Budget Graphics Cards Tested - Q3 2006 VGA Roundup

Half Life 2 (Lost Coast)

Version and / or Patch Used: Unpatched

Timedemo or Level Used: Custom Timedemo

Developer Homepage: http://www.valvesoftware.com

Product Homepage: http://www.half-life2.com

Buy It Here

By taking the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original, and adding startling new realism, responsiveness and new HDR technology, Half-Life 2 Lost Coast opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around him, from the physical environment to the behaviors even the emotions of both friends and enemies.

We benchmark Half Life 2 Lost Coast with our own custom timedemos as to avoid possible driver optimizations using the "record demo_name" command and loading the timedemo with the "timedemo demo_name" command - For a full list of the commands, click here.

Moving to our first real world benchmark we see some interesting results.

For starters it's clear with the DDR3 7300GT playing Half Life 2 with HDR enabled at 1024 x 768 is extremely possible. Playing Half Life 2 without HDR can be done at 1024 x 768 with all cards but if you feel like venturing to 1600 x 1200 you're going to want a DDR 7300GT or adjust texture details. HDR at 1600 x 1200 just simply isn't possible with any of the cards.