Fall 2003 Video Card Roundup - Part 2: High End Shootout
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Derek Wilson on October 7, 2003 5:30 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Aquamark3 IQ
Aquamark3 is a synthetic benchmark based on a game called Aquanox, and it uses the DX9 API. In Part 1 we included it for completeness, but our main focus this time around is image quality. There have been lots of IQ problems found around the net that have helped earn NVIDIAs 51.xx drivers the title "cheatenators". With the 52.14 drivers we have been using, we didn't notice any image quality issues on a visual inspection, which was a very good sign, Lets take a closer look at frame 4000 to point out problems:
NVIDIA 45.23
Note the ground around the explosion
NVIDIA 52.14
Note the difference between the new and old drivers
ATI Catalyst 3.7
Identical to NVIDIA
As we can see, the lighting problem that was once there no longer exists, and the image is consistent with what it should be. On top of this, the 52.14 drivers give us about a more than 50% performance improvement over the 45.23 drivers. We have to remember that this is a benchmark, and any company that wants to sell anything is going to try to fix benchmark problems first. Of course, that's just anther reason I really don't like synthetic benchmarks: I'd rather have NVIDIA and ATI hard at work on the games I'm playing rather than on something I'll never care about using.
Here we can also see a comparison of the images with the highest quality AA setting in the game and 8xAF:
NVIDIA 45.23
NVIDIA 52.14
ATI Catalyst 3.7
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Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
yea I agree with what #3 said..hardly any commentary on the IQ... and If I'm not mistaken, aren't the new cats going to be out tomorrow???? If so, you might as well do the whole thing over again...Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
#3, go away you fanboy. There was absolutely no IQ difference between the CAT 3.7 and 52.14 drivers.Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
i'm sure intel will be happy to hear that you 'upgraded' your prescott to an FX.dvinnen - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
errr, a lot of the piture links aren't wrking, like teh halo iq one and TR:AoDAnonymous User - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
Um...Why was there nothing noting the difference between nVidia and ATI's in the IQ section? nVidia looks absolutely horrid compared to the ATI.
AgaBooga - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
I saw more opinions in this article leaning towards Nvidia, especially around the Tomb Raider benchmarks. More specifically, starting with the page regarding compilers. I liked this articles, but there could have been less opinionated viewpoints on this. Also, it might be better if we get names of authors with what they typed, so we know who typed what, because some of this sure didn't sound like something Mr. Shimpi has written in the past...Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
i'm still reading..............