K, hotfix impressions (playing on a i7 920@ 4.2ghz, gtx295 latest whqls, 6gb ram).
Disclaimer: This post is a bit all over the place but just to give you an idea about what kinda performance you "can" get and tweaks you "can" do.
PRE hotfix; Extreme Detailsettings, everything maxed, steady 30FPS. This was actually playable allthough a bit stuttery at times. But I got used to it.
SLI not working, forcing AFR2 through inspector causing major artifacting, no matter what SLI compatibility mode (oblivion, stalker, tried some others as well)
Forcing AA through inspector, runs like a dog. No matter what compatibility mode, I'm used to that though, friggin SLI...
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POST hotfix (no xml tweaks); Extreme Detailsettings, everything maxed, can't run a steady 30FPS anymore. (more like in the 20s in open areas)
POST hotfix (framerate unlocked, Vsync on); Extreme Detailsettings, everything maxed, maybe even worse performance compared to framerate locked @ 30FPS.
AA forcing? forget about it, same story like pre hotfix. (for me with my 295/sli anyway)
Now here comes the interesting bit, well for me anyway.
SLI working, forced AFR2 through inspector, NO artifacting even without selecting an SLI compatibility mode. With SLI working and maxed detailsettings I still can't get 60FPS Vsync on steady. 40-50 FPS
So what am I doing now is playing with SLI forced on AFR2, Shadows one step down to High, Trees one step down to High and Foliage to Low. This results in Vsync on 60FPS stutter free gameplay. Was a hassle but I guess that's what you get for having a dual GPU card, can't really decide if I liked the pre hotfix engine more or not, hassle free 30fps locked Extreme Settings was OK as well...
I'm not sure what they changed but they changed something, SLI wasn't working pre-hotfix, period. Well it was "working" but you couldn't look at it, all SLI glitching and artifacting is gone now. Guess I should also post this on the official boards.