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Benchmark Comparison
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Benchmark System Configuration
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| Processor |
AMD Duron 750 @ 950 MHz |
| Motherboard |
Asus A7V VIA KT-133 |
| Memory |
256MB IBM PC-133 |
| Storage |
10GB Maxtor ATA/100 7200rpm
32x Toshiba CD-ROM |
| Operating System, Drivers |
Microsoft Windows Millennium
Microsoft DirextX 8.0
Promise ATA Storage Driver 1.6b33
VIA Chipset/AGP 4.29v
nVidia Video Detonator 7.52 |
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Video Cards Tested
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Creative Labs TNT-2 Ultra 32mb
Creative Labs GeForce256 SDR 32mb
Creative Labs GeForce256 DDR
nVidia Reference GeForce-2 MX 32mb
Guillemot Hercules GeForce-2 GTS 32mb
nVidia Reference GeForce-2 Pro 64mb
nVidia Reference GeForce2 Ultra 64mb |
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Benchmark Software
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Quake3 Retail Release
Demo1, High Quality Mode |
Unreal Tournament v4.36
Reverend's Thunder Demo |
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Quake 3
Perhaps the most popular game ever, ID Software’s Quake3 highly optimised 3D rendering engine
offers an excellent OpenGL benchmark implementation. The default Demo1 map rendered with "High Quality"
settings is utilised to better determine the maximum performance characteristics of each tested video card. The
only settings varied between each test are resolution and colour depth. To further aid in benchtest accuracy, all
final results scores are a composite average of three rendering passes.
Quake 3, 16-bit High Quality
|
640x480x16 |
800x600x16 |
1024x768x16 |
1600x1200x16 |
| TNT-2 Ultra |
84.8 |
76.4 |
53.9 |
23.2 |
| GF256 SDR |
98.5 |
96.6 |
72.1 |
28.6 |
| GF256DDR |
101.8 |
98.1 |
82.3 |
42.9 |
| GF2 MX |
103.3 |
98.5 |
79.1 |
35.7 |
| GF2 GTS |
106.1 |
105.9 |
103.7 |
63.4 |
| GF2 Pro |
106.3 |
106.2 |
104.7 |
68.5 |
| GF2 Ultra |
107.1 |
106.8 |
105.6 |
82.3 |
Quake 3, 32-bit High Quality
|
640x480x32 |
800x600x32 |
1024x768x32 |
1600x1200x32 |
| TNT-2 Ultra |
77.3 |
50.4 |
34.5 |
13.8 |
| GF256 SDR |
89.5 |
79.8 |
52.6 |
17.9 |
| GF256DDR |
98.7 |
90.4 |
64.8 |
28.5 |
| GF2 MX |
97.9 |
84.7 |
57.4 |
20.1 |
| GF2 GTS |
103.5 |
102.8 |
88.6 |
37.2 |
| GF2 Pro |
104.7 |
103.2 |
94.7 |
40.2 |
| GF2 Ultra |
106.3 |
105.8 |
104.9 |
55.9 |
Each of the cards tested offered more than enough performance for acceptable low-resolution
game-play. However, the situation sharply changes as resolution and colour-depth increases. At 1600x1200, the TNT-2
Ultra, GeForce256 SDR, and GeForce-2 MX lack the memory bandwidth needed to sustain a playable frame rate. The
GF256 DDR fares slightly better, but still falls well short of the GeForce-2 GTS-based cards. The only card even
capable of offering a truly enjoyable frame rate at 1600x1200x32 is the GeForce-2 Ultra. The other GF-2 DDR cards
are moderately playable at this level, but the performance often falls well below the minimum desired frame rate
of 30 fps.
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Unreal Tournament
GT Interactive’s Unreal Tournament offers an excellent benchmark test for DirectX performance.
The D3D rendering engine available with patch version 4.36 is utilised for optimum performance. All testing is
performed using the default configuration, as only the resolution and colour depth is altered for each test. As
with Quake3, the final result scores are a composite of three rendering passes. The particular benchmark being
employed for this testing is Reverend’s "Thunder" test map.
Unreal Tournament, 16-bit
|
640x480x16 |
800x600x16 |
1024x768x16 |
1280x1024x16 |
| TNT-2 Ultra |
71.8 |
69.5 |
57.1 |
37.4 |
| GF256 SDR |
72.8 |
69.8 |
65.4 |
47.6 |
| GF256DDR |
72.9 |
70.0 |
66.7 |
53.4 |
| GF2 MX |
73.1 |
71.2 |
67.9 |
51.5 |
| GF2 GTS |
74.4 |
72.9 |
70.1 |
65.6 |
| GF2 Pro |
74.8 |
73.1 |
71.1 |
68.6 |
| GF2 Ultra |
75.3 |
75.2 |
73.6 |
70.5 |
Unreal Tournament, 32-bit
| |
640x480x32 |
800x600x32 |
1024x768x32 |
1280x1024x32 |
| TNT-2 Ultra |
69.7 |
58.3 |
34.1 |
21.9 |
| GF256 SDR |
69.9 |
66.0 |
49.8 |
26.8 |
| GF256DDR |
70.5 |
68.2 |
56.3 |
32.4 |
| GF2 MX |
70.7 |
68.5 |
53.1 |
29.3 |
| GF2 GTS |
71.8 |
70.1 |
66.9 |
36.2 |
| GF2 Pro |
72.1 |
70.8 |
67.2 |
36.7 |
| GF2 Ultra |
72.9 |
71.2 |
69.3 |
39.2 |
UT proves to offer a somewhat different analysis of the performance characteristics at the
low-resolution edge of the spectrum, as the older TNT-2 Ultra offers nearly the same performance as the GF-2 Ultra.
To contrast, the high-resolution results are more representative of the earlier Quake 3 returns. Only the GeForce-2
GTS-based cards are capable of offering enough sustained frames per second for enjoyable game-play. However, it
is disappointing that none of the cards tested were capable of an average of 40+ frames per second at 1280x1024x32.
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Conclusion . . .
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