Half life 2 is no doubt the most anticipated PC game of all time.

Physics - From pebbles to water to 2-ton trucks respond as expected, as they obey the laws of mass, friction, gravity, and buoyancy.

Graphics - Source's shader-based renderer, like the one used at Pixar to create movies such as Toy Story® and Monster's, Inc.®, creates the most beautiful and realistic environments ever seen in a video game.

AI - Neither friends nor enemies charge blindly into the fray. They can assess threats, navigate tricky terrain, and fashion weapons from whatever is at hand.

There also is a noticeable difference in games environments. As we previously mentioned, the recommended settings are a great step up from SPD. But overclocking is better as far as performance is concerned. It simply requires that the processor is running at a higher frequency. Higher resolutions demand more processing power from the graphics card and less from the rest of the system. It is for this reason that at 1280X1024 and 1600X1200, the framerates are the same, regardless of the memory setup.