Card	640x480	800x600	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200
RADEON 8500	190	187.2	177.1	138.3	99.1
GF3 (200/460)	193.5	187.5	170.2	118.4	80.4
RADEON 7500	187.4	171.7	122	79	55.5
32 MB GTS	181.5	146.2	91.6	57.5	34.7

Card	640x480	800x600	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200
RADEON 8500	188.8	185.5	171.1	126.8	92.8
GF3 (200/460)	192	185.7	161.5	110.4	76.4
RADEON 7500	186.3	166.7	117	76.8	54.5
32 MB GTS	180.6	141.6	89.3	56.5	34.3

In both "Normal" 16 bit and "High Quality" 32 bit tests, using Quake 3 Arena to measure to OpenGL performance, the ATI RADEON 8500 trails slightly behind the GeForce 3 on lower resolutions (only by a few frames), but then leaves it in its dust once you get to 1024x768 and higher. At the highest resolutions, 1600x1200, RADEON 8500 beats a reference-design GF3 by 23% at 16-bit settings and 21% at 32-bit.

The RADEON 7500, meanwhile, beats a 32 MB GTS using 12.41 drivers at every setting. Unfortunately, we did not have a GTS Pro at the time of this test, as that might have offered more comparable performance.

Card	640x480	1024x768	1600x1200
RADEON 8500	48.5	45.2	38.9
GF3 (200/460)	60.3	48.3	30.1
RADEON 7500	42.7	36.2	25.7

Card	640x480	1024x768	1600x1200
RADEON 8500	48	44.7	36
GF3 (200/460)	59.6	45.3	28.2
RADEON 7500	42.1	35	24

Rather than just let Quake3 suffice in measuring OpenGL performance, we decided to also test using Vulpine's GLMark. Now it should be noted that we did experience some slight rendering issues when testing the RADEON 8500 (though not the 7500), with ground-textures occasionally producing strange effects. But given that this is still an early sample and that the drivers are far from complete in their current alpha state, we can forgive that, for now, and nonetheless let the test serve as some measure of the RADEON 8500's power.

As was the case with the Quake 3 scores, benchmarking with Vulpine GLMark once again shows the RADEON 8500 trailing the GF3 at the lowest resolution of 640x480, starting to catch up at 1024x768, and then besting the GF3 at 1600x1200. Given more time, we would have also tested at 1280x1024, just to see exactly where the RADEON 8500 takes over... perhaps we'll add that score as an update.

The RADEON 7500, of course, cannot beat either of the cards at any setting (we let the GTS drop away, at this point in the testing, as it no longer seemed a fair comparison); but it's impressive how close to the pack it is scoring at the highest resolution, consider its $199 cost. For half the price of a typical GF3, it manages come in at just over 4 frames per second slower at 1600x1200 32-bit.