Jedi Knight is the newest Quake 3-based game and some would say it is the among the most resource hungry. In fact, it's been nicknamed the "best reason to own a high-end 3D card" and gives us with another excellent way of measuring 3D gaming performance. In this particular instance, the video cards have been tested using the standard High Quality detail setting.
The Radeon 9700 Pro posts some very incredible scores in Jedi Knight II testing, Its sheer consistency at the 116 fps level from 800x600 to 1600x1200 suggests that the card is topping out at the CPU ceiling and that faster framerates may only be attainable using a faster processor. The GeForce4 Ti cards do not show the same results, and experience a slight drop at 1280x1024, and then a more serious one at 1600x1200.
The Comanche 4 benchmark from Novalogic gives us an opportunity to use an actual flight sim for 3D video testing. This is a different game engine that we've ever used before, so don't be put off by the relatively low framerates. Just like the high fps of Quake 3, a card's relative position is the most important factor. These tests were run in 32-bit mode, with sound disabled.
Once again, the Radeon 9700 Pro doesn't wow us at low-detail performance, but is still extremely consistent across all resolutions. The 1600x1200 framerate differences may seem slight, but in our experience, this is a huge potential lead for a flight-sim like Comanche 4.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein is another Quake engine game, but with some notable differences. The basic game engine may be the same, but the graphics, gameplay and the stress it puts on a 3D card are very different. Until Doom III appears, RtCW is the next best way to determine high-end Quake engine performance. We have employed the Checkpoint MP demo for our testing, using the default High Quality settings.
Surprisingly, the Radeon 9700 Pro falls a bit behind at the lower resolutions, but its sheer consistency is amazing. It maintains a 140 fps level up to 1280x1024, while the GeForce4 Ti boards fall off considerably at that level. The Radeon 9700 Pro once again demonstrates its performance superiority at higher resolutions, and takes the competition to town at 1600x1200.
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