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Shadows

Enabling shadows will eat up some frame rates, regardless of the GPU that you have. Some games give you the option of soft shadows as well as varying levels of shadows to let you set an acceptable balance between performance and game ambience.

Shadow Performance

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Doom 3, 1600x1200, Ultra Quality, 4xAA

Shadows Disabled GeForce 8800 GTX
218
Shadows Enabled GeForce 8800 GTX
122

Doom 3, 1600x1200, Ultra Quality, 4xAA

Shadows Disabled Radeon X1900 XT
129
Shadows Enabled Radeon X1900 XT
77

Doom 3, 1600x1200, Ultra Quality

Shadows Disabled GeForce 7600 GT
93
Shadows Enabled GeForce 7600 GT
71

Doom 3, 1280x1024, High Quality

Shadows Disabled Radeon X1300 XT
64
Shadows Enabled Radeon X1300 XT
48

Image Quality

It's literally like night and day. Shadows make an enormous difference in the look and feel of a game.

Shadows Enabled vs. Shadows Disabled

System Setup: Intel Core 2 X6800, Intel 975XBX2, 2GB Corsair XMS Memory (1GB x 2), 160GB Seagate 7200.7 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows XP SP2. Graphics Cards: GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB, GeForce7600 GT 256MB, Radeon X1900 XT 512MB, Radeon X1300 XT 256MB. Graphics Driver: Catalyst 7.3, Forceware 97.92, Forceware 93.71.



470 Comments

  • rachkovsky

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 4:55 pm GMT

    aN EQUAL AMOUNT OF EACH QUALITY PROVIDES GOOD GAMEPLAY

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  • vortex_gw

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 8:24 am GMT

    No difference between 8xAA & 16xAA and a LITTLE difference between 4xAA & 8xAA.
    In C&C 3 4xAA = 8xAA.

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  • SmallMafia

    Posted Jun 22, 2008 9:20 am GMT

    Very Useful Guide Thanks.

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  • jacobmjl

    Posted Jun 17, 2008 4:32 am GMT

    Not a lot of visual difference for COH from High-Ultra High

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  • SquallLeonhartt

    Posted Jun 8, 2008 3:15 am GMT

    Extremely useful "How to Guide", thanks Sarju!

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  • artiedeadat40

    Posted May 18, 2008 9:56 pm GMT

    Thanks nice guide very helpful

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  • kishmish

    Posted Apr 25, 2008 5:49 am GMT

    I totally agree with 0 draw distance thing. I always max that setting in every game (Like the witcher) lowing the resolution 800x600 won't hurt.

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  • rudeboy4000

    Posted Mar 25, 2008 3:02 am GMT

    its very useful...tanx

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  • MightySnake_TM

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 10:10 pm GMT

    very usfull

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  • IlPadrino12

    Posted Dec 9, 2007 11:33 am GMT

    This guide is very nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • Francotirador30

    Posted Dec 2, 2007 11:44 pm GMT

    Exelent comparison and tips to boost the games!!! thx!

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  • jurassic1024

    Posted Dec 2, 2007 4:17 pm GMT

    LOL@playing at 1680x1050 with 256MB VRAM. I guess this guide left out the importance of Video RAM at high resolutions.

    :Shakes finger at Gamespot.

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  • tonala

    Posted Nov 13, 2007 3:35 am GMT

    usefull

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  • neerajkumar_4

    Posted Nov 5, 2007 8:14 am GMT

    i love this guide

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  • never-named

    Posted Nov 1, 2007 9:26 am GMT

    I'm still choking the life out of my 9200 as I'm currently playing Half-Life2 and its performing quite smoothly, but the line clearly stopped after I tried to run Bioshock without knowing that it requires a Shader Model 3.0 GPU.

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  • gifflegerbpiss

    Posted Oct 31, 2007 1:04 pm GMT

    Sorry to tell you but the 9200 is crap.

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  • Ric_SlayeR

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 12:13 pm GMT

    I have a ATi 9200 it isnt bad.... Its just about enough.

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  • Ric_SlayeR

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 12:05 pm GMT

    From 8x to 16x doesnt make that much diference...

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  • AnnoyedDragon

    Posted Aug 13, 2007 8:46 pm GMT

    Most of this stuff is general knowledge to anyone who has been gaming on PC long enough; you really have to see these settings at a full screen resolution to get a idea of the impact on visual quality, seeing them on these shrunken screenshots really doesn't do them justice. Anything above the playable frame rate is free for upping eye candy, no point in getting 120+ fps when you can slap some more AA or AF on there.

