DOOM 3 is a game that needs no introduction, and continues in a long line of id Software Quake and DOOM first-person shooters. This latest installment is one serious 3D game test, including some of the highest-end graphics yet seen on the PC. It is also a different type of game benchmark, especially compared to Quake 3, and it has an almost total reliance on the 3D video card for high-end framerate results. This limits its use in certain system or CPU testing, but makes DOOM 3 a killer 3D video card benchmark.
DOOM 3 is a newer game test, and it will be interesting to see how the benchmark scores of the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB card compares against its performance in older games. Under standard detail settings, the news is decidedly positive, and the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT powers by both the GeForce 6800 Ultra and Radeon X1800 XL cards, and takes a run at the GeForce 7800 GT. The results so far are excellent, and the GeForce 7600 GT seems to hold it own in older games, and is flexible enough for newer ones as well.
The DOOM 3 benchmark results with 4X AA and 8X AF enabled paints the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB card in a different light, and drops the card's performance down below the GeForce 6800 Ultra. This is a bit surprising, given the prior results, and we'll have to wait and see if this trend remains consistent through the upcoming game benchmarks.
Half-Life 2 is another in a long line of serious first-person shooters from Valve, and the game has really taken FPS graphics to the next level. This is a great opportunity to really push our graphics cards to the limit, as well as proving a point-counterpoint to DOOM 3. As with DOOM 3, there is also some CPU-reliance present in the scores, but in terms of relative performance, we still find the top-performing cards breaking away from the pack.
While DOOM 3 offers an inherent advantage for NVIDIA cards, so too does Half-Life 2 provide the same kind of performance increase for ATI video cards. You can see it clearly here, with the Radeon X1800 XL taking the top spot, but the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB still does extremely well, and pushes ahead of the GeForce 6800 Ultra and is nipping on the heels of the GeForce 7800 GT.
Once we move to 4X anti-aliasing and 8X anisotropic filtering modes, it helps separate the men from the boys. The Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB card joins the Radeon X1800 XL and GeForce 7800 GT at the top of the chart, while the remainder of the cards are definitely second-tier.
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