Quake 3: Arena may be getting a little old when it comes to gaming benchmarks, but due to its highly repeatable results and incredible performance scaling, the game is still a very popular method of comparing different video cards. In this test suite we match up the video cards using version 1.30 and the included demo Four. In both standard and AA/AF modes, Quake 3 benchmarks were run with the default High Quality video options and the in-game detail levels ramped to maximum in our MAX setting.
Quake 3: Arena may not be the newest game benchmark, but that is the key to why we still include it. Many people still play older games, and it is important to see exactly how new video cards react to old school 3D gaming, when pure horsepower was more important than support of the latest SM 3.0 features. The Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB places itself right at the top of the mainstream performance market, and actually takes a good run at the Radeon X1800 XL at both 1280x1024 and 1600x1200.
The overall framerates drop noticeably once we enable the higher-end 4X AA and 8X AF detail settings, and while the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT does overtake the Radeon X1800 XL, in terms of a NVIDIA comparison, it falls back more in line with a GeForce 6800 GS.
Halo: Combat Evolved is a hot, action adventure game that not only features luscious indoor and outdoor graphics and a killer story, but some very innovative gameplay as well. Our Halo test uses the default timedemo, while also enabling 2.0 shaders for all benchmark testing.
Halo benchmarking gets us closer to a SM 3.0 game, as it enables 2.0 shaders for our testing. The Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB again places very well, and Halo breaks the cards out as expected, with the Gigabyte card outpacing the GeForce 6800 Ultra, while falling back from the Radeon X1800 XL and GeForce 7800 GT.
We do not see the overall rankings change much once the Halo detail settings are increased to 4X AA and 8X AF modes. The Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT maintains its position right between the GeForce 6800 Ultra and the Radeon X1800 XL.
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