GeForce 8800/9800 GT
We start the performance evaluation with the GeForce 8800/9800 GT—the most popular graphics card according to the Steam Hardware Survey and the GPU that is listed in the minimum system requirements of Battlefield 3. True to DICE's word, the GeForce 8800 GT does indeed play Battlefield 3, though at a humble resolution of 1280 x 1024 and at Low Quality settings. Needless to say, this is not how Battlefield 3 looks in the trailers, but the game does run, as promised.

GeForce GTX 260 The GeForce GTX 260 is the fourth most popular graphics card on Steam, used by 4.19% of gamers on the service as of August 2011. Though three years old, the card puts up a respectable performance. You can play the game at 1680 x 1050 at Medium Quality. As noted in the graphics quality section, at Medium, the game looks quite a bit better than Low but doesn't have the polish of higher quality settings.

GeForce GTX 460 The GeForce GTX 460 is the first card that gives you that unique Battlefield 3 "look" while maintaining solid framerates. At 1680 x 1050, the card lets you play at High Quality settings, which gives you most of the graphical bells and whistles, including antialiasing, ambient occlusion, detailed geometry, and detailed textures. The GeForce GTX 460 performs very well at this setting.

GeForce GTX 560/560Ti/570 With any of these three graphics cards, you are getting a full Battlefield 3 experience. Simply put, this is 1080p at High Quality at 40 fps or more. With the GTX 570, you can bump individual settings a little higher (for example, Ultra quality Textures or Effects) or you can opt to play at higher framerates on the same preset. If your budget is more limited, the GTX 560 is a perfectly sound option.

GeForce GTX 580 For those who are lucky enough to own a GeForce GTX 580, expect a near-perfect experience. We're talking about 1080p at fully maxed out settings (Ultra). You have to hand it over to DICE for their lighting engine; at Ultra quality, the radiosity lighting, soft shadows, and ambient occlusion come together and play off each other to produce scenes so rich and nuanced that they look like they had been art directed. At this quality, the game plays like a trailer.

GeForce GTX 580 SLI / GTX 590 With two Fermi GPUs, the game plays at maximum quality but at the expanded resolution of 2560 x 1600. Needless to say, the game is startlingly beautiful. Do not show this to your console friends. They will hate you.