F.E.A.R
F.E.A.R. is a title that Nvidia-based cards generally do well in. We see the same advantages of pure muscle with the GeForce 7900GS here, as it can best the GeForce 7800GT by 1 to 5 frames, depending on the settings.
Oblivion
We use Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion as our ultimate torture test; the only settings we don't maximize are HDR and soft shadows. We disable HDR due to the fact that Nvidia cannot render HDR with antialiasing - neither can ATI without the "Chuck patch" - and we disable soft shadows because they don't appear correctly as shadows from the back of a character's head (this can cause shadows that can be seen on the face, making women appear to have beards!)
In our outdoor scene there are long lines of sight, day is changing into night, and there is foliage swaying in the breeze. All of this realism has a severe impact on performance. Fortunately, this is where raw horsepower can muscle its way through this test - exactly what the GeForce 7950GX2 can do. While none of the cards are "playable" at anything higher that 1024x768 (meaning that they average 30 frames per second or more), this demonstrates the future potential of games with many moving objects and features.
In a really intensive game like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, with the settings cranked up, the power of the new core shows that it can even beat a stock GeForce 7800GTX. While it would be necessary to turn down the settings to play, the pure rendering power is unveiled at the higher image quality settings.
