![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Monday , January 19, 2004
- Author:
- Brent Justice
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Albatron FX5700Ultra VidCard
We take a look at Albatron’s FX5700Ultra and compare it with the ATI 9600XT. We also see how they compare at two CPU clock speeds.
Halo: Combat Evolved
(DirectX 9)
Halo supports multiple rendering paths. If the hardware detected supports Pixel Shader 2.0, Halo will run at this level. It also supports Pixel Shader 1.4, 1.1, and a Fixed Function (DX7) mode. You can force a lower Pixel Shader version than what your card supports by using the –use14 or –use11 or –useff command lines in the shortcut to Halo. The two cards we are testing today support the same level of Pixel Shader support (PS 2.0). We have confirmed by forcing lower pixel shader versions and verifying differences that both cards are running in Pixel Shader 2.0 mode by default.
In order to represent actual gameplay we relied on FRAPS and a manual run-through. Using FRAPS we ran through a certain path in the “Assault on the Control Room” mission. The manual run-through is done at a point in the game that focuses more on the graphics rather than the physics engine of the game. There are lots of mirrored bumped surfaces and specular over this entire level that put stress on these video cards.
Above are the in-game video settings we used for benchmarking. 1024x768 with everything in the game set to maximum. 1024x768 with NoAA and NoAF is the absolute highest settings somewhat playable on both cards
The first thing we notice is that both cards have a very low minimum FPS at 1024x768 resolution. The Albatron FX5700U hits 24FPS at both CPU speeds, and the 9600XT hits 25FPS at both CPU speeds. The average FPS on the Albatron FX5700U comes in at 27.3 FPS at 3GHz and only drops .1 FPS with a 600MHz CPU decrease. The 9600XT also only looses .1 FPS average with the CPU difference. Clearly CPU speed does not play a big role in this game on these two cards.
Max Payne 2
(DirectX 9)
Max Payne 2, just like Max Payne, is a narrative driven action game. The combat sequences are almost cinematic in style. The story line is that of a Film Noir love story between a cop and a female murder suspect. Bullet Time 2.0 swings into play with improved slow motion gunplay. What also makes this game fun is that it has integrated Havok’s physics engine for ragdoll character effects as well as interactive environments. The graphics system has also been beefed up with support for DirectX 9 and has effects such as realistic rain, lightning, mirror effects, explosions and high resolution textures.
These are the settings we used on all cards to test with. Note that we chose to let Max Payne 2 decide the Antialiasing mode when available. We set AF from the driver control panel for both cards. Everything else was set to its highest setting in the game.
We used FRAPS frame counter and MP2's Part II Chapter 3 (Condemned Building cont'd) for our framerate evaluation. We used repeatable manual run-throughs in this level. Part II Chapter 3 has a lot of particle, explosion and fire effects in it making for an intense graphic experience.
This level represents a worse case scenario in this game. At 3Ghz the Albatron 5700U pulls in with a minimum of 33FPS, but drops 6FPS when reduced 600MHz in CPU speed. This puts it at 27FPS which is over the line of smooth framerates. Whereas the 9600XT maintains above 30FPS at both CPU speeds. There is also a larger difference in the average framerate comparing the 9600XT to the Albatron FX5700U at 3GHz. Basically the 9600XT provides close to the same gameplay performance at 2.4GHz that the Albatron FX5700U provides at 3GHz. Both cards are well suited for smooth gameplay at 1024x768 on both CPUs.