Why?...

Why do people run games at higher resolutions when they could run them in lower resolutions and they would run a lot faster?

probly because they think that if it is at a higher rosoloution there gonna make more money because people want stuff that look kinda real

Games look better at higher resolutions.

No, i mean when you are setting up a game you have the choice of which resolution you would like to run the game in. well why dont people use 1024x768 more? wouldnt it look the same as long as they set they're monitor reslution to the same? why do people chose to run games like far cry at higher resolutions at the cost of lower frame rates?

why do they look better? less compression of the graphics?

I find that some people reallly like to show off the "power" of their PC.

Personally, I don't mind maxing out the graphics when I first play the game, but after that I do fine tune it for better playability.

However, I have noticed that with UT2k4, if I pump up the graphic setting to the max, I can run around a lot quicker. However, i have noticed a bit of graphic lag if I am running in a big open space.