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Head-to-Head Performance
With Tomb Raider: AOD |
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Lara is Back! As Crappy as Ever! |
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Tomb
Raider: AOD
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Although Tomb Raider: Angel
of Darkness won't be winning any "Game of the Year"
awards, it is one of the more advanced DirectX games
currently available. We've recorded a custom demo
run of Lara jogging through a indoor garden area of the
"Prague3" map. When using the Pixel Shader 2.0 code
path, this area of the game utilizes a DOF (depth of
field) blurring effect to enhance your sense of depth
and size. We ran our custom demo at 1024x768 and at
1600x1200 using both the Pixel Shader 1.4 and 2.0 code
paths (with and without 4x anti-aliasing in the PS 2.0
tests). |
After the somewhat disappointing
showing in the Wolfenstein benchmarks, we're sure the
fanATics among you will be happy to see these Tomb Raider:
Angel of Darkness scores. With the exception of the
Pixel Shader 1.4 test at 1024x768 where the 5950 Ultra
barely slid by the 9800 XT, and the same test at 1600x1200
where the 5700 Ultra nudged past the 9600 XT, the Asus built
Radeons simply outclassed the NVIDIA powered cards. If
you are seeking proof that NVIDIA needs to coerce more
performance from their parts executing Pixel Shader 2.0
code, look no further.
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Overclocking With The Asus Radeon XTs |
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Fast
is Good. Faster is Better! |
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Asus
Smart Doctor
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custom, copper / aluminum coolers, variable speed fans,
and bright orange PCBs, these Asus built Radeon XTs were
just begging to be overclocked. There are a
variety of different tools available to do the job, like
Rage3D Tweak or PowerStrip, but we opted for Asus own
Smart Doctor Utility. With Smart Doctor, users can
monitor voltages, temperatures and fan speeds, as well
as overclock the GPU core and on-board memory. We
found the Smart Doctor utility to be very stable and easy to
use. It's not quite as sleek as having ATi's
dynamic "Overdrive" feature, but it should satiate
anyone looking to push their card beyond its rated
speed. Unfortunately, Asus used a different method
than ATi to monitor temps, fan speeds and voltages,
which is incompatible with the new Overdrive feature
that debuted in the Catalyst 3.8 drivers. |
We raised the core and memory
clock speeds on both of the Asus Radeon 9x00 XTs until we begun
to see visual anomalies during the benchmarks. Both
cards were actually capable of higher speeds and remaining
"stable", but we were looking for the maximum clock speeds
attainable
without affecting image quality. In the end, we were
able to take the 9800 XT's core up to 435MHz from its
default speed of 405MHz, and its memory from 728MHz DDR
(364MHz actual) to 784MHz DDR (392MHz actual). The
Asus Radeon 9800 XT's final overclocked speed was a bit of a
letdown after seeing our "ATi Built" card hit 455MHz /
800MHz, but you mileage may vary. Keep in mind we were
using an engineering sample. Retail ready parts may
very well hit higher speeds. The Asus Radeon 9600 XT
was a somewhat better overclocker, hitting levels similar to
our built by ATi Radeon 9600 XT. With the Asus 9600 XT
we settled for a core clock speed of 576MHz with 668MHz DDR
(334MHz actual) memory clock. The performance gains we
achieved with the cards overclocked are represented in the
graph above.
Asus has done an excellent job
with their Radeon 9800 XT/TVD and Radeon 9600 XT/TVD.
These are two of the most feature packed products in their
respective categories, with full ViVo functionality and the
inherent feature set of their Radeon GPUs, rivaled only by
the ATi built "All-In-Wonders". Both cards are for
sale at multiple on-line resellers at competitive price
points as well, hovering around $195.00+ for 9600 XT and
$485.00+ for the 9800 XT (non-TVD versions without ViVo are
also available at lower prices). Their bundles were
top notch, and both cards are backed by one of the most
respected manufacturers in the business. We were,
however, let down a bit when we overclocked these cards and
aren't thrilled that ATi's Overdrive feature won't work with
them either. In the end though, when you factor in the
features, bundles and build quality, you'd be hard pressed
to find better products at the moment. We're giving
both the Asus Radeon 9800 XT/TVD and Asus Radeon 9600 XT/TVD
solid 9s
on the HotHardware Heat Meter...
There are a ton of folks just like you in
HotHardware's PC Hardware Forum! Check It Out!
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