Quad SLI part deux: Build It Yourself

Battlefield 2

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Battlefield 2 features an all-new game engine based on the DirectX 9.0 API. There is no Shader Model 3.0 support, but the majority of hardware will use a Shader Model 2.0++ mode that includes support for Normal Maps, Parallax Mapping, Full-Resolution Dynamic Shadowing, Post Processing and Fog.

The game will look the same on both NVIDIA and ATI hardware, so there is no advantage of choosing one over the other in image quality related circumstances. The only major difference is that Ultra Shadow 2 is utilised on NVIDIA's hardware, while the shadowing on ATI hardware is done using a slightly different technique.

We patched the game to version 1.3 and then played three five-minute segments of the 'Strike at Karkand' map, reporting the median frame rate. We found that there was no ready way to duplicate testing situations manually in this game, so we felt that taking a typical slice of action from the game was the best way to report our findings. We controlled anti-aliasing from inside the game, while anisotropic filtering was set to 8xAF when the 'Texture Filtering' option was set to 'High'.

Again, Quad SLI was able to deliver smooth gameplay at higher anti-aliasing settings than the BFG Tech GeForce 7900 GTX OC SLI configuration. We were able to play the game with reasonable frame rates with 8xSLI AA and transparency multisampling enabled with maximum in-game detail settings. On the other hand, the GeForce 7900 GTX OC SLI setup delivered playable frame rates with 4xAA and transparency supersampling enabled.

We tried to play Battlefield 2 with 8xSLI AA enabled on the BFG Tech GeForce 7900 GTX OC SLI configuration, but the game was very jerky. With minimum frame rates below 15 frames per second, our gaming experience was hampered. Also, an average frame rate of 43 frames per second is hardly ideal for an online shooter. Battlefield 2 also looked incredibly good on the Dell 3007WFP - we were impressed with the level of immersion, especially with decent sound quality from the X-Fi specific optimisations in the game.