Gibbo is getting an R600!!

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Next week I shall be recieving one of the first R600 samples for testing.

We plan to put this card in our top Ultima specification of PC. We shall post pictures and tell you how good it is sometime next week.

However exact benchmark results cannot be revealed due to NDA but as you know I will give a subtle hint and post many pictures for you all.

 

[Gibbo]

Also any idea on dates

Hi there

Around end of April beginning of May time.

 

[Gibbo]

Any idea of a price ?

NDA

 

[Gibbo]

thnaks gibbo, nice to know! Will be interesting to see how they perform, I take it wont just be the good old 3d mark you'll be testing?

Pretty much so, its all we have.

HOWEVER

If there are other programmes/benchmarks which are available free to dowload, post me a link and we shall happily run that too. Please bear in mind we won't be going out buying games but if anyone provides a link to a free legal download we shall happily test that too.

Also for ATI which is quicker, XP, XP64, Vista32 or Vista64?

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Our technical department have some games, but how to benchmark them I ham clueless on.

They have a demo of Fear and full version of some Need for Speed game. They use these for testing along with 3D Mark along with ATI/NVIDIA tech demo's.

Game specific errors are generally not down to VGA faults but more likely games that require a patch to stop visual corruptions.

 

[Gibbo]

Gibbo, just as a small point (I know its easy to forget; not intending this post as an insult), when benching the R600, make sure you go into the ATI drivers and set the card to performance settings, rather than the standard 'balanced' ATI's cards are usually set to in drivers as default

Just saying as its customary to benchy at performance not balanced settings, and I know its an easy setting to overlook when waiting excitedly to test a card (or presell a product )

Hi there

Your talking to someone who used to be a 3D Mark worldwide record holder, I won't dismiss such settings.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

An update!

The card should be arriving here this Thursday unless ATI delay things....

Upto now I've built the system and am using a BFG 8800 GTX OC. At the moment its scoring:-
3D Mark 2005 - 17,250 (Windows XP)
3D Mark 2006 - 11,950 (Windows XP)

Does that seem about right?

Now I have Fear and Farcry.

Regarding Fear its patched to v1.08 but how do I benchmark it? Is there a command line like there used to be in the old Quake games to do a timedemo or something I can download to make the game run a well known demo?

On Farcry I have a benchmark add-on which I believe makes the game run through a level measuring the FPS, will know once I have tried it.

 

[Gibbo]

In the FEAR menu: Options/Performance/Test Settings, that runs a benchie.
is that the GTX OC @ 600/1800 or the OC2 @ 630/2000 ?
I assume thats a C2D System ?

Its the slower clocked BFG card, I think its unfair as it is to put an overclocked 8800 against the R600 but we don't have any reference GTX cards to test against. Guess the R600 is just gonna have to be a good card as most 8800's come overclocked now anyway.

The system is a Quad core at 3GHz.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

OK got the Fear benchmark running.

NVIDIA drivers set too Quality and let 3D application decide.

In game setting are 4x FSAA and 16x Anistrophic with everything else on maximum. Is that the highest it can go?

1280x1024x32 = 53/108/279fps (Windows XP)
1920x1200x32 = 34/67/158fps (Windows XP)

How does that seem guys?

 

[Gibbo]

I got 4xAA and soft shadows on.....

so which one would the game be using

Hi there

Yup identical settings here, the card if the BFG 8800 GTX OC and yes its a quad core at 3GHz.

Both our results seem identical which must be saying that the CPU is having little to no effect at that resolution and its all down to the graphics.

P.S. Also performance between XP and Vista on Fear are both identical. Wheras 3D Mark 2005/2006 are quite a bit slower under Vista.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

I think I need a game thats really gonna make these cards sweat.

I want something thats gonna get down to single figures.

I have the system on a DELL 24" so can display upto 1920x1200 resolution.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

I got Command & Conquer 3 at home, one of the very few games I have, does this have any benchmarking abilities? Or is it not stressful enough?

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

We also have a few hundred Splinter Cell Double Agent games here. Any good for benchmarking with?

 

[Gibbo]

Gibbo, run the source particle test!

Hi there

A post like this does not help me. I don't have a clue what your talking about and even worse don't know where to get what your talking about m8.

I am taking my Farcry into work tomorrow and will give that a go. I am sure with everything maxed at 1920x1200 that game should bring a GTX to its knees and even an R600.

I am also going to build a similar high-spec AMD 6000 system too, only difference is the AMD system will cost circa £500 less just to see if one really does need that quad core power. obviously I am fully aware one can save a similar amount by just using an E6600 too though and clocking it to 3.5GHz. I just want to see how AMD is comparing now their CPU's are silly cheap due to yesterdays price drop. As an AMD 6000 is less than £200

 

[Gibbo]

put soft shadows off

Hi there

How come m8?

 

[Gibbo]

If enabled, Soft Shadows adds a bit of a haze to the edge of cast shadows to create a more realistic shadow appearance. The comparison is shown in the screenshots above. Unfortunately this method also brings with it a massive performance hit (at times halving FPS), and it is strongly recommended that all users disable Soft Shadows for optimal performance with little to no noticeable image quality loss. Note that enabling Soft Shadows along with FSAA is not recommended, and can result in graphical glitches. Further note that on ATI graphics cards enabling Soft Shadows along with Pixel Doubling (see below) results in a black screen - this is a known driver bug.

Hi there

The Pixel doubling, I had as disabled as do not know what it does. Does this improve image quality further and as such put more strain on the card?

 

[Gibbo]

He hasn't, hes testing a GTX, R600 is arriving Thursday if all goes to plan.

All i want to know is if the drivers are better than Nvidia's crap, if so thats me sold, dont care how much, how much power it needs, or if it sounds like a jet taking off, as long as it works with decent drivers it'll do me and i can get rid of this Nvidia crap.

Thats for XP as well, don't give a bugger about Vista or Dx10 as Dx10 is not here for months, R600 = Dx9.

Hi there

Well forgetting NVIDIA's supposedly poor Vista performance when it comes to drivers I do preferre ATI implementation plus the fact they release a driver update every month addressing most reported problems with games.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

OK am installing Farcry and patching to version 1.40

Can both ATI and NV do HDR in this game and if so how do you enable it?

Are there any command line benchmarks for farcry or 3rd party add-ons to benchmark with the games?

I also have Tomb Raider Legends too, how do I benchmark with this game?

 

[Gibbo]

Theres a patch that is for 64bit you might want to add on to farcry it also adds high res textures etc.

Hi there

Where can I get this, is not included in the 1.40 patch?

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

OK I have Farcry on the system and patched to version 1.40

I have the following Farcry benchmark:-
http://www.hocbench.com/fc.html

I've set it too 1920x1200 with everything on ultra and maximum FSAA and AF settings. However the benchmark result hardly changes with FSAA and AF set to on or off. So I am thinking maybe its not accepting the settings or something is a miss somewhere. Unless the GTX is so powerful enabling FSAA and AF has no impact on it but I find that hard to believe.