AquaMark is a relatively new DirectX 9 benchmark, and although it does not represent an actual game, it does use the same krass engine as found in products such as Aquanox 2 and Spellforce. AquaMark 3 also supports new features such as HyperThreading, Pixel Shader and VertexShader 2.0, and uses a wide range of DirectX 9 effects and features. For this review, we've tested in advanced 32-bit mode, and posted the graphics FPS portion of the AquaMark 3 score.
AquaMark 3 is another very demanding DirectX 9 benchmark, but the Radeon 9800 XT seems to be up to the task. The newest ATI card powers to victory at each resolution, and provides the extra juice necessary to move ahead of the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra. This gives ATI the advantage in the first round of our DirectX 9 test suite.
The AquaMark anti-aliasing the anisotropic filtering tests are really no contest, and both the Radeon 9800 XT and Radeon 9800 Pro 256-MB are simply too much for the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra.
The 3DMark 2003 benchmark has seen its fair share of controversy, but as long as the mainstream gaming community is using it, we'll present comparison scores. It does offer a view at potential DirectX 9 gaming performance, as well as offering a specific CPU test and a fully-featured Image Quality suite that was lacking in the 2001SE version.
Before the Radeon 9800 XT hit the scene, NVIDIA led in 3DMark 2003 performance, scoring higher than even the Radeon 9800 Pro 256-MB. Today it's a slightly different story and even with rumors of NVIDIA driver "enhancement" for this particular benchmark, ATI has taken back the overall performance crown.
The following chart outlines the anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering performance, and from our point of view, is starting to look a tad fishy. We can accept that the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra may top ATI in pure AA modes, but we're seeing almost a total NVIDIA victory. This just doesnt add up, and lends further credence to industry comments on NVIDIA driver enhancements for 3DMark 2003.
GunMetal is another DirectX 9 benchmark test, and uses the basic game engine (think Manga-based armor) to really stress a video card's subsystem. This is another very rough test that uses 2X AA as default, so don't be surprised at the relatively low framerate scores.
The GunMetal scores are yet another turnaround for ATI, and although the gap is quite small, the Radeon 9800 XT does surpass the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra at every resolution.
