Asus AX800 XT (Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition)
Halo & Splinter Cell
 |
|
 Halo |
For many gamers, the release of Halo marked the end of a long wait, since it was originally released as an Xbox exclusive a few years back. No additional patches or tweaks are needed to benchmark with Halo, as Gearbox has included all of the necessary information in their README file. The Halo benchmark runs through four of the cut-scenes from the game, after which the average frame rate is recorded. We patched the game using the latest v1.04 patch and ran this benchmark twice, once at 1024x768 and then again at 1600x1200. Anti-aliasing doesn't work properly with Halo, so all of the test below were run with anti-aliasing disabled. |
Halo clearly belonged to the GeForce 6800 Ultras. At 1024x768, the 6800 Extreme Edition was almost 10 frames per second faster than the AX800 XT, and the standard 6800 Ultra was almost 8 frames per second faster. Even the GeForce 6800 GT, which is much less expensive than the AX800 XT, was able to outpace it at 1024x768. When we ratcheted the resolution up to 1600x1200, the Ultras were once again able to outpace the AX800 XT by considerable margins, but the 6800 GT fell into last place this time around.
 |
|
 Splinter Cell |
Splinter Cell's version 1.2 patch includes three pre-recorded demos and incorporates a previously unavailable benchmarking tool. The demos included with the patch are somewhat limited by CPU performance, however, so we opted for the custom Oil Rig demo created by the folks at Beyond 3D to test with this game. Beyond 3D's demo removes two CPU intensive routines while increasing dependence on Pixel Shader performance. Shaders are used to render realistic looking ocean water surrounding an Oil Rig in the demo, as well as simulating a night vision effect for a brief period. Take note that anti-aliasing doesn't work with Splinter Cell in its current state. Due to this fact, we do not have any AA scores listed in the graphs below. |
The NVIDIA powered cards finished 1 - 2 - 3 in the Splinter Cell benchmark, when run at a resolution of 1024x768, although the spread between the first and last place finishers was only 3.24 frames per second. The landscape changed when the resolution was raised to 1600x1200, however. Here, the AX800 XT finished the test just behind the GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme Edition, and a couple of frames per second ahead of the standard GeForce 6800 Ultra.
