For our next batch of tests we
used the synthetic DirectX 8 benchmark from MadOnion (now
Futuremark), 3DMark2001 SE (Build 330). The "MaxFX" gaming engine, from Remedy's very popular Max
Payne, is used to simulate actual in-game environments.
3DMark2001 makes use of DirectX 8
Pixel and Vertex shaders, and if you've ever looked at
3DMark2001's detailed results, you'll know
that this benchmark is broken up into groups of "High" and "Low" quality
tests. The final score is generated by taking the
results of these
tests and adding them together using this formula:
As we see here again, the
Ti4600 laying the smack down on the RADEON's at the lowest
settings, but as soon as we crank up the heat, the
RADEON's take over. It really is amazing the marks
these R9500's can hit even at their highest settings.
If we look at the 1024x768 setting, 6XAA for the RADEON's
is outperforming the Ti4600 at 4XAA. That is quite a
feat right there. At 1600x1200 with 4XAA, we can see that RADEON's outperform the Ti4600 by an astounding 75%!
All this in the "budget" sector. One word comes to
mind, "Wow".
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Comanche 4 - DirectX 8.1 Performance
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Shader Goodness |
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Next up, we have Novalogic's
Combat Helicopter simulator, Comanche 4. Comanche 4
also uses DirectX8 Pixel and Vertex shaders, and is a useful
tool for testing overall system performance. This
benchmark is very CPU dependant, so don't be turned off by
what look like relative low frame rates.
As mentioned above these tests
are very CPU dependent so the graphics card is not relied
upon heavily. One thing to note here is that the
RADEON's are consistently beating up on the Ti4600 at higher
settings, but also up to this point, the Gigabyte
outperforms the Sapphire in every benchmark but a few, albeit
by very small margins. In any event, I think it's easy to
see that we're going to have a newly crowned budget video
card king.
Serious Sam & Quake 3
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