Lost Planet 2 is a game that uses a lot of DirectX 11 features, like tessellation (to round out the edges of polygonal models), displacement maps (added to the tessellated mesh to add fine grain details), DirectCompute soft body simulation (to introduce more realism in the “boss” monsters), and DirectCompute wave simulation (to introduce more realism in the physics calculations in water surfaces; when you move or when gunshots and explosions hit the water, it moves accordingly). We reviewed the video cards using Lost Planet 2 internal benchmarking features, choosing the “Benchmark A” (we know that “Benchmark B” is the one recommended for reviewing video cards, however, at least with us, results were inconsistent). We set graphics at “medium,” no anti-aliasing and DX11 at “full,” at 1440×900 and 1680×1050. The results below are the number of frames per second generated by each video card.
Corsair releases Vengeance, a new line of headsets that replaces the old digital HS1 model, which we tested before. Let’s take a look at the analog model, the Vengeance 1300.
Cooler Master HAF 932 is a full-tower case targeted to gamers, coming with three big 230-mm and one 140-mm fan, six external 5 ¼” bays and five internal 3 ½” bays and several other features.
Let’s take a look at the highest-end CPU with integrated video from AMD (“APU”), the A8-3870K, and compare it to the A8-3850 and to its contenders from Intel: the Core i3-2105 and Core i3-2100.