    I see console users are complaining about the performance tweaking that goes into PC gaming, and how it is too much of a bother for them. That's why we will always have superior looking games, because we do bother. While they get what they are given, each new generation of hardware lets us push games further than consoles can ever achieve.

    Whose looking forward to Gears Of War at above 360 resolutions with full AA and AF?

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  • rocky_aj17

    Posted Aug 10, 2007 6:24 pm GMT

    hmmm thats nice to know that

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  • ldavidtw2000

    Posted Aug 5, 2007 11:52 pm GMT

    That's why console sells, so many people don't even know how these stuff works, all they know is play, no technical intelligence.

    consoles are basically PCs, but smaller ones and dedicated only for gaming and perhaps some degree of internet.
    Gears of War looks stunning but suck at the same time on console cuz they can't turn on AA, and they won't allow you to choose it. which doesn't give console gamers the
    "hey, it might look even better if I turn this on."


    and you don't get to choose 2560x1600 resolution, cuz consoles only give you 3 options, and highest only goes to 1920x1080.
    2560x1600 on 30" monitor means dots are a LOT closer which means detail is WAY better than only 1920x1080 (and they advertise it as if that's the highest end, ha!) on a 50" TV.

    simple enough, consoles= for lazy@$$/clueless gamers, but you don't get to do all kinds of fun tweaking, and that's what keeps you clueless, and that's what make their pocket bigger.

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  • Merl57

    Posted Jul 21, 2007 10:31 pm GMT

    See I really would like consoles and I have a gamcube, xbox, and wii but i barely ever play them. I like PC cause i can do a lot of other things fast with it. Multitasking and stuff. Plus the mouse, is the most intuitive device for the hand, I can get far more accurate with the mosue than with 2 analog sticks. That's why the Wii really got me excited it blended the console with the control of a mouse-like control remote. However there isn't enough power to play BF2142 and stuff like that which I love on the PC. What sucks the most is the price you could buy 2 wii's for the price of a performance videocard. I really hate having to update unless the games wont work at all like lostplanet. I thought my computer was great but not enough. I know it sounds weird now but I really wish Nintendo Sony and Microsoft made a console pc hybrid for cheaper than the PC. Basically if own monitor keyboard, etc hooked up to a conosle and ran windows that would make me very happy.

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  • SaxxyGamer18

    Posted Jul 20, 2007 12:25 pm GMT

    This would be why I prefer console gaming. You don't have to mess with all kinds of settings and get upgrades just to play the latest games. This stuff always bugs me.

    I find it interesting that past a certain point, the antialiasing and anisotropic filtering are barely noticeable. Sure, to the eagle-eyed scrutinizer, you could spot something, but 8x AA looks great, and 4x or 8x AF is just fine. I'm glad to know how to get rid of the ultra-lag in these games.

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  • IMP_ACT

    Posted Jul 17, 2007 9:35 am GMT

    bigmick07 , that card is comparable with that footy team you seem to like...

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  • KomboChameleon

    Posted Jul 14, 2007 10:08 pm GMT

    im having an issue... i can run C&C 3 maxed out everything and 1680x1050 res and awesome f.r. but in HL2 or fear i cant max the AA and AF at 1680x1050 without having something like the upper teens in frames. i have to run round 4x and 8x. now i ran the demo of 3dmark and scored a little over 14k but i know thats cause the demo has everything turned off and res set low. here are my specs:

    C2D e6600 @ 2.4
    asus p5n32-e sli current bios
    2gb ocz pc2-6400
    evga 7600gt 256mb
    800w ultra psu
    vista home premium
    running os on a 500 gb sata II
    games installed on a 320 gb sata II

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  • zhonginator

    Posted Jul 14, 2007 3:25 pm GMT

    how will my comp run on next gen games? i have a intel core 2 duo e6400, 2gb ddr2 ram, vista, sata hard drive, And geforce 8600 gts

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  • Fuzional

    Posted Jul 12, 2007 3:03 am GMT

    @ dante77_virgil

    No way. Try Quadrupling your RAM and new CPU and GPU, then yes you can.

