Quake 4 is the latest in 3D first-person shooters from id Software, and while the actual storyline is pretty standard fare and the game itself is based on the DOOM 3 engine, the graphics are exceptional and it is an improvement over previous games. The lighting and shadow effects are excellent, and the overall level design and architecture are a real treat. The overall load on the graphics card can be extreme, which is both a blessing and a curse, depending on the actual hardware you are testing.
While based on the same engine as DOOM 3, Quake 4 is a different type of benchmark, and depending on the actual timedemo utilized, it can be very limited in terms of CPU performance scores, and much more suited for video card comparisons. The benchmark chart illustrated this quite well, and all of the processors fall into the 91 to 94 fps range. We've been experimenting with various demo files, trying to find ones conducive to different hardware evaluations, but for now, we'll just present our findings in this round of dual core processor benchmarking.
Painkiller is another hotrod first-person shooter that features high-end game graphics, but the difference here is the use of a non-standard, proprietary game engine. So instead of the next revision of the latest DOOM, Quake or Unreal Tournament product, we get something slightly different that helps spice our benchmarks up a bit. Due to the video card reliance of some portions of the game, we have used the in-game Docks demo, which does show a performance impact based on the processor used.
The Painkiller chart clearly illustrates the performance differences between the various AMD and Intel processors, and looks to be another nice CPU benchmark. AMD again shows noticeably higher scores than the Intel group, but while the 2.4 GHz Athlon 64 X2 models post virtually identical scores, there is a bit larger gap as we move down to 2.2 GHz,
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is based on the movie franchise character of the same name, and melds the usual first-person shooter genre with a stealth-based, combat game engine. This hybrid game is similar to what Half-Life 2 brought to the table, as you take the role of escaped con Riddick, and fight your through some exceptionally rendered levels. This is another game we continue to experiment with, as increasing the Shader Model to over 2.0 can bring the game to a crawl, and even at 2.0, it still shows a high degree of graphics card and system reliance.
Chronicles of Riddick is another new addition to the Sharky CPU test suite, and it's yet another benchmark that shows a high level of graphics and system reliance. As with Quake 4, we will continue to evaluate testing procedures, detail levels and in-game demos to find that right mix for our high-end processor testing. But for now, CoR does bring home the point that not all games benefit from faster CPUs or higher clock speeds.
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