by Ed » Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:21 pm
The 8600 series was not particularly strong. Under some circumstances the 7600GT will match it. You won't be able to run max settings on that, you can't on much right now. I have a 9600GT which can't quite take ultimate without getting a little slow at some points.
I would recommend the native resolution over any other, the others will look blurry so any added detail level is partially wasted. The detail levels can then be adjusted to suit. I wouldn't bother with the ultimate detail level on any system. The highest reflection detail level isn't that noticeable above the lower ones so you can take that down a lot. Realtime dynamic lights and shadows can be offputting at times and slow things down a lot. Try without, you might prefer it.
Performance also varies a lot by map. Some maps are not well optimised in some areas. Any map with reflective surfaces that aren't in plane with each other will bring things to a crawl for instance.