Video Cards
BioShock, not surprisingly, performs better on more expensive video cards, but they aren't required. We could get almost all of the video cards we tested to run reasonably well at high quality, but we had to drop the resolution to get them to do so. Note that BioShock requires a DirectX 9.0c or better video card, which will be a problem for PC owners who are still rockin' cards from 2003.
The game had noticeably higher frame rates in Windows XP than in Windows Vista. According to our quick-and-dirty image quality comparison, you probably aren't missing out on very much by sticking with DirectX 9 instead of DirectX 10. The Radeon HD 2900 XT took an enormous performance hit when we moved from Windows XP to Windows Vista; our guess is that ATI will have a patch out shortly. In addition, the Radeon HD 2900 XT CrossFire failed to load the game properly, owners will likely have to wait for a new driver release to enable functionality.
Video Card Tests
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
2048x1536, High Quality
GeForce 8800 GTX SLI
Radeon HD 2900 XT 512MB
GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB
XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB XXX
GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB
Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB
1600x1200, High Quality
Radeon HD 2900 XT 512MB
GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB
XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB XXX
GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB
Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB
Radeon X1900 XT 256MB
Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB
GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB
Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB
1024x768, High Quality
Radeon X1900 XT 256MB
Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB
Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB
GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB
GeForce 7900 GS 256MB
Radeon X1650 XT 256MB
Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256MB
GeForce 7600 GT 256MB
Radeon X1300 XT 256MB
Radeon HD 2400 XT 256MB
GeForce 6800 128MB
800x600, High Quality
GeForce 8600 GT 256MB
Radeon X1650 XT 256MB
Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256MB
GeForce 7600 GT 256MB
Radeon X1300 XT 256MB
Radeon HD 2400 XT 256MB
GeForce 6800 128MB
GeForce 6600 GT 128MB
DirectX10 vs. DirectX9
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
1600x1200, High Quality
Windows XP DX9 - GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB
Windows Vista DX10 - GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB
Windows XP DX9 - Radeon HD 2900 XT 512MB
Windows Vista DX10 - Radeon HD 2900 XT 512MB
System Setup: Intel Core 2 X6800, Intel 975XBX2, eVGA 680i SLI, 2GB Corsair XMS Memory (1GBx2), 160GB Seagate 7200.7 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows XP Professional SP2. Graphics Cards: GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB, GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB, XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB XXX Edition, GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB, GeForce 8600 GT 256MB, GeForce 7900 GS 256MB, GeForce 7600 GT 256MB, GeForce 6800 128MB, GeForce 6600GT 128MB, Radeon HD 2900 XT 512MB, Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB, Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256MB, Radeon HD 2400 XT 256MB, Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB, Radeon X1900 XT 256MB, Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB, Radeon X1650 XT 256MB, Radeon X1300 XT 256MB. Graphics Drivers: beta Nvidia ForceWare163.44, beta ATI Catalyst Hot Fix 8.401.1.
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