Mainstream GeForce 8 Series Round-Up: MSI & Gigabyte
Performance Comparisons with 3DMark06 v1.1.0
Hardware Used:
NVIDIA Forceware v93.71/158.22
Benchmarks Used:
DirectX
OpenGL
The HotHardware Test Systems
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Powered
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
(2.6GHz)
ASUS M2A-VM HDMI
(AMD 690G)
2GB PC24200 DDR2
(2x1GB)
GIGABYTE GV-NX86S256H
MSI NX8600GT-T2D256H
MSI NX8500GT-TD256H
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro
GeForce 7600 GT2
On-board Ethernet
On-board Audio
WD 74GB "Raptor" DD
10,000 RPM SATA
Relevant Software:
Windows
XP Professional SP2
DirectX 9.0c (August Redist.)
nForce Drivers v9.35
ATI Catalyst v7.4
3DMark06 v1.1.0
F.E.A.R. v1.08
Half Life 2: Lost Coast
Quake 4 v1.3
Prey
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3DMark06 |
3DMark06 is the latest addition to the 3DMark franchise. This version differs from 3Dmark05 in a number of ways, and now includes not only Shader Model 2.0 tests, but Shader Model 3.0 and HDR tests as well. Some of the assets from 3DMark05 have been re-used, but the scenes are now rendered with much more geometric detail and the shader complexity is vastly increased as well. Max shader length in 3DMark05 was 96 instructions, while 3DMark06 ups the number of instructions to 512. 3DMark06 also employs much more lighting, and there is extensive use of soft shadows. With 3DMark06, Futuremark has also updated how the final score is tabulated. In this latest version of the benchmark, SM 2.0 and HDR / SM3.0 tests are weighted and the CPU score is factored into the final tally as well. |
In all three segments of 3DMark06 testing, each card scaled similarly. The Gigabyte GeForce 8600GTS was the front runner, with the ATI Radeon X1950 Pro a close second in the Default and SM 3.0/HDR test. With SM 2.0 testing, the MSI NX8600GT took the second spot behind the 8600GTS, with the Radeon X1950 Pro easily topping the 8500GT and 7600GT.
