Pixels for Pennies: SimHQ’s Spring ’08 Midrange GPU Roundup Page 2

Test Results

Futuremark’s synthetic graphics suite, 3DMark06, was run at 1280×1024, its default resolution, with 4x anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled to produce a total score.

Radeon 3850
Radeon 3870
GeForce 9600 GT
Total
6472
7414
7621

The GeForce 9600 GT barely squeaks out a win against the Radeon 3870, beating the AMD part by just slightly over 200 points. And both parts outscore the 3850 by over 1,000 points, so we’ll see if this is reflected in actual, real world performance.

Crysis can bring any GPU to its knees at its higher settings and the fact we’re dealing with midrange GPUs in this article SimHQ decided to set the shooter to medium. The included GPU_benchmark was used for testing, which is essentially a fly-by of the game’s first map.

Crysis

Bearing in mind that 4x anti-aliasing was enabled for all testing, a setting that might be a bit too demanding for ~$150-170 GPUs in this particular game, the two faster boards pulled down frame rates that are probably playable for most at 1024×768, with the GeForce 9600 GT pulling down a 10% advantage across the four resolutions. The Radeon 3850’s score of 27fps is just too low for the majority of players, at least in this genre of game where smooth frame rate is more important for enjoying the experience. Above 1024×768 none of these midrange GPUs offer playable frame rates, though in-game settings could always be lowered for those without as demanding a palette for their visuals.

Call of Duty 4 was benchmarked using a custom recording made while playing an online match on the “Crash” map. The game’s various graphics options were enabled and the texture settings placed at Extra.

Call of Duty 4

The GeForce 9600 GT again pulls out a 10%+ lead over the Radeon 3870, and both GPUs are significantly faster than the Radeon 3850. The two 512MB boards give playable frame rates even up to 1920×1200 while the Radeon 3850 stalls out a bit beyond 1680×1050.

Go To Page 3


WireLok Splice Conductor FX158-50S picture

WireLok Splice Conductor FX158-50S

$125.00



6 pieces Russtech Conductor Bus p/n RC11335-5AB1  C130  New  picture

6 pieces Russtech Conductor Bus p/n RC11335-5AB1 C130 New

$369.81



Simmonds Precision Semi-Conductors 75726 (QTY 18) picture

Simmonds Precision Semi-Conductors 75726 (QTY 18)

$75.00



MS25226-2-5 Conductor Bus Terminal Links picture

MS25226-2-5 Conductor Bus Terminal Links

$39.99



TWO CONDUCTOR SHIELDED WIRE FOR AUDIO, HEADSET, MICROPHONE, INTERCOM. picture

TWO CONDUCTOR SHIELDED WIRE FOR AUDIO, HEADSET, MICROPHONE, INTERCOM.

$42.00



A.E. Petsche Wire M27500-16TG1T14 TEFZEL WIRE/ 16 Gauge, 1 Conductor, Shielded picture

A.E. Petsche Wire M27500-16TG1T14 TEFZEL WIRE/ 16 Gauge, 1 Conductor, Shielded

$4.00



M27500-20SD4U23 AEROSPACE AIRCRAFT AIRFRAME WIRE 20 AWG 4 CONDUCTOR 25 Ft. picture

M27500-20SD4U23 AEROSPACE AIRCRAFT AIRFRAME WIRE 20 AWG 4 CONDUCTOR 25 Ft.

$16.99



Semi Conductor Device P/N JANTX1N941B New picture

Semi Conductor Device P/N JANTX1N941B New

$2.00



220+- pieces Conductor Bus p/n HS4836-284305  New  picture

220+- pieces Conductor Bus p/n HS4836-284305 New

$597.22



Raytheon aerospace Bus Conductor  1591458  New picture

Raytheon aerospace Bus Conductor 1591458 New

$171.36



Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes