Gaming Benchmarks (Cont.)

Let's continue with the next games we have selected, being X³: Reunion and Quake 4. Both games who are very popular amongst gamers and that will give a good idea on the performance delivered by the PowerColor Radeon X1950 XTX graphics card. Again we have one game using the DirectX and the other using the OpenGL technology. This will have some impact on the performance and gaming experience in these games.

Following up on our gaming overview, we use one of the newer games which goes by the name, X³: Reunion. This is a sequel to the award winning X²: The Threat game. Quite some extensive development has gone into the X³ engine, making use of DirectX 9.0 technology, to create dramatic visual effects and stunningly realistic starships. Coupled with the massively enhanced artificial life system, X³: Reunion will present players with an ever changing, evolving universe; where a players action really can shape the future of the universe.

X³: Reunion - 1280x1024 Gaming Results

Gaming Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.56GHz - 2GB RAM
	Radeon X1950 XTX	GeForce 7900 GT
No AA/No AF	87.902 fps	62.662 fps
2x AA/4x AF	80.297 fps	56.967 fps
4x AA/8x AF	76.749 fps	51.252 fps
6x AA/16X AF	75.329 fps	N/A

What do these gaming results show us? Let's start by saying that the Radeon X1950 XTX is in favor. Both cards do somehow equally perform relation wise, with the PowerColor Radeon X1950 XTX putting down the higher frame rate scores. When we go enabling the AA functionality, the GeForce 7900 GT falls behind a bit quicker in relation to the Radeon X1950 XTX, making the gap a tad bigger. Once again the Radeon X1950 XTX accelerator shows of it real potential by showing stunning game play results and performance figures.

As we want to have a good mix of games, we just had to give Quake 4 a spot in the gaming analysis. Quake 4 is based upon id Software's revolutionary Doom 3 technology. Furthermore, Quake 4 wasn't even developed by id Software internally; it instead outsourced game development to the capable minds at Raven Software, who have turned in a fantastic looking game with a great single-player campaign. The multiplayer, however, is underwhelming. Quake was among the first PC shooters to let you take your multiplayer matches onto the Internet, and over the years, the series has become synonymous with great technology and exciting multiplayer.

Quake 4 - 1280x1024 Gaming Results

Gaming Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.56GHz - 2GB RAM
	Radeon X1950 XTX	GeForce 7900 GT
No AA	147.7 fps	157.1 fps
2x AA	139.4 fps	133.2 fps
4x AA	121.0 fps	99.4 fps

The Quake 4 gaming results show much similarities towards what we saw with Doom 3. This shouldn't surprise you as both are based upon the same 3D engine developed by id Software. The frame rates are very close between both cards, but once we up the stakes by enabling the AA feature, the Radeon X1950 XTX pulls away. Although we have to notice that NVIDIA still remains the champion when it comes to the OpenGL support and implementation. It is all up to ATI to try and close down that gap, cause on Quake 4 I wouldn't be surprised to see the GeForce 7950 GX2 still as the card to beat.