ATi All In Wonder Radeon 9600 XT
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We used Novalogic's combat helicopter simulator Comanche 4 for our next batch of DirectX tests. Comanche 4 uses DX8 class pixel and vertex shaders to produce some of the realistic visuals used throughout the game. Unlike some of the previous tests though, this benchmark is heavily influenced by CPU and system memory performance, especially at lower resolutions. However, when the resolution is raised and anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering are enabled, the current crop of 3D accelerators tend to slow down quite a bit. |
The lead in the Comanche 4 benchmark changed hands quite a few times. We ran this test at two different resolutions with three different AA and Aniso configurations, for a total of 6 scores. The All-In-Wonder 9600 XT finished in first place in three of the tests, while the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra won the remaining three. We'd give a slight edge to the GeForce in this benchmark, however, as two of the tests that the AIW finished in first place didn't have AA or aniso enabled. When these image enhancing features were turned on, the NVIDIA powered card performed better, especially at 1600x1200.
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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 of Lara jogging through an indoor garden area in 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 the sense of depth and size. We ran our custom demo at a resolution of 1024x768 and then again 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). |
If you've been following the video card scene for the past year or so, you have no doubt heard of NVIDIA's performance issues when running DX9 class games. Our custom Tomb Raider benchmark exposes this weakness by running a portion of the Prague map that utilizes PS 2.0 shaders to produce one of the effects in the scene. Here the All-In-Wonder 9600 XT dominated the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra at both resolutions, regardless of which class of shaders were used, or whether or not AA was enabled.
