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TEST
PREPARATIONS:
Due to the
fact that we have seen significant variations in benchmark
scores from one site to the next, we feel it is necessary
to explain exactly how we configure each test system
before running any benchmarks. We chose to test these
video boards on the i845E based Abit IT7, with a
2.4GHz Pentium 4 (533MHz FSB). The first thing we did when
configuring this system was enter the BIOS and "Load Optimized Defaults". We then configured the
Memory CAS Latency and other memory timings to be set by
the SPD, but ran the memory at 133MHz (PC2100). The RAID
array was then formatted, and Windows XP Professional was
installed. After the Windows installation was complete, we installed the Intel Chipset drivers and then
hit the Windows Update site and downloaded all of the
available updates, with the exception of the ones related
to
Windows Messenger. Then we installed all of the necessary
drivers for the rest of our components, then disabled and
removed Windows Messenger. Auto-Updating and System Restore
were also disabled, and then we set up a 768MB permanent
page file. Lastly, we set the Visual Effects to "best
performance", installed all of the benchmarking software,
defragged the hard drive and ran all of the tests at the
CPU's default clock speed. Now, it's time for our
results...
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The
HotHardware Test System |
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High Frequency
Goodness. |
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COMMON HARDWARE:
Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz (2400MHz -
533MHz FSB)
Abit IT7 (Intel i845E)
256MB Corsair
PC2700 (CAS 2)
On-Board NIC
On-Board Sound
IBM 7200RPM
30GB HD x 2 (RAID 0)
Creative Labs
52X CD-Rom
Standard Floppy
Drive
Windows XP
Professional (DirectX 8.1)
Intel Chipset
Drivers v4.00.1013
Intel Application Accelerator v2.2
VIDEO DRIVERS:
NVIDIA Detonators
v29.80 (WHQL Certified)
ATI Catalyst
Drivers v7.73
VIDEO CARDS TESTED:
MSI GF4 Ti 4200 (64MB)
Best Data Arcade FX Ti4200 (64MB)
Gainward GF4 Ti 4200 (64MB)
VisionTek GF4 Ti 4200 (128MB)
X-Micro Impact T4200 (128MB)
MSI GF4 Ti 4200 (128MB)
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64MB)
ATI Radeon 8500LE (128MB)
NVIDIA GF4 MX 440 Reference Board (64MB)
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DirectX 8 Benchmarks with Comanche 4 |
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Novalogic's Sim. |
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The first batch of tests we
ran were with Novalogic's Combat Helicopter simulator,
Comanche 4. Comanche 4 makes use of
DirectX8 Pixel and Vertex shaders, and is a useful tool
for testing performance
under DirectX 8. This benchmark
generally scales more with increased CPU speed, so
don't be fooled by what look like low frame rates.
As you can see, both the 64MB
and 128MB GeForce 4 Ti 4200's led the rest of the pack at
all resolutions. As we increased the resolution, the
128MB cards pulled slightly ahead of their 64MB
counterparts. The 3FPS (approximate) difference
between the 64MB and 128MB cards may not look like a huge
increase, but it translates to about a 10% performance
advantage. The Radeon 8500 LE made a strong showing
here as well,
but the 9000 and GeForce 4 MX 440 were left in the dust,
especially at the higher resolutions.
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DirectX 8 Benchmarks with 3DMark2001 SE |
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Synthetic Gaming. |
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Next, we ran MadOnion's
3DMark2001 SE (Build 330) at the benchmark's default
resolution of 1024x768 and at 1600x1200. 3DMark2001
uses the "MaxFX" gaming engine, from Remedy's very popular Max
Payne, to simulate an actual in-game environment.
Like Comanche 4, 3DMark2001 also makes use of DirectX 8
Pixel and Vertex shaders. If you've ever looked at
3DMark2001's detailed results, you've seen
that this benchmark is broken up into groups of "High" and "Low" quality
tests. The final score is generated by taking the
results of these
tests and adding them together using this formula:
Here, we again see that the
GeForce 4 Ti4200s out performed all of the other
competitors, but the Radeon 8500 LE and 9000 closed in on
them a bit. What is interesting to note in this test
is that 3DMark2001 didn't benefit at all from the extra
memory available on the 128MB cards. The faster
memory found on the 64MB GeForce 4 Ti
4200s helps them take the lead in
3DMark2001 SE by about 9%.
On to
OpenGL with Quake 3
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