Synthetic Benchmarks

To give you some of the performance figures of the Radeon X1950 PRO provided by PowerColor we have been able to use one of the first cards in our new test system. Due to the time constrains we have focused our performance analysis runs towards the Futuremark and AquaMark 3 benchmark suites. These will however provide a good indication on the game play of today's games.

System Specifications

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (Conroe) 1.86GHz Dual Core Processor
• ASUS P5W Digital Home Deluxe (i975X) Mainboard
• Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC2-8000 Dual Channel Memory
• NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256MB Graphics Card
• PowerColor Radeon X1950 PRO 512MB Graphics Card
• Western Digital 320GB Caviar SE 8MB Cache (7.200rpm) Hard Disk
• Zalman ZM460-APS 460W Noiseless (SLI Ready) Power Suppy
• Sony SDM-HX93/B 19" (Black) LCD Monitor
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional incl. SP2 Edition

Now that we know what the benchmark scores will relate to, it is time to dig into the results... We actually started off building a system to get some serious power delivered by the main processor, and opted for the Intel Core 2 Duo to attain that goal. During our benchmarks run we will be using the Catalyst 6.9 drivers unless otherwise specified. As reference we will use a GeForce 7900 GS and the ForceWare 92.91 drivers. So let's run the benchies and see what they bring in terms of performance...

Benchmark Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 7900 GS 256MB	3DMark03 Score
0x AA/Optimal	450/1320MHz (Ref - Single)	14210
4x AA/16x AF	450/1320MHz (Ref - Single)	8162
	Radeon X1950 PRO 512MB	3DMark03 Score
0x AA/Optimal	595/1400MHz (Ref - Single)	14483
4x AA/16x AF	595/1400MHz (Ref - Single)	8319
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

We started the synthetic analysis by making a spin with 3DMark03 which is build around the DirectX 9.0 specifications, although still using quite some DirectX 8.1 features. To compare our results we have used a GeForce 7900 GS as reference. The PowerColor Radeon X1950 PRO clocks down some outstanding scores which are slightly better compared to the GeForce 7900 GS. As 3DMark03 is somehow CPU depending, the scores delivered by both cards are depending somehow a bit on the system itself and not only related to the graphics accelerator unit.

Benchmark Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 7900 GS 256MB	3DMark05 Score
0x AA/Optimal	450/1320MHz (Ref - Single)	6723
4x AA/16x AF	450/1320MHz (Ref - Single)	5398
	Radeon X1950 PRO 512MB	3DMark05 Score
0x AA/Optimal	595/1400MHz (Ref - Single)	9613
4x AA/16x AF	595/1400MHz (Ref - Single)	7684
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

The first benchmark suite to require a DirectX 9.0 compliant hardware with support for Pixel Shaders 2.0 or higher came with the introduction of 3DMark05! What needs to be mentioned is that as of 3DMark05, the graphics processing capabilities are really making the difference on the benchmarks scores. The Radeon X1950 PRO shows it superiority, and leaves the GeForce 7900 GS well behind. Of course it has the edge with the higher clock speeds, and raw processing power. No doubt in our mind that the Radeon X1950 PRO performance should be very close to the GeForce 7900 GT as well.

Benchmark Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 7900 GS 256MB	3DMark06 Score
0x AA/Optimal	450/1320MHz (Ref - Single)	4375
4x AA/16x AF	450/1320MHz (Ref - Single)	N/A
	Radeon X1950 PRO 512MB	3DMark06 Score
0x AA/Optimal	595/1400MHz (Ref - Single)	5396
4x AA/16x AF	595/1400MHz (Ref - Single)	4160
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Lastly, we have 3DMark06 which was only released at the beginning of this year. The 3DMark06 tests include all new HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, SM2.0 graphics tests, AI and physics driven single and multiple cores or processor CPU tests and a collection of comprehensive feature tests to reliably measure next generation gaming performance today. Again the Radeon X1950 PRO takes the lead and reaches a higher score. We would also like to stress the fact that the NVIDIA hardware is not capable of running both HDR and AntiAliasing at the same, whereas the Radeon X1950 PRO is handling it with ease.

Benchmark Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 7900 GS 256MB	AquaMark 3 Score
0x AA/4x AF	450/1320MHz (Ref - Single)	97756
4x AA/16x AF	450/1320MHz (Ref - Single)	75601
	Radeon X1950 PRO 512MB	AquaMark 3 Score
0x AA/4x AF	595/1400MHz (Ref - Single)	97671
4x AA/16x AF	595/1400MHz (Ref - Single)	82673
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Ending the first synthetic analysis, AquaMark 3 was used to give a final impression on the performance difference between the GeForce 7900 GS and the new Radeon X1950 PRO graphics card. The Radeon X1950 PRO edition nails down an excellent score but the GeForce 7900 GS does come close. Although when enabling AntiAliasing, the true power of the Radeon X1950 PRO surfaces. Since AquaMark 3 has been around for quite some time, the main driving force behind relies a lot on the CPU power.