New Ultra High End Price Point With GeForce 8800 Ultra
by Derek Wilson on May 2, 2007 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Performance
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a relatively new benchmark for us, and we are working on tweaking it. Currently we just run in a straight line through grass and trees toward some buildings and people using FRAPS to record framerate. For this test, we've turned everything up as high as it can go (except the in game AA setting) and enabled grass shadows.
While MSAA is not supported due to the deferred rendering model used, playability at extreme resolutions is already pushed to the limits. In this game, edge antialiasing is not really an issue for us, as level design is quite good at avoiding extremely high contrast edges. Thin lines are a problem, so some sort of real AA would be nice. The in game AA setting isn't very good quality and doesn't do anything for thin lines.
Our performance tests show another case where the 8800 Ultra is within 10% of the performance of the 8800 GTX. As with our other run through FRAPS test in Oblivion, the EVGA card and the 8800 Ultra trade places going from 16x12 to 19x12. This test does seem to be more consistent than Oblivion, but with anything FRAPS, we do give it a little more leeway. But once again our conclusion is that the overclocked EVGA 8800 GTX and the 8800 Ultra perform the same.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a relatively new benchmark for us, and we are working on tweaking it. Currently we just run in a straight line through grass and trees toward some buildings and people using FRAPS to record framerate. For this test, we've turned everything up as high as it can go (except the in game AA setting) and enabled grass shadows.
While MSAA is not supported due to the deferred rendering model used, playability at extreme resolutions is already pushed to the limits. In this game, edge antialiasing is not really an issue for us, as level design is quite good at avoiding extremely high contrast edges. Thin lines are a problem, so some sort of real AA would be nice. The in game AA setting isn't very good quality and doesn't do anything for thin lines.
Our performance tests show another case where the 8800 Ultra is within 10% of the performance of the 8800 GTX. As with our other run through FRAPS test in Oblivion, the EVGA card and the 8800 Ultra trade places going from 16x12 to 19x12. This test does seem to be more consistent than Oblivion, but with anything FRAPS, we do give it a little more leeway. But once again our conclusion is that the overclocked EVGA 8800 GTX and the 8800 Ultra perform the same.
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redbone75 - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
You meant we will not "accept" them;)redbone75 - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
But anywho, I completely agree with you. I just built a complete rig for a buddy of mine for barely more than that. And I mean, complete, he needed everything from monitor (Samsung 941BW) to keyboard and mouse and speakers(7.1). Core 2 Duo based (E6320 on a Gigabyte DS3, 2 gigs of Corsair DDR2 800, 320GB hdd, X1900 GT). All for under $1100 USD after rebates. Not a gaming rig for sure, but a respectable system nonetheless. Even if I had the money I wouldn't see any justification in buying an $830 card that offered only marginal gains over it's less expensive sibling.kmmatney - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
What do you mean not a gaming rig? You can game fine on that, the video card can handle native resolution for most games. I game with a slightly lesser system than that.strikeback03 - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
If you buy a Ferrari and don't crash it, you can probably resell in 5 years for 80% or more of the cost new. Try that with a video card.Sunrise089 - Thursday, May 3, 2007 - link
Please look up exotic car prices. You will find you do NOT get an 80% return on anything other than a few tiny examples of cars that were generally unavailable at the time of their initial offerings. Also note that when you take advantage of the gouging to non-established customers of exotic cars, the depreciation will often be even more than adds would appear to indicate, as the orginal paid-for price may have been much higher than MSRP.strikeback03 - Thursday, May 3, 2007 - link
the "few tiny examples" are the ones that appreciate, such as the Enzo. If you were one of the 399 that bought one from the factory for around $650k, you now have a car worth over a million, and likely to keep heading up as dumb comedians crash them. Something relatively common though, such as a 355 from 10 years ago, is still worth over 50% of new (assuming you bought one through a dealer, not paid extra to get one immediately). Even NSXs from the early 90s are still worth $25-35k. And judging by the current market, even in 20-30 years, the Ferrari will still have some value because it is a Ferrari, independant of actual performance relative to current models. Any computer hardware, unless extremely limited production so that it is a collectors item, will be essentially worthless by the time it is 3 or 4 generations old.coldpower27 - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
There is a difference in the pace of advancement between these 2 industries a new Ferrari from 2003 is not so much inferior compared to the Ferrari from 2008 perse.You can barely compare video cards that are 5 years apart. If the pace of advancement was slower video cards would hold their value longer as well.
ss284 - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
Voodoo 5 6000swaaye - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
Except that V5 6000 was never released to consumer retail and thus it's incredibly rare. So its value is just due to obscurity.Samus - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
looks like teh sux0rs.unfortunately, ATI still doesn't have anything that can touch any of the 8800's :(