Water Detail, Shadow and Shader Detail.
Water Detail
This setting changes the amount of detail set for the water and its reflections. This setting set to Simple Reflections will reflect basic things like buildings and hills. Setting this to Reflect World increases the quality of the reflections rendered in low mode. Setting this to Reflect all reflects everything from grass to distant smokestacks to trees from afar. Look at the following snapshots to see the differences between the options available.
![Half-Life 2 Optimization Guide [ Water looks great, but lacks good reflections @ 1280 x 1024 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/17-s.jpg)
Water looks great, but lacks good reflections
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|
![Half-Life 2 Optimization Guide [ Adds depth to reflections on screen. @ 1280 x 1024 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/18-s.jpg)
Adds depth to reflections on screen.
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|
![Half-Life 2 Optimization Guide [ Shows reflections from everything: trees, buildings, objects. Looks fantastic! @ 1280 x 1024 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/19-s.jpg)
Shows reflections from everything: trees, buildings, objects. Looks fantastic!
|
|
| AMD Athlon XP 2600+ |
| 800x600 |
|
|
|
| Performance (Frame rate) |
Simple |
World |
All |
| Tachyon G9500 PRO |
53 |
52.7 |
51.8 |
| GeForce FX 5700 Ultra |
51.4 |
51.2 |
51.2 |
| ASUS V9280S Ti 4200 8X |
50.1 |
49.9 |
49.9 |
| AMD Athlon XP 2600+ |
| 1024x768 |
|
|
|
| Performance (Frame rate) |
Simple |
World |
All |
| RADEON 9800 XT |
66.7 |
66.7 |
53.7 |
| RADEON 9800 XT (4xAA/8xAF) |
47.6 |
47.7 |
45 |
| Tyan Tachyon G9500 PRO |
49.5 |
49.3 |
45.1 |
| GeForce 6600 GT |
53.2 |
53 |
46.5 |
| GeForce 6600 GT (4xAA/8xAF) |
41 |
40.6 |
38.3 |
| GeForce FX 5700 Ultra |
41.5 |
41.4 |
41.4 |
| ASUS V9280 Ti4200 8X |
40.4 |
40.4 |
40.3 |
| AMD Athlon XP 2600+ |
| 1280x1024 |
|
|
|
| Performance (Frame rate) |
Simple |
World |
All |
| RADEON 9800 XT |
51.3 |
51.1 |
46.1 |
| RADEON 9800 XT (4xAA/8xAF) |
34.4 |
34.1 |
32.4 |
| Tyan Tachyon G9500 PRO |
49.5 |
49.3 |
45.1 |
| GeForce 6600 GT |
43.1 |
42.9 |
38.7 |
| GeForce 6600 GT (4xAA/8xAF) |
27.5 |
27.1 |
25.7 |
| GeForce FX 5700 Ultra |
28.3 |
28.2 |
28.2 |
*Test Notes: Using Canals Timedemo for Water Detail Benchmarks
Shadow Detail
Setting Shadow Detail to low will essentially enable blob shadows for characters and objects on screen. The shadows are blurry and lack definition, but truth be told look halfway decent compared to some games. Setting Shadows to High enables real-time shadows, portraying how light would actually reflect off of animate and inanimate objects in real life. Set this option to high for ultimate realism. See the corresponding pictures I have below to see examples of the two settings.
