Gaming Benchmarks (Cont.)

Let's continue with the next games we have selected, being Quake 4 and X³: Reunion. Both games are very popular amongst gamers and that will give a good idea on the performance delivered by the PowerColor Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme graphics card. 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. The goal of each technology is to provide stunning gaming experience with awesome looking visual graphics and physics. And to that extend both technologies do have their benefits and drawbacks, which give the gaming industry a choice to develop their 3D engines. 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.

Benchmark Results - 1280x1024 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
No AA/-- AF	188.4 fps	163.4 fps
2x AA/-- AF	166.5 fps	151.1 fps
4x AA/-- AF	142.0 fps	142.3 fps
8x AA/-- AF	98.8 fps	118.2 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

When looking at the Quake 4 gaming results we can see that these don't 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 does come somehow 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 Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme accelerator running behind. Once we up the stakes by enabling the anti-aliasing feature, the PowerColor Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme comes more forward as the winner and able to deliver smoother game play and sharper visual sceneries. It does show that ATI has put quite a lot of attention to the OpenGL technology and got rid of the performance gap with NVIDIA.

Benchmark Results - 1600x1200 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
2x AA/-- AF	136.8 fps	138.9 fps
4x AA/-- AF	113.9 fps	128.9 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	71.5 fps	89.1 fps
4x AA/-- AF	51.7 fps	78.5 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Looking upon the figures with the widescreen HD resolution, we can draw the same conclusion. Again the stunning game play keeps amazing us, and with that said Quake 4 looks impressive with the Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme accelerator provided by PowerColor. The GeForce 8800 GTS doesn't do bad at all, but is just behind in terms of frame rates reported. What should also be said is that the GTX is faster, and does do better than the Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme graphics card. If you are a looking for the best visual quality available today, and you are into the HD gaming then you just have to set your mind which ever of the two. Indeed on this aspect we can't really pin point a winner they both have excellent visual quality.

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 player's action really can shape the future of the universe. Newcomers will enjoy the additions to the already graphically impressive, almost living X³ Universe, while veterans can expect new construction options and an improved physics model.

Benchmark Results - 1280x1024 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
No AA/No AF	80.907 fps	101.154 fps
2x AA/4x AF	76.169 fps	83.641 fps
4x AA/8x AF	73.263 fps	76.183 fps
8x AA/16x AF	69.489 fps	70.059 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Looking at the X3: Reunion game, the results are in favor of the Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme config featuring the PowerColor video card. The GeForce 8800 GTS shows to be in second position and marks lower frame rate scores consistently. When we go enabling the anti-aliasing functionality, the scores are dropping for both graphics card, with the GeForce 8800 GTS dropping less fast. The Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme edition accelerator shows 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 9.0c specifications it is clear that the Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme setup takes the lead on this one to a certain extend as it features more processing logic in the form of stream processors and a higher clock speed.

Benchmark Results - 1600x1200 - E6700 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
	GeForce 8800 GTS	Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme
2x AA/4x AF	65.152 fps	67.491 fps
4x AA/8x AF	61.056 fps	39.532 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/4x AF	40.515 fps	62.769 fps
4x AA/8x AF	38.463 fps	36.540 fps
Results Interpretation: Higher index values are better.

Also when looking at the HD gaming score, a similar conclusion can be drawn. The GeForce 8800 GTS doesn't do badly at all, but when it is put against a Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme edition system it can't keep up. Of course when you would start comparing all the aspects it all comes down on the available vertex and pixel shaders. And at this point the RV600 power comes out on top as it features more raster operation units to get the job done. Of course the GeForce 8800 GTS is penalized by having less stream processors, much lower clock speed settings although having more raster operation processing units. The Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme delivers awesome frame rates as a single GPU solution and having great visual image quality.