DOOM 3 is a game that needs no introduction, and continues in a long line of id Software Quake and DOOM first-person shooters. This latest installment is one serious 3D game test, including potentially the highest-end graphics yet seen on the PC. It is also a different type of game benchmark, especially compared to Quake 3, as it has a greater reliance on the 3D video card for high-end framerate results. This makes it less-than an optimum current CPU performance test, but may still bear fruit as newer and faster processors make an appearance.
The DOOM 3 benchmark scores are bunched pretty close together, at least with the top three processors. DOOM 3 produces remarkably similar scores due to video card and CPU limitations, so it is really no surprise that the Athlon 64 3500+ and Athlon 64 3400+ models scored very closely. The two Athlon 64 3500+ processors were separated by only a fraction of a FPS, while the single-channel DDR controller of the Athlon 64 3400+ dropped it back a bit more. The overall performance results do show the AMD numbering scheme to be sound, at least in our first game test.
FarCry is a hot new first-person shooter that takes in-game graphics to the next level, although in a different direction than DOOM 3. Instead of darkness and confined spaces, FarCry places you outdoors, on bright sandy beaches, jungles or even on the water itself. This game gives our video cards a different kind of a stress test, and rest assured that FarCry ranks up there with the very toughest 3D game benchmarks. For this test, we are using the full retail version, and the include in-game demo.
The FarCry results are very similar to those we saw in DOOM 3, and again we find the Athlon 64 3500+ and Athlon 64 3400+ CPUs bunched up in the 78-79 frames-per-second range. FarCry seems to appreciate the CPU and video card power more than a dual-channel DDR controller, leading to a higher relative score for the Athlon 64 3400+. Some games are like this, and it helps to show a set of benchmark scores covering the gamut of possible results.
Halo: Combat Evolved is a hot, action adventure game that not only features luscious indoor and outdoor graphics and a killer story, but some very innovative gameplay as well. Our Halo test uses the default timedemo, while also enabling 2.0 shaders for all benchmark testing.
Halo is another benchmark that shows virtually no performance gap between processors running at the same clock speed. The 90nm and 130nm Athlon 64 3500+ processors hit the exact same score, and the Athlon 64 3400+ is not far behind. Halo is more a case of video card limitations, as the extremely small gap between the 2.2 GHz Athlon 64 3500+ and 2.0 GHz Athlon 64 3200+ can attest.
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