I've been playing a lot of the mega-RTS Star Wars: Empire At War recently. Since its release last month, the game has proven to have faults and problems, but once you get it running is an enjoyable experience. EAW has so many facets that you could consider it 4 separate games. The game played without problem throughout the resolution spectrum of the monitor I use for reviews on the 7900GTX and 7900GT. The 7600GT was a bit sluggish at times when a lot of ships and cinematic mode was enabled, however the game was playable up to and including 1280x1024 resolution. I would suggest picking up the game if you haven't already.
First Encounter Assault Recon was one of the most graphically intense games of 2005. It was also the scariest. The little girl walking through the flames in the first mission scared me throughout the game. On the 7600GT the game was playable up to and including 1024x768 no AA no AF. Above that resolution there were instances where the game slowed down especially with a lot of action on the screen. The 7900GT played the game on par with the GeForce 7800GTX 512MB card of late last year. The game was playable up to and including 1600x1200 4x AA 16x AF on the 7900GTX 512MB XXX Edition.
The other game I took for a spin on all three cards was Need For Speed Most Wanted. This is the latest installment of the street racing game with police cars. The 7900GTX played the game without pause, and without skipping a beat. The 7900GT played the game excellently as well, with only a slight performance decrease from the 7900GTX. Playing the game on the 7600GT was like the experience of playing it on a 6800GT of last year. Performance is fine for the price point; just don't expect high resolution gaming with AA and AF to max levels. Call of Duty 2 is the latest World War II FPS from Activision. The sequel to one of the better games of the last few years, Call Of Duty, COD2 is graphically demanding in some cases. The game played extremely well on the 7600GT, totally playable up to and including the 1280x1024 no AA no AF setting. The 7900GT handled the game with ease.
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