To benchmark
with Splinter Cell, we used the Oil Rig demo created by the
folks at Beyond 3D. Like Gun Metal, this test is heavily
dependant on Pixel Shader performance. Shaders are used to
render the realistic looking ocean water that surrounds an
Oil Rig in the demo.
As we've mentioned in the past, Antialiasing doesn't
work with Splinter cell (at least with the current
version). Due to this fact, we do not have any AA scores
listed in the graphs below.
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Benchmarks
With Splinter Cell |
What a Cool Game |
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Its higher core clock speed and
increased memory help the V9950 Ultra take a firm 8-10% lead
over the standard GeForce FX 5900, at both resolutions in
Splinter Cell. However, the Radeon 9800 Pro took the
overall lead here. At 1024x768, the Radeon pulled
ahead by a fraction of a frame per second, but at 1600x1200
it was a full 5.5% faster. Going from the v44.67
drivers to the newer v45.23s gave the GeForce FX 5900 a nice
boost. There's probably more performance to be had
here with future driver optimizations from NVIDIA.
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Head-to-Head Performance
With
Comanche 4 |
Did
anyone see the Comanche Bike on American Chopper?
PHAT! |
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We used
Novalogic's combat helicopter simulator Comanche 4 for our
next batch of DirectX benchmarks. Comanche 4 uses DX8 class
pixel and vertex shaders to produce some of the realistic
visuals used throughout the game. Unlike the previous
tests, this benchmark is heavily influenced by CPU and
system memory performance, especially at lower resolutions.
However, when the resolution is raised and AA and Aniso are
enabled, the current crop of video cards tend to slow down
quite a bit.
The Radeon 9800 Pro and V9950
Ultra swap the lead in Comanche 4, depending on what
resolution or AA level is used. At 1024x768 without AA
the V9950 Ultra managed to squeak by the 9800 Pro, but the
Radeon pulled ahead when AA and Aniso were enabled.
Things flip-flop at 1600x1200, where the Radeon was top dog
without any anti-aliasing enabled. With AA and aniso
enabled at the higher resolution the V9950 Ultra led by a
hefty margin in some tests.
UT2003 & Quake 3 Benchmarks
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