Graphics card round up March 2013

Max Payne 3 is a third-person shooter in which the player assumes the role of its titular character, Max Payne. Max Payne 3 features a similar over-the-shoulder camera as its predecessors, with the addition of a cover mechanic, while also retaining much of the same run-and-gun style of gameplay. Max Payne 3 also marks the return of bullet-time in action sequences, for which the franchise is notable.

In bullet-time it is possible to see every bullet strike an enemy in detail. New to the series is a “Last Stand” mechanic, which gives the player a grace period after losing all health during which time the player may kill the enemy that wounded them in order to continue playing, however this mechanic is only usable if the player has one or more bottles of painkillers in their possession.

These settings exceed the onboard memory of the 1GB cards, and the game engine highlights the problem in red at the bottom.

The performance advantage shifts in favour of the Zotac GTX670 in this test, averaging 51 frames per second. The Sapphire HD7950 Vapor X claims second spot, with a lower average frame rate, but only losing out by a single frame per second in the most important minimum frame rate position.

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