Fall 2003 Video Card Roundup Part I - ATI's Radeon 9800 XT
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Derek Wilson on October 1, 2003 3:02 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
The New Test Suite
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, we are introducing a brand new test suite with this review and we are also kicking off the first installment of a multipart series covering multiple aspects of current (and somewhat next) generation gaming performance.
By no means should you take the limited (yet extensive) tests we have here as all you will see from us, but rather something to whet your appetite for what is yet to come. The focus of this review is plain and simple – comparing the basic performance of the latest offerings from ATI and NVIDIA. In the future installments we will cover image quality, CPU scaling and other aspects of performance in greater detail. We will be making notes of noticeable visual differences between ATI and NVIDIA in this article, but a comparison with supporting images will be done in Part II of the series.
As far as the new test suite is concerned, here are the benchmarks that made it in:
AquaMark 3
Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour
F1 Challenge ’99-‘02
Final Fantasy XI Benchmark 2
Halo
Homeworld 2
Jedi Knight III: Jedi Academy
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004
Neverwinter Nights: The Shadows of the Undrentide
Simcity 4
Splinter Cell
Unreal Tournament 2003
X2
Warcraft III: Frozen Throne
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
We are working on expanding the suite even further, but for now this is what we have. If you’d like to see more games added please feel free to let us know either by sending an email or even better, leaving a comment through the system at the bottom of the page.
We used ATI’s publicly available Catalyst 3.7 drivers and in order to support the NV38 we used NVIDIA’s forthcoming 52.14 drivers. The 52.14 drivers apparently have issues in two games, neither of which are featured in our test suite (Half Life 2 & Gunmetal).
Our test bed was configured as follows:
2.8GHz Intel Processor Prescott
512MB DDR400
Intel 875P Motherboard
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Anonymous User - Sunday, October 5, 2003 - link
you're all idiotsAnonymous User - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
I think everyone knows that those FS2004 results wereAnonymous User - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
Bishot Mgdbottled here,I just wanna say Anad did a great Job!
Those FS2004 results are the truth, I get 100FPS no problem with my 9700P! while All the NV boys get is 20-30! Hah!
Thats why Anad will always be my top techie site!
ATI Rocks NVidia sucks! End of story! I here that Nvidia got dropped by Microsoft from any DX10 development participation!
Woohoo! Even MS knows what we all know, NV sucks!
Anonymous User - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
I would like to see a comparison with a game that uses the "meant to be played optimizations".That could be a real hoot.
Anonymous User - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
I still trust Anand more than HardOCP, I won't even give the H my hits anymore I detest them so much.This is definately one of the lowest quality and only review I can remember with such low integrety for Anandtech.
Sorry guys, please use don't insult our intellegence by posting articles like this.
Anonymous User - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
ATi is currently deciding who gets 9600XT samples while they wait for them to ship...Curley - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
Take a stand. No matter how many games you include or how long you make the reviews, the educated reader knows what you are doing.Intestinal fortitude is a hard thing to come by.
That is why HARD OCP is now my home page.
Anonymous User - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
Those Fs2004 results are great!What the H**l were you guys smoken?
Didn't you even think when you got those funny results?
No, I guess you did not.
Anad, I'm sorry but yer site has lost all credence.
So long.
Anonymous User - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
Stupid moron!Anonymous User - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
Mgdbottled here again,I see non of you NV dwarfs can speakup in behalf of your beloved nvidia! HA! Your card sucks so go home!
ATI 2xAA is better than anything FX cards can do! HA! AND THEY don't cheat!!!!
I swithched my trilien filter on by selecting performance mode and at 16anison this card just screams!
ATI F***ing rocks man!!!
OK, me an Bigshot are the same, I had to do that because someone was using my nick.