BFG GeForce FX 5700 Ultra

The BFG GeForce FX 5700 Ultra - Page 5

The BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5700 Ultra
128MBs, AGP 8X, and the Muscle to Get the Job Done!

By, Jeff Bouton
December 11, 2003

Performances Comparisons With Novalogic's Comanche 4
Combat Helicopter Sim


Comanche 4

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 some of 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 anti-aliasing and Anisotropic filtering are enabled, the current crop of video cards tend to slow down quite a bit.

               BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5700 Ultra

Comanche 4 proved to be a stressful test for all cards involved.  While typically considered a benchmark that is CPU limited, once features are enabled in the video card's drivers, it does a good job of making a video card work hard to push every pixel.  The CPU limitation can easily be seen with the No AA test where all cards tested hovered in the low to mid 60 frames per second.  Once we enabled 4X AA we began to see a slide with the two mid-range cards, with each slipping roughly 10FPS.  When we enabled Anisotropic Filtering and 4X AA, both cards dropped significantly, although the slippage was more so with the 5700 Ultra, falling almost 23FPS.  When we switched to 6X AA, the 5700 Ultra regained some ground, besting the 9600XT by 8FPS.  It looks like the only card to take on all tests without breaking a sweat was the Radeon 9800XT.

               BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5700 Ultra

Once we increased the resolution to 1600x1200, the BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5700 Ultra did well.  With the No AA pass we saw a lead of 3FPS over the 9600XT, but once we enabled anti-aliasing, the trend shifted significantly.  The 9600XT did gain some ground in the 4X AA + Aniso test, but ultimately could not keep up with the 5700 Ultra.

Benchmarks / Comparison With Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
Q3 Engine Based Freebie


Wolfenstein: ET

Wolfenstein: ET is a free, standalone multiplayer game that is based on the original Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which was released a few years back.  It uses a heavily modified version of Quake 3 engine which makes it a very easy to use benchmarking tool.  We created a custom demo and used the built-in timedemo feature to check each card's frame rate.  The tests below were run at 1024x768 and 1600x1200, with out anti-aliasing, with 4X AA and again with 4X AA and 8X anisotropic filtering.

               BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5700 Ultra

              BFG Asylum GeForce FX 5700 Ultra

The Wolfenstein: ET benchmark typically run well with GeForce video cards.  In all phases of the tests, regardless of resolution, the 5700 Ultra from BFG held a firm lead over the Radeon 9600XT.  At the maximum setting of 4X AA with 8X Anisotropic filtering, the BFG GeForce FX 5700 Ultra pulled ahead of the 9600XT by over 20 FPS.

Tomb Raider: AOD, Overclocking & Our Final Analysis


Tags:  GeForce, BFG, 5700, Ultra, force, fx, 570, ULT

Related content