Gaming Benchmarks (Cont.)

Since we are having fun playing with the Gainward BLISS 8800 GTS video card, it was only logic to include some extra game titles. Since F.E.A.R. has the possibility to be run as a benchmark, we just downloaded the multiplayer demo version and took it for a spin. And next to that we also opted for Prey, a newer title but also based on the enhanced 3D engine used by Doom 3. So again we meet an OpenGL based 3D engine set against a DirectX supporting 3D engine. Yeah, you got that right; both have their strengths and extensive processing features. Either way both technologies have one purpose, to bring you the best looking games you can think of...and more!

Monolith F.E.A.R.

To finish of our gaming performance we couldn't just leave F.E.A.R. out of our real gaming experience results. F.E.A.R. is a shooter that captures the sensation of being in wild and desperate firefights like no other game before it, and it's an incredible, kinetic, almost exhausting experience from start to finish. More than that, though, is the fact that it's also one of the most atmospheric and creepy games ever made, as well as one of the most intense shooters that you'll play this year. It has been developed by Monolith, using their 3D gaming engine for rendering the scenery. To this end they created an entirely new physics system built upon technology from Havok and a renderer built around the concepts of materials, shaders and meshes.

Gaming Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	BLISS 7950 GT (2x, SLI)	BLISS 8800 GTS (Single)
No AA/No AF	69 / 111 / 204	56 / 91 / 163
2x AA/4x AF	50 / 84 / 152	41 / 66 / 117
4x AA/8x AF	39 / 67 / 131	32 / 55 / 104
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.
Gaming Results - 1600x1200 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	BLISS 7950 GT (2x, SLI)	BLISS 8800 GTS (Single)
No AA/No AF	55 / 84 / 159	43 / 67 / 120
2x AA/4x AF	37 / 66 / 110	29 / 48 / 82
4x AA/8x AF	23 / 48 / 103	19 / 39 / 75
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

What is fear...? Somehow you all know, but if you don't then you can find out while playing F.E.A.R. which stands for First Encounter Assault Recon. There are two things which make F.E.A.R. stand out from the crowd, a gimmicky but genuinely fun twist and amazing graphics. Performance wise the Gainward BLISS 8800 GTS is clearly lacking that extra notch of performance when it comes to raw gaming power compared to the SLI config we put against it. The BLISS 8800 GTS can't keep up from the start, but closes the gap a bit when AntiAliasing and Anisotropic Filtering are enabled. The gaming experience comes close between both setups, certainly due to the superior visual impressions left by the Gainward BLISS 8800 GTS card.

Gaming Results - 2560x1600 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	BLISS 7950 GT (2x, SLI)	BLISS 8800 GTS (Single)
No AA/No AF	26 / 42 / 67	20 / 30 / 51
2x AA/4x AF	17 / 31 / 55	14 / 24 / 39
4x AA/8x AF	8 / 19 / 32	7 / 13 / 25
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Upping the stakes with going for the widescreen gaming we can see that the figures on the frame rates are closer together. Still on top is however the system equipped with two GeForce 7950 GT's running in SLI able to spit out a higher performance all together. However you can't say a bad word about the Gainward BLISS 8800 GTS as it can do almost the same but with only one GPU, less memory and being clocked lower. The game play isn't that smooth with all graphical settings enabled, but that goes for both setups. We could image that a Golden Sample edition would be a good idea with a higher clock speed to overtake the multi-GPU enabled system.

Human Head Prey

And last but not the least, Prey tells the story of Tommy, a Cherokee garage mechanic stuck on a reservation going nowhere. Abducted along with his people to a menacing mothership orbiting Earth, he sets out to save himself and his girlfriend and eventually his planet. In Prey, players enter a living spaceship which enslaves alien races and devours humans for lunch. A unique twist on the first person shooter genre, Prey features such innovations as the ability to walk on walls, manipulate gravity and perform a spirit walk by leaving your physical body behind. Designed by Human Head (under direction of 3D Realms), the game Prey features full online support for up to eight players, and utilizes the game's play innovations for unique multiplayer experiences.

Gaming Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	BLISS 7950 GT (2x, SLI)	BLISS 8800 GTS (Single)
No AA/-- AF	155.7	138.1
2x AA/-- AF	138.2	111.0
4x AA/-- AF	127.5	99.4
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.
Gaming Results - 1600x1200 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	BLISS 7950 GT (2x, SLI)	BLISS 8800 GTS (Single)
No AA/-- AF	126.8	103.9
2x AA/-- AF	117.5	84.6
4x AA/-- AF	104.3	73.5
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

With Prey falling within the same range of Doom 3, due to being build upon the same 3D engine it comes as no surprise that the new Gainward BLISS 8800 GTS edition performs a bit less than the multi-GPU setup. The game play however is outstanding with excellent image quality, and we would like to point out that this is really one of the biggest advantages of the GeForce 8800 series. With the G80 chip comes visual clarity and improved image quality which is exactly the point of interest by many as somehow it wasn't the strongest point of NVIDIA. Well you can be sure that they heard that and did something about it. With the BLISS 8800 GTS you can experience this new world of visual improvements.

Gaming Results - 2560x1600 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	BLISS 7950 GT (2x, SLI)	BLISS 8800 GTS (Single)
No AA/-- AF	68.4	53.6
2x AA/-- AF	47.3	39.9
4x AA/-- AF	35.7	32.7
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

The gaming experience is somehow similar to Doom 3, but it does deliver just that little extra. With Prey we have the ability to enabled both AntiAliasing and Anisotropic Filtering which adds some extra complexity and processing for the graphics processor. On top of that you can set those awesome HD resolutions and still enable all those extra features. Doing so brings both configurations a bit closer together in terms of performance. Although the BLISS 8800 GTS does a great job and does look better visually the frame rates are trailing behind the multi-GPU setup. However it isn't by much the game play experience is almost the same.