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.
In terms of video card performance, DOOM 3 is a very demanding benchmark, and as Half-Life 2 is to ATI, so too is DOOM 3 to the NVIDIA cards. This is borne out in the benchmark testing, where the ASUS EAX1650XT 256MB still posts respectable scores, but falls back more to the GeForce 6600 GT/7600 GS level. Both the GeForce 6800 GS and GeForce 7600 GT 256MB cards post significantly higher DOOM 3 framerates, and even the Radeon X1800 XL has a tough time handling the GeForce 7600 GT.
We see a marked change once 4X AA and 8X AF settings are brought into play, and suddenly, the mainstream NVIDIA cards look vulnerable. The ASUS EAX1650XT 256MB stays very close to the GeForce 6800 GS and 7600 GT, coming within a few frames per second of both.
Quake 4 is the latest in 3D first-person shooters from id Software and Raven, and while the actual storyline is pretty standard fare and the game itself is based on the DOOM 3 engine, the graphics are exceptional and it is an improvement over previous games. The lighting and shadow effects are excellent, and the overall level design and architecture are a real treat. The overall load on the graphics card can be extreme, which is both a blessing and a curse, depending on the actual hardware you are testing. For this review, we've updated to the latest patch, and used the default id netdemo for testing.
Quake 4 benchmarking shows the ASUS EAX1650XT 256MB again dropping back into the pack, and posting scores more in line with the GeForce 7600 GS. The GeForce 7600 GT powers well ahead of the latest ATI mainstream card, and even takes it to the Radeon X1800 XL.
The framerates naturally fall back once we enable the 4X AA and 8X AF detail settings, and the reference cards tend to gravitate more to their respective classes. The ASUS EAX1650XT 256MB still can't quite match the performance of a GeForce 6800 GS, but now it at least makes a good effort.
