The ASUS AX800 XT 256-MB card is definitely an enthusiast-level product, so we're matching it up with a similarly-equipped reference system. This is an AGP video card, so we're looking at the high-end of the spectrum with a reference system comprised of an Athlon 64 3800+, a VIA K8T800 Pro AGP 8X motherboard and 2x512-MB of OCZ PC4200 EL memory. This is a serious performance base for high-end video card comparisons, and insures that the reference system will not hold back our selection of high-end video cards.
The video card competition matches the ASUS AX800 XT perfectly, and includes its arch-rival the GeForce 6800 Ultra, along with a GeForce 6800 GT as well. To round it off, we've included the last-generation of performance champions, the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra and ATI Radeon 9800 XT. This provides for a nice cross-section of the high-end video cards, and will give us a good idea of where the ASUS AX800 XT 256-MB places in terms of high-end gaming performance. Our operating system is Windows XP Pro SP1 with DirectX 9c, and all video cards have been tested with AGP 8X enabled and 256-MB AGP memory allocated.
Our game benchmark selection includes the standard game tests such as 3DMark 2005, DOOM 3, FarCry, Halo, AquaMark 3, UT 2004, UT 2003, Quake 3: Arena, Comanche 4, X2 Demo, and Wolf: ET. All testing has been performed using standard 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 32-bit settings, along with high-end 4X anti-aliasing and 8X anisotropic filtering results as well. The 4X AA and 8X AF settings are representative of the detail settings many enthusiasts use for their high-end 3D gaming.
* Please note that unless otherwise stated, all performance graph results equate to the standard "higher is better" format.
General Settings:
Desktop Resolution: 1024x768
Color Depth: 32-bit
V-Sync: Disabled
Athlon 64 3800+ Reference System:
Processor: Athlon 64 3800+
Memory: 2 x 512-MB OCZ PC4200 EL DDR
Motherboard: MSI MS-6702E
Motherboard chip set: VIA K8T800 Pro
ATI reference drivers: Catalyst 4.9
Hard-Drive: Dual Western Digital WD360 in RAID 0 Mode
IDE Interface: Serial ATA-150
CD/DVD: AOpen Combo Drive
Power Supply: ANTEC 430 Watt
DirectX 9.0c
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP1
Video Cards:
ASUS AX800 XT 256-MB
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra 256-MB
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256-MB
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra 256-MB
ATI Radeon 9800XT 256-MB
DOOM 3 Test Specifics
Version: 1. 0 (retail)
Quake III Arena Test Specifics
Version: 1.30 (retail)
