Gaming Benchmarks

As we saw the synthetic benchmark results, the next logical step is to dive into the real gaming performance of the PowerColor Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme edition video card. As reference we will use a standard GeForce 8800 GTS setup to check the performance differences. Each setup is going to run each game at different resolution settings using a variety of anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering 3D effects. We are using a variety of well known games which are quite popular amongst the gamer community. So in effect we are stuffing both cards in the same system, using the same settings and spending some time playing games and performing tests on the following game titles, let's check what we got...

UbiSoft Far Cry

Who doesn't know the game Far Cry? You should at least have heard about it... It's the game that came out right before Half-Life 2, Doom 3 and so on and set some new standards in gaming experience. Without a doubt, Far Cry was the most advanced graphics seen in any PC game. Everything in this game looks amazing, and the level of verisimilitude is unprecedented. Far Cry isn't just a stunning technical accomplishment. It's quite possibly the best single-player first-person shooter experience for the PC since Half-Life. Since Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 came out Far Cry had to share the welt on de gaming market.

Benchmark Results - 1280x1024 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
No AA/No AF	139.31 fps	121.97 fps
2x AA/4x AF	134.91 fps	93.51 fps
4x AA/8x AF	130.29 fps	81.28 fps
SM3.0/HDR	109.08 fps	108.75 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Well yeah we still like the hang of it with Far Cry, it just keeps amazing us this game with very nice visual graphics and stunning game play. Besides that it is an excellent game to checkout the performance of a graphics card. By just looking at the results we notice that the Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme edition isn't totally up to speed to take on the already older GeForce 8800 GTS graphics accelerator. And when we start to enabled the anti-aliasing feature the advantage is even greater, with the Radeon HD 3820 Xtreme dropping a bit faster in terms of frame rates. Far Cry is also a game where you can enable HDR. This comes in handy as it adds more complexity and processing towards the video accelerator. Upon enabling HDR with Far Cry the PowerColor Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme can easily match the gaming performance.

Benchmark Results - 1600x1200 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
4x AA/8x AF	107.25 fps	63.98 fps
SM3.0/HDR	83.09 fps	87.68 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.
Benchmark Results - 2560x1600 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
4x AA/8x AF	48.10 fps	35.31 fps
SM3.0/HDR	43.37 fps	45.92 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

The game is on and High Definition is the new hype around the gaming community. That means we couldn't stay behind neither. And indeed ATI has done quite some marketing around the HD gaming experience and in particularly linked with the Radeon HD 2900 series. And here we get some mixed feelings with the new Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme which seems to do a bit better. As soon as we start playing with the anti-aliasing it does have an impact on the performance. So although it doesn't do badly at all, we can't help and put our money on the GeForce 8800 GTS for the moment. Nonetheless we were quite impressed by the stunning image clarity provided by both graphics cards, and that the HDR feature is purely in favor of the ATI hardware.

id Software Doom 3

Next on our list of favorite games is Doom 3 developed by id Software. Doom 3 is quite possibly the best-looking game ever, thanks to the brand-new 3D graphics engine used to generate its convincingly lifelike, densely atmospheric, and surprisingly expansive environments. At the same time, when you look past the spectacular appearance, you'll find a conventional, derivative shooter. Doom 3 is essentially a remake of the original Doom, though series fans will find reimagined versions of almost every monster from both previous versions in the new sequel.

Benchmark Results - 1280x1024 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
No AA/-- AF	194.1 fps	202.0 fps
2x AA/-- AF	152.9 fps	167.3 fps
4x AA/-- AF	116.8 fps	145.1 fps
8x AA/-- AF	73.6 fps	94.9 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Going further with a game that has been going a long way but still is considered a very good reference in terms of OpenGL gaming performance. We notice that the reported frame rates are in favor of the PowerColor Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme equipped system, which delivers very high results. On the other hand, the GeForce 8800 GTS shows that it has quite a lot of processing power, although can't keep up with the Radeon HD 3800 series. When anti-aliasing is enabled the performance is dropping a bit with both video cards, with the Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme still showing superior performance. Quite strange, as the OpenGL environment was always the NVIDIA playground. An excellent feature for both accelerators as anti-aliasing becomes more and more favorable in the current and upcoming gaming titles.

Benchmark Results - 1600x1200 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
2x AA/-- AF	114.2 fps	130.9 fps
4x AA/-- AF	86.2 fps	111.6 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.
Benchmark Results - 2560x1600 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
2x AA/-- AF	58.1 fps	70.3 fps
4x AA/-- AF	39.1 fps	60.8 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

When looking upon the HD gaming results, it shows a similar performance. The GeForce 8800 GTS edition from Gainward is less fast at normal operation and with anti-aliasing enabled. The Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme edition takes the lead on all benchmark runs and when you up the stakes and raise it to the maximum level. And, if you are in favor of games based upon the 3D engine from id Software, meaning based upon the OpenGL technology then we need to state for the second time that the ATI technology is currently in favor. For us this is a very strange fact as previously in each an every OpenGL encounter, we saw that ATI couldn't keep up and was running behind the facts. Surely this is a great improvement with ATI having made a very decent jump forward and continues on this path.