Quake 3 is the de facto 3D game benchmark here at Sharky Extreme, and due to its highly repeatable results, it is still one of the most popular methods of comparing different video cards. In this test suite we match up the Radeon 9500 Atlantis Pro against the competition using version 1.30 and the included demo Four. Quake 3 benchmarks were run with the default High Quality options and detail levels ramped to maximum in our special MAX setting.
In Quake 3 MAX settings, the Radeon 9500 Atlantis Pro plays catch-up at the lower resolutions, but quickly gains ground, passing the GeForce4 Ti 4400 at 1280-x1024 and even pushes the GeForce4 Ti 4600.
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter is a great sequel in the popular franchise and the benchmark portion is even better than the original. This game not only puts the pressure on new 3D cards (especially at higher resolutions) but provides some excellent in-game demos in wide open spaces with tons of enemies. For our specific tests, we have benchmarked the Elephant Atrium demo to determine potential framerates, using the 32-bit mode.
Our Serious Sam 2 32-bit results are very similar to what we experienced in Quake 3, with the Radeon 9500 Atlantis Pro falling behind at 1024x768 but then making up ground very quickly.
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.
It's almost the same story in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, but with one important difference. In this newer version of the Quake-based engine, the Radeon 9500 Atlantis Pro takes it to all of the GeForce4 Ti-based cards at the higher resolutions, and almost hits 100 fps at 1600x1200.
