And so it begins as it always does with Quake III: Arena (even with Paul Steed getting the boot). For our first run of benchmarks we tested all the cards using the bog-standard and default "Normal" quality settings at various resolutions. Although "Normal" won't strain the limitations of any of these 3D cards (at low resolutions, which is why we use this test primarily for CPU reviews), we still get an idea of what performance can be had with an average of speed and quality. For testing purposes, v-sync was turned off and the sheep set free for a couple of hours.
At 1024x768, where fill rate starts to count for something, the Rage Fury MAXX falls off sharply, the GeForce has trouble keeping up the pace being limited by bandwidth and the three GeForce 2's steam out in front. The LeadTek comes out top here.