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don't think there is a review of a 3D Graphics
Card on the net that doesn't include Quake 3
Arena benchmark scores. Id should think
about doing a benchmark suite for this game that
fully supports the feature!
Let's see how the
MAXX holds up under this type of hard core fun.
Things
are a little bit off at the lower resolution but
look at the curve here. Or should I say
lack thereof. It is only at 1600X1200 that
we see a major drop off in performance and the
32 bit color scores are darn close to the 16
bit. As a side note, we did notice a few
flashing textures during the Q3 testing.
This is probably something that will be resolved
with a driver release and was intermittent, only
showing occasionally.
So,
let's see what we will gain when we put a little
more horsepower behind the MAXX and crank
our P3 up to 750MHz.
Hmm,
stepping out here aren't we? At 1600X1200
we hit the fill rate wall however. The
scores at the highest resolution are the same as
on a 600MHz. processor.
So
we decided to up the fill rate a touch and
overclock the MAXX too!
This
set up gives a GeForce SDR and DDR a run for its
money at the higher resolutions. I also
think there is much room left for improvement
with respect to ATI's OpenGL ICD. Clearly
the MAXX is being held back by the software
drivers because the hardware has more than
enough capability to compete with the fastest
cards on the market today. This is evident
in the 3DMark and D3D scores. Let's
remember that these are first revision drivers
and should be tuned over timed by the folks at
ATI. We hope they follow up in this
regard.
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