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 NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT graphics accelerator. 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. Load em up, and start the 3D engines...

EgoSoft X³: Reunion

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.

Gaming Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 7900 GT	GeForce 7950 GT
No AA/No AF	64.846 fps	70.928 fps
2x AA/4x AF	58.293 fps	65.529 fps
4x AA/8x AF	51.780 fps	59.622 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Looking at the X3: Reunion game, the results are in favor of the NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT accelerator. The GeForce 7950 GT shows clearly to be in the winning position and marks higher frame rate scores consistently. When we go enabling the AntiAliasing functionality, the GeForce 7900 GT can't keep up and starts to fall behind. The GeForce 7950 GT accelerator shows of its real potential by showing stunning game play results and performance figures. If we look at the technology behind the game, namely a 3D engine based upon the DirectX 9.0 specifications it is clear that the GeForce 7950 GT takes the lead on this one. And although both cards are powered by the same graphics processor, the advantage is obvious the higher clock speeds due to the small voltage increase.

Raven Software Quake 4

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 actually developed by id Software itself but instead it outsourced the 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.

Gaming Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 7900 GT	GeForce 7950 GT
No AA	157.0 fps	173.4 fps
2x AA	133.2 fps	154.3 fps
4x AA	99.3 fps	115.7 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

When looking at the Quake 4 gaming results we can see that these follow the same logic as we have encountered with Doom 3. As both games are using the same 3D engine developed by id Software based upon the OpenGL technology. The frame rates are showing the same trend between both cards, but clearly showing the NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT as being superior. Once we up the stakes by enabling the AntiAaliasing feature, the GeForce 7950 GT does proof to have the advantage. Again the stunning game play keeps amazing us, and with that said Quake 4 is impressive.