New 3D Graphics Card Features in 2006

Differences Between PixelShader 2 And PixelShader 3, Continued

The biggest difference in F.E.A.R. is noticeable in the walls. Switching to DirectX 8 Shader causes the stones in the wall to lose their depth.

It is possible to revert the shader quality from DirectX 9 to DirectX 8 only with a Geforce 6 or 7, or a Radeon X1x00.

In Splinter Cell 3, the game can be throttled down from PixelShader 3 to PixelShader 1.1. The most obvious differences in PixelShader 1.1 are the weaker reflections of moonlight on surfaces, which are normally produced by the PixelShader 3 with HDR rendering.

If a higher graphics quality setting isn't used by the PixelShader 3, Splinter Cell 3 first loads all effects in the game's cache.

The environment's light sources are clearly brighter thanks to HDR rendering with PixelShader 3.