Shuttle's SB81P XPC
UT2004 & Wolfenstein: ET
To start our "real-world" in-game testing, we ran through a batch of time demos with the OpenGL game Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. Wolfenstein: ET is a free, standalone multiplayer game that is based on the original Return to Castle Wolfenstein, that was released a few years back. It uses a heavily modified version of the Quake 3 engine which makes it a very easy to use benchmarking tool. We ran the test using the "Fastest" setting at a low resolution of 640X480, using 16-bit color and textures. Running this test with a high-end graphics card, at these minimal settings, isolates processor and memory performance, without being limited by the graphics subsystem.
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The two systems equipped with DDR1 memory, the Shuttle SB81P XPC and the i875 / Prescott combo, performed at near identical levels, with only .4 frames per second separating the two. However, the i925X powered Abit AA8 DuraMAX with its DDR2 memory pulled ahead of the pack, with a framerate of 131.9 FPS, about 6 frames per second faster then the rest.
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Lastly, we did some benchmarking with Epic's Unreal Tournament 2004. When we tested these systems with UT 2004, we ensured that all of them were being benchmarked with the exact same in-game settings and graphical options, and we dropped the resolution and detail levels way down to isolate CPU and memory performance.
All three of the systems performed similarly in our custom Unreal Tournament 2004 test. The Abit AA8 DuraMAX once again claimed the top spot with a framerate just over 114 frames per second, followed closely behind by the Shuttle SB81P XPC at just below 112 FPS, and then the i875 based test system.
