3DMark05
Futuremark has just released their new benchmarking tool, 3DMark05. Now there has definitely been some controversy over the results in previous versions, but with the new version out I felt I would give it a shot. Note that 3DMark05 is still a synthetic benchmark, so results in this test do not reflect real-world performance and should be taken with a grain of salt. 3DMark05 was run at 1280x1024 using No AA/AF and 4AA/8AF. Shown below are the results from the three test systems:

System	No AA/AF	4AA/8AF
Athlon 1700+ (2125 Mhz)	2984	2361
A64 3500+ (2200 Mhz)	3010	2868
Pentium 4 2.4C (2400 Mhz)	2818	2805

As you can see in the results, on the whole, all three platforms were fairly close. With the IQ turned down the systems were all on par with each other, showing only a 7% difference. When the IQ is turned on however the tables turn a bit. The more powerful A64 system takes top spot where the Athlon 1700+ system drops to third place. Having a more powerful system is not necessarily going to effect your performance on lower quality settings, but as seen above, it will definitely affect performance once the eye candy is turned on. And who doesn't like eye candy?

Doom 3
Just recent release by ID, Doom 3 is the game that is bringing systems to their knees. The latest and greatest graphics are all included in the game, as well as a high dose of freaky stuff. Benchmarks were run using Benchem'All with the Timedemo 1 level run-through. Shown below are the results in frames per second.

1280x1024
System	No AA/AF	4AA/8AF	6AA/16AF
Athlon 1700+ (2125 Mhz)	41.5	24.9	18.2
A64 3500+ (2200 Mhz)	45.8	25	18
Pentium 4 2.4C (2400 Mhz)	42	25	18.8

 

1600x1200
System	No AA/AF	4AA/8AF	6AA/16AF
Athlon 1700+ (2125 Mhz)	33.9	18.8	12.2
A64 3500+ (2200 Mhz)	34.8	18.8	11.7
Pentium 4 2.4C (2400 Mhz)	34	18.8	13.9

Doom 3 really does run the X800 Pro ragged. CPU scaling was not the determining factor in this test. As you can see the results are all basically the same between the three systems. From the results, the game was playable with no AA/AF at either 1280x1024 or even at 1600x1200 although it may chug a bit in some high action areas. So when looking for better performance in Doom 3, a new video card may be just what you need, rather than a new CPU.

Far Cry
Far Cry is another very intense game on systems. Far Cry features dynamic lighting, motion-capture animation and an 800-meter draw distance. The features will run a card through its paces, especially in the highly detailed jungle that Far Cry is based in. Shown below are the results of the Fort demo in frames per second.

1280x1024
System	No AA/AF	4AA/8AF	6AA/16AF
Athlon 1700+ (2125 Mhz)	45.05	36.74	28.35
A64 3500+ (2200 Mhz)	58.27	39.78	31.17
Pentium 4 2.4C (2400 Mhz)	45.71	37.38	29.38

 

1600x1200
System	No AA/AF	4AA/8AF	6AA/16AF
Athlon 1700+ (2125 Mhz)	44.11	26.62	19.05
A64 3500+ (2200 Mhz)	49.89	28.73	20.09
Pentium 4 2.4C (2400 Mhz)	44.4	27.22	18.16

With anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering turned off, Far Cry turns onto more of a CPU type benchmark. The more powerful A64 system shows it muscles in the 1280x1024 test, beating the competition by over 10fps. Once the IQ is turned up the X800 Pro starts to get stressed more than the CPU. This is where the benchmarks between the systems seem to level out and show the X800 Pro as the bottleneck. Performance is still better on the faster system, but only marginal. As you can see Far Cry is still playable at either 1280x1024 with the IQ turned right up, or even with AA/AF turned on at 1600x1200.

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