ATI All-In-Wonder HD, A Legend Returns
HH Test Setup & FutureMark 3DMark Vantage
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| Hardware: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 (2.93GHz - Dual-Core) MSI P35 Platinum Combo (Intel P35 Express Chipset) 2x1GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 CL 6-6-6-15 - DDR-1300 ATI All-In-Wonder HD 512MB DDR2 Sapphire Radeon HD 3650 512MB GDDR3 GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB GDDR3 |
WD740 "Raptor" HD 10,000 RPM SATA Software: Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 Catalyst 8.6 NVIDIA Forceware 175.19 DirectX Redist (November 2007) Benchmarks Used: 3DMark Vantage Crysis Half-Life 2: Episode Two Unreal Tournament 3 HQV |
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The latest version of Futuremark's synthetic 3D gaming benchmark, 3DMark Vantage, is specifically bound to Windows Vista-based systems because it uses some advanced visual technologies that are only available with DirectX 10, which y isn't available on previous versions of Windows. 3DMark Vantage isn't simply a port of 3DMark06 to DirectX 10 though. With this latest version of the benchmark, Futuremark has incorporated two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, in addition to support for the latest PC hardware. We tested the graphics cards with 3DMark Vantage's default options, which uses a resolution of 1280 x 1024, with no anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering using the "Entry" preset as suggested by the software. |
As we noted in our configuration text above, 3DMark Vantage was run with the "Entry" preset. While we originally ran 3DMark Vantage in its default "Performance" mode, at the conclusion of the benchmark, 3DMark Vantage reported that the results were not a true representation of the card's performance and suggested that the "Entry" setting be used instead. Essentially, 3DMark Vantage's default test was too taxing for the All-In-Wonder HD. To be consistent, we ran all tests with the "Entry" option, as suggested by the software.
With respect the GeForce 8600GTS, the performance margins were broad compared to the All-In-Wonder HD, with the NVIDIA card holding a fair lead in all three segments. With respect to the Sapphire HD 3650, the margins narrowed, but the All-In-Wonder HD trailed the Sapphire card as well. Keep in mind, however, that the Sapphire card is clocked with an 800MHz GPU and 1800MHz of GDDR3, helping the Sapphire card to hold the lead over the All-In-Wonder HD with it's 725MHz GPU and 1200MHz of DDR2. What we can glean from these results is that from a 3D gaming standpoint, the All-In-Wonder HD appears to fall-in where we would expect a graphics card of this caliber. However, we'll have to run more gaming benchmarks before drawing final conclusions.
