F.E.A.R. tests are run much like tests with the previous two software applications. A first run takes place with all of the settings maxed out but with AA, AF and soft shadows shut off. The second run is with AA at 4x and AF at 8x. F.E.A.R. is normally a title that is best played on Nvidia hardware. However, the results are pitiful on both sides. It appears that there is an issue without AA and AF. I can't tell for sure if the driver enables both when it is turned off but it performs as if that were the case. The scores with AA and AF enabled and disabled are almost identical for Nvidia at the first three resolution settings. AMD on the other hand actually performed WORSE with image quality enhancements enabled. This makes absolutely no sense and I hope that this bug or defect will be sorted out.

It is clear that both companies need to improve their low-image quality performance in F.E.A.R. AMD did manage to keep its performance on par in the higher image quality test except at a resolution of 2560x1600 when it fell short by 33%. In the same test Nvidia's performance in Vista fell almost 70%. This is something that needs to be addressed before launch.