Gaming Benchmarks (Cont.)

Let's continue with the next games we have selected, being Quake 4 and Half-Live 2. Both games which are very popular amongst gamers and that will give a good idea on the performance delivered by the Gainward BLISS 8600 GTS Golden Sample graphics accelerator. Again we have one game using the DirectX and the other using the OpenGL technology. This has some impact on the performance and gaming experience with these games. The goal of each technology is to provide stunning gaming experience with awesome looking visual graphics and physics. So, load em up, and start your 3D engines...

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 internally; it instead outsourced game development to the capable minds at Raven Software, who have turned it into a fantastic looking game with a great single-player campaign. The multiplayer function, 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 8600 GTS	BLISS 8600 GTS GS
No AA/No AF	108.2 fps	113.2 fps
2x AA/-- AF	85.4 fps	88.3 fps
4x AA/-- AF	66.8 fps	69.8 fps
8x AF/-- AF	44.1 fps	46.7 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. Since both games are using the same 3D engine developed by id Software it doesn't come as a surprise. Both games use the OpenGL technology to bring the action alive. The frame rates are showing the same trend between both cards, but clearly showing the BLISS 8600 GTS Golden Sample version as being superior. Also when we up the stakes by enabling the anti-aliasing feature, the Golden Sample edition comes forward as the winner and able to deliver smoother game play and sharper visual sceneries. In the end quite normal as both cards feature the same G84 graphics core, while Gainward's Golden Sample is set at higher clock speeds and thus delivering better gaming performance.

Gaming Results - 1600x1200 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8600 GTS	BLISS 8600 GTS GS
4x AA/-- AF	49.0 fps	53.5 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.
Gaming Results - 2560x1600 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8600 GTS	BLISS 8600 GTS GS
4x AA/-- AF	22.1 fps	24.9 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Looking upon the figures with the widescreen HD resolution, we can draw the same conclusion. The Gainward BLISS 8600 GTS Golden Sample edition does provide higher frame rate consistently, and can remains doing so when we start increasing the anti-aliasing capabilities. Again the stunning game play keeps amazing us, and with that said Quake 4 looks impressive with the BLISS 8600 GTS accelerator provided by Gainward. If you are a looking for the best visual quality available today, and you are into the HD gaming then we would point towards the GeForce 8800 series. Although if you are on a smaller budget then look no further and think of the GeForce 8600 GTS, and this Golden Sample edition from Gainward...

Valve Software Half-Life 2

As we also wanted to include another famous game we opted for Half-Life 2, a well know game amongst the gaming community. Half-Life 2 is an immersive first person shooter from the developers at Valve Software, the creators of the original Half-Life game. Building off of the riveting storyline and game play of the debut title, Half-Life 2 pushes the envelope even further and has once again raised the bar of the first person shooter genre. Using Valve's own built from the ground up Source engine, Half-Life 2 offers interactive physical environments, intense realism and impressive graphics, all bundled together with a masterfully crafted storyline. Players once again assume the role of scientist Gordon Freeman, but this time Gordon finds himself in a post apocalyptic environment.

Gaming Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8600 GTS	BLISS 8600 GTS GS
No AA/No AF	143.6 fps	153.7 fps
2x AA/4x AF	129.3 fps	140.0 fps
4x AA/8x AF	72.1 fps	81.8 fps
8x AF/16x AF	39.2 fps	44.8 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Who doesn't know Half-Life? Yeah what a question, of course everyone knows the game. And yes, although not being one of our favorite games, we actually changed our minds and also took Half-Life 2 for a spin with the Gainward BLISS 8600 GTS Golden Sample graphics card. At first we have to say that the performance was about on par with the reference GeForce 8600 GTS, but when we enabled the visual goodies in the game it became quite obvious that the Golden Sample is the card to beat. This game is based on the Source engine from Valve and is quite shader intensive, with the GeForce 8600 GTS able to handle the processing of the different sceneries. The game looks very good with the GeForce 8600 GTS, and is rendering the visual sceneries and does offer very smooth game play.

Gaming Results - 1600x1200 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8600 GTS	BLISS 8600 GTS GS
No AA/No AF	126.9 fps	134.0 fps
2x AA/4x AF	101.7 fps	110.9 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.
Gaming Results - 2560x1600 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8600 GTS	BLISS 8600 GTS GS
No AA/No AF	72.1 fps	78.2 fps
2x AA/4x AF	38.3 fps	41.5 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

As you are now getting used to we also increased the gaming resolution to pull down the frame rates reported by both video cards. Once again the GeForce 8600 GTS is doing great for a mid-range card, with the Golden Sample going one step further. With Half-Life 2 the memory bus interface is quite important as Valve designed this game with the Radeon X1900 series in mind having an internal 512-bit bus, although only communicating at 256-bit with the memory chips. Since the GTS comes only with a 128-bit memory interface it doesn't need a lot of details to understand the drop in performance once anti-aliasing is enabled. It would have been great to see a 256-bit memory bus on the GeForce 8600 series, as that might have changed quite a lot on the performance results...