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.
The game FEAR is definitely very hard on all
videocards with AA turned on. At this resolution the load is simply too
much for the MSI NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD videocard.
Future Proof
with an HDCP-enabled Geforce 7900GT?
Whether you like it or not High Definition Content Protection (HDCP) is going
to become an unavoidable factor in the gradual move to High Definition
content of all forms. Maybe if all those Napster users hadn't swiped all that
intellectual property years back we wouldn't be facing these kinds of
restrictions now... but nevertheless whatever the arguments are fore or against
digital rights management, it is clear that corporations are making the final
decisions on this one. If you don't like it, tuff, then it's lowly DVD
quality video for you!
And just so we're clear on this; HDCP will apply high definition content
as it passes over a HDMI or DVI video connection only. Component Output (Y,
Pb, Pr) is an analog standard and does not support encryption.
The first wave of the transition to HDCP-enabled hardware is happening
now, and its good to see videocard manufacturers are getting into the game
early with their hardware encryption rather than later. Failure to include this
new form of hardware encryption anywhere in the chain between player and
monitor (or HDTV) means high definition content is played at lesser
quality. That defeats the purpose of High Definition content in the first
place.
With the new MSI NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD videocard, half of
the puzzle is complete and all you need is a HDCP compliant monitor or TV and
you're ready to rock and roll. Not only is the NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD HDCP
compliant, it's also one darn fast gaming videocard!
MSI has the complete package here, the PCI Express based
NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD comes with most cables you'll need to connect the computer
to the videocard, not included is a HDMI cable. HDMI cables can be quite pricey
and its better you get your own high quality cable than have MSI include
something that's a bit cheaper.
The 90nm GeForce 7900GT GPU allows MSI to user a smaller
cooler on the videocard which makes installation easier (only one slot
occupied) but it still requires just as much power so make sure you have a
beefy PSU. The MSI NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD's GPU fan also spins a bit on the loud
side and MSI should have equipped the card with something
that's temperature controlled.
Performance of the MSI NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD videocare
was excellent on the whole, it is a GeForce 7900GT based videocard after all. ;-)
The NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD excelled in virtually every benchmark from Splinter
Cell: Chaos Theory to Doom 3 and Quake 4, this videocard has enough power to
take on pretty much any game on the market right now.
In terms of overclocking the MSI NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD
was quite feisty. With stock cooling the videocard was able to reach a top speed
of 575 MHz for the core and 1527 MHz for the memory, both are definitely very
quick speeds. With a third party cooler on the videocard GPU, there's little
doubt that it might go even faster.
The best thing about the MSI NX7900GT-VT2D256E-HD though
has got to be its price. At $334 CDN ($295 USD, £159GBP) the Geforce 7900GT
videocard is an absolute steal! If you're looking to upgrade, it's definitely a
good deal; HDCP support, lightning fast framerates and an aggressive price,
there really isn't much more you could ask for!
Find out about this and many other reviews by joining
the Weekly PCstats.com Newsletter today! Catch all of PCSTATS
latest reviews right here.
Related Articles
Here are a few other articles that you might enjoy as
well...
- Asus EN7600GT Silent /2DHT/256M/A Geforce 7600GT Videocard
Review
- MSI NX7600GT-VT2D256E Geforce 7600GT Videocard
Review
- Asus EN7900GT TOP/2DHT/256M/A Videocard Review
- Asus EAX1600XT Silent/TVD/256M/A Videocard Review
- S3 Chrome S27 PCI Express Videocard
Review
FEAR
RSS Newsletter
