-A 124 Gigabyte GV-N26OC896H-GA 134 Sparkle GTX260 Core 216 126 ASUS ENGTS250 DK 171 ASUS ENGTS250 DK in SLI 164 ASUS EN9600GT DI/512MD3/A 63 Gigabyte GV-N96TSL-1GI 68 nVidia Geforce 9600GTs in SLI 190 Asus EN9600GT Top/HTDI/512M 126 Foxconn 9600GT-512NOC 138 Palit Geforce 9600GT 512 128 Biostar V903GT52-NV1AN 125 ASUS EN9400GT DI/1GLP 16 MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E 143 Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC 108 MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC 103 Palit 8800GT Super+ 1GB 149 MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC 135 Asus EN8800GT TOP/G/HTDP/512M/A 138 GeForce 8600GTS SLI 97 Foxconn 8600GTS-256 56 MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC 54 Albatron 8600GT-256 48 Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H SLI 39 MSI NX8500GT-TD256E 28 MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE 110 MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E 79 MSI NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC 60 Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH 39 Biostar Sigma-Gate GeForce 7600GS 34 1024x768 HQ w/Soft Shadows: Points Ranking Palit HD4870 X2 2GB 272 Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A 213 Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A (Crossfire) 260 MSI R3870X2-T2D1G-OC 209 Gigabyte GV-R587SO-1GD 323 ASUS EAH5850 DirectCu Top/2DIS/1GD5 310 ASUS EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5/A 196 Gigabyte GV-R567OC-1GI 118 Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A (rev.A) 253 Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A 248 Asus EAH4850 HTDI/512M 166 MSI R4830 T2D512-OC (Radeon 4830) 154 Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB 155 Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB Crossfire 262 Asus EAH4770 FML/DI/512MD5/A 157 Asus EAH4770 HTDI/512MD5/A 152 ASUS EAH4550 512M 38 Gigabyte GV-R435OC-512I 20 Diamond HD 3650 PE 512 40 Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT 143 Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT CrossFire 167 MSI RX2600XT Diamond 53 Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A 91 Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A 66 ASUS ENGTX480 2DI/1536MD5 261 Gigabyte GV-N285OC-2G1 254 Gigabyte GV-N26SO-896I 245 ASUS ENGTX260 MT/HTDI/896MD3-A 226 Gigabyte GV-N26OC896H-GA 236 Sparkle GTX260 Core 216 224 ASUS ENGTS250 DK 173 ASUS ENGTS250 DK in SLI 267 ASUS EN9600GT DI/512MD3/A 125 Gigabyte GV-N96TSL-1GI 133 nVidia Geforce 9600GTs in SLI 184 Asus EN9600GT Top/HTDI/512M 125 Foxconn 9600GT-512NOC 134 Palit Geforce 9600GT 512 134 Biostar V903GT52-NV1AN 122 ASUS EN9400GT DI/1GLP 35 MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E 144 Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC 113 MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC 112 Palit 8800GT Super+ 1GB 158 MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC 136 Asus EN8800GT TOP/G/HTDP/512M/A 139 GeForce 8600GTS SLI 110 Foxconn 8600GTS-256 61 MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC 60 Albatron 8600GT-256 52 Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H SLI 58 MSI NX8500GT-TD256E 23 MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE 114 MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E 85 MSI NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC 63 Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH 40 Biostar Sigma-Gate GeForce 7600GS 31 1600x1200 HQ w/Soft Shadows: Points Ranking Palit HD4870 X2 2GB 201 Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A 133 Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A (Crossfire) 186 MSI R3870X2-T2D1G-OC 132 Gigabyte GV-R587SO-1GD 197 ASUS EAH5850 DirectCu Top/2DIS/1GD5 179 ASUS EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5/A 102 Gigabyte GV-R567OC-1GI 59 Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A (rev.A) 139 Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A 135 Asus EAH4850 HTDI/512M 85 MSI R4830 T2D512-OC (Radeon 4830) 78 Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB 80 Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB Crossfire 149 Asus EAH4770 FML/DI/512MD5/A 169 Asus EAH4770 HTDI/512MD5/A 79 ASUS EAH4550 512M 18 Gigabyte GV-R435OC-512I 9 Diamond HD 3650 PE 512 18 Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT 75 Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT CrossFire 104 MSI RX2600XT Diamond 18 Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A 42 Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A 30 ASUS ENGTX480 2DI/1536MD5 209 Gigabyte GV-N285OC-2G1 162 Gigabyte GV-N26SO-896I 147 ASUS ENGTX260 MT/HTDI/896MD3-A 124 Gigabyte GV-N26OC896H-GA 132 Sparkle GTX260 Core 216 126 ASUS ENGTS250 DK 89 ASUS ENGTS250 DK in SLI 165 ASUS EN9600GT DI/512MD3/A 63 Gigabyte GV-N96TSL-1GI 66 nVidia Geforce 9600GTs in SLI 109 Asus EN9600GT Top/HTDI/512M 58 Foxconn 9600GT-512NOC 61 Palit Geforce 9600GT 512 57 Biostar V903GT52-NV1AN 56 ASUS EN9400GT DI/1GLP 16 MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E 82 Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC 55 MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC 57 Palit 8800GT Super+ 1GB 73 MSI NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC 75 Asus EN8800GT TOP/G/HTDP/512M/A 76 GeForce 8600GTS SLI 51 Foxconn 8600GTS-256 27 MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC 26 Albatron 8600GT-256 20 Gigabyte GV-NX85T256H SLI 17 MSI NX8500GT-TD256E 10 MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE 59 MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E 39 MSI NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC 30 Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH 18 Biostar Sigma-Gate GeForce 7600GS 14

It's unlikely that you'll be buying a $500 videocard just to play 2006's FEAR, but it is a good way of comparing just how far we've come in raw 3D rendering power. At 1600x1200 the GVR587SO-1GD is about 30% faster than lat year's Radeon HD 4890, and only a few points off of the dual-GPU Radeon HD 4870 X2.

It's also worth noting that the Geforce GTX 480 is the faster card in this DX9-era test.