![Half-Life 2 Optimization Guide [ Look at the blob shadow behind her @ 1280 x 1024 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/20-s.jpg)
Look at the blob shadow behind her
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![Half-Life 2 Optimization Guide [ True realism here, nothing spared. As you would expect a true reflection of her to look like. @ 1280 x 1024 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/21-s.jpg)
True realism here, nothing spared. As you would expect a true reflection of her to look like.
|
|
| AMD Athlon XP 2600+ |
| 800x600 |
|
|
| Performance (Frame rate) |
Normal |
Max |
| Tachyon G9500 PRO |
53 |
49.6 |
| GeForce FX 5700 Ultra |
49.9 |
46.9 |
| ASUS V9280S Ti 4200 8X |
49.5 |
46.2 |
| AMD Athlon XP 2600+ |
| 1024x768 |
|
|
| Performance (Frame rate) |
Normal |
Max |
| RADEON 9800 XT |
53.3 |
49.6 |
| RADEON 9800 XT 4xAA/8xAF |
50.3 |
48.1 |
| Tachyon G9500 PRO |
49.1 |
47.8 |
| GeForce 6600 GT |
44.3 |
43.5 |
| GeForce 6600 GT (4xAA/8xAF) |
41.9 |
41 |
| GeForce FX 5700 Ultra |
47.7 |
45.4 |
| ASUS V9280S Ti 4200 8X |
47.2 |
44.1 |
| AMD Athlon XP 2600+ |
| 1280x1024 |
|
|
| Performance (Frame rate) |
Normal |
Max |
| RADEON 9800 XT |
49.8 |
47 |
| RADEON 9800 XT 4xAA/8xAF |
49.6 |
43.8 |
| Tachyon G9500 PRO |
43.5 |
41.8 |
| GeForce 6600 GT |
43.2 |
41.8 |
| GeForce 6600 GT (4xAA/8xAF) |
36.7 |
36.3 |
| GeForce FX 5700 Ultra |
41.7 |
40.4 |
Shader Detail
Determines the level of shaders used in every scene. (This is dictated by the level of DirectX your hardware supports.) Although almost unnoticeable (in some levels of the game) to the untrained eye, this option can put a heavy hit on older cards when set to high. Cards with less than 128MB of memory should set Shader Detail to low to preserve precious frames per second. Cards like the 9800XT or 6600GT and newer can set this to High without having to worry about making the game unplayable. Below are pictures pulled from the game to show you the differences in Shader Detail when set to high and low.
![Half-Life 2 Optimization Guide [ Very unnoticeable difference. @ 1280 x 1024 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/22-s.jpg)
Very unnoticeable difference.
|
|
![Half-Life 2 Optimization Guide [ Dictated by your hardware's level of DX, but completely unseen in this scene. @ 1280 x 1024 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/23-s.jpg)
Dictated by your hardware's level of DX, but completely unseen in this scene.
|
|
| AMD Athlon XP 2600+ |
| 800x600 |
|
|
| Performance (Frame rate) |
Normal |
Max |
| Tachyon G9500 PRO |
53 |
50.4 |
| GeForce FX 5700 Ultra |
49.9 |
46.1 |
| ASUS V9280S Ti 4200 8X |
49.5 |
46.2 |
| AMD Athlon XP 2600+ |
| 1024x768 |
|
|
| Performance (Frame rate) |
Normal |
Max |
| RADEON 9800 XT |
53.3 |
51.1 |
| RADEON 9800 XT 4xAA/8xAF |
50.3 |
49.5 |
| Tachyon G9500 PRO |
49.7 |
49.1 |
| GeForce 6600 GT |
44.3 |
44 |
| GeForce 6600 GT 4xAA/8xAF |
41.9 |
41.3 |
| GeForce FX 5700 Ultra |
47.7 |
44 |
| ASUS V9280S Ti 4200 8X |
47.2 |
44.2 |
| AMD Athlon XP 2600+ |
| 1280x1024 |
|
|
| Performance (Frame rate) |
Normal |
Max |
| RADEON 9800 XT |
49.8 |
49.4 |
| RADEON 9800 XT 4xAA/8xAF |
49.6 |
44.3 |
| Tachyon G9500 PRO |
42.9 |
41.6 |
| GeForce 6600 GT |
43.2 |
43 |
| GeForce 6600 GT 4xAA/8xAF |
36.7 |
36.7 |
| GeForce FX 5700 Ultra |
41.7 |
38.5 |
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