[ QUOTE ]
is the diff b/w med, high and v high really that great?
[/ QUOTE ]
There are some comparison screen shots of the various settings here:
Crysis Tweak Guide
There's a definite difference between Medium and High, but not so much between High and Very High. There's LOTS of different effects going on in this game (as you can see from the Tweak Guide), and you can pick and choose which effects to maximize for the performance of your rig.
I've found that I prefer a slightly higher frame rate, so I drop down to 1680x1050 to play Crysis, as that bumps me up into the low 40's with everything at High except Shaders (Medium). Sadly, that one (Shaders) is the one that makes the most difference.
Also, as a side note, even though I don't have a second 8800 installed, it wouldn't make any difference. To make the ship date, SLI support was left out and the game only supports a single card for now. Crytek will issue a patch in the near future to add SLI support... so maybe those lucky few who have dual 8800's will see some improvement. I won't bother to upgrade to SLI, though -- I'm just going to wait for the D9E, or perhaps the second gen D9E.
Jester