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  • LouieV13 posted Jun 16, 2007 3:35 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    LouieV13

    Posted Jun 16, 2007 3:35 pm GMT (hide)

    Newegg ships ONLY to the us. USA FTW

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  • xophaser

    Posted Jun 13, 2007 11:47 pm GMT

    airwalk-

    There are there are no sale tax and shipping on most stuffs are free for newegg in the US. Some US States and our government charge income tax, but not stores.

    I don't know about international policy. Maybe buy something cheap first or email customer service.

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  • airwalk_102

    Posted Jun 13, 2007 5:15 am GMT

    i am thinking of buying a new video card from newegg.com but does anyone know the income tax for it coming to the UK?

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  • shortmerv1

    Posted Jun 11, 2007 8:14 pm GMT

    i have to upgrade my computer to run the next gen or newest games but it still play some of the game i have that just came out.

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  • dante77_virgil

    Posted Jun 11, 2007 2:09 pm GMT

    i have a 5500 geforce256Mb 2.4Ghz with 512 mb ram.Will i be able to run the next gen or newest games.

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  • xophaser

    Posted Jun 9, 2007 3:25 pm GMT

    bennycal-

    newegg is the best if you want to buy and compare and tomhardware guide is where you learn about PC components or devices. That how I built my rig. Gamespot used to review PC hardware, but cnet it's mother company does most of that. For consumer stuff, it is cnet. Cnet reviewed some stuff way after they are release.

    bigmicki-
    that is really bad for top games, more for everyday softwares and web-surfing

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  • Werner73

    Posted Jun 9, 2007 3:22 pm GMT

    Awesome, very helpful indeed. Thanks guys!

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  • al19

    Posted Jun 9, 2007 9:56 am GMT

    any one know where to download some updates for card? i have a ATI 256mb and 768mb of RAM

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  • bigmick07

    Posted Jun 8, 2007 6:53 pm GMT

    i have like an intel950 graphics card is that bad?

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  • jACkaTacK1107

    Posted Jun 7, 2007 10:33 pm GMT

    i have a core 2 duo cpu, an 8800gtx, and 2 gigs of ram, so none of this really matters to me lol

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  • CptAsbjoern

    Posted Jun 7, 2007 1:59 pm GMT

    You can't play it with 0 Draw distance, it would ruin the game completely!

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  • Bennycal

    Posted Jun 7, 2007 11:19 am GMT

    Anyone know a good website for building custom pc's or buying pc components?

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  • shocker-x-

    Posted Jun 7, 2007 11:14 am GMT

    OMG Oblivion on 0 draw distance is just horrible! i think im gunna sacrifice the shadows for the draw distance

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  • shortmerv1

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 9:30 pm GMT

    yeahh

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  • abdulrahiem

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 10:22 am GMT

    Anybody know how can i open the frame rate of command and conquer 3 tiberium warsand it's a great guidekeep it up GS
    ARI

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  • Mehfuz

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 5:45 am GMT

    one of most useful guides from GS - but i don't know why they included x1300, it's such a poor card

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  • champmanfan

    Posted Jun 3, 2007 8:41 pm GMT

    Great guide & very informative. I always have my AA at x4 and AF at 8 @ 1680x1050 on all the latest games. I average 50fps. And I always have Draw Distance on Max, never compromise on this. Most games still look great without any Shadows enabled but its all about person preferrance; I hate games that are too dark anyway.

    I wish they did a test with the popular 8800GTS 320Mb as well for a better comparison. A few of my mates have that card so its hard to judge to this guide to decide how high to put the settings when the 8800GTX has 768Mb RAM. High textures manages fine if you have 2Gb RAM & Ultra is for 2Gb+ and two Raptor's in RAID0 for fast texture swapping when GPU mem gets full.

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  • vagon32323

    Posted Jun 3, 2007 4:19 pm GMT

    Wow antialiasing doesn't do as much as I thought it did...

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  • el_carl

    Posted Jun 1, 2007 10:13 pm GMT

    @Bennycal
    Pretty high settings, thats a good computer. Should run most games on high settings (not maxed) for some time now.

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  • alfe

    Posted May 31, 2007 9:26 am GMT

    wow...nice!! I can run my GRAW very well now!!!

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  • rockygunner

    Posted May 31, 2007 2:40 am GMT

    Great

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How to optimize your PC frame rates

If you're looking for a way to improve how your games run, check out this guide to learn some of the basics on what settings to adjust and how you should go about it.

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