Written By:
Date Posted: June 24, 2002

OpenGL Test: Quake 3

While 3D Mark 2001 is a great way to judge Direct 3d performance, it isn't a real-world benchmark, meaning that it's scores may not reflect how the card will perform in applications and games. Quake 3 will give us a good idea of how this card performs in games.

640x480 16-bit

Radeon 8500 128 Meg=259.7 FPS
ATI Radeon 8500 128 MEG (overclocked to 302 MHZ)=261.7 FPS
GeForce3=251.6 FPS

Remember what I said earlier about real life and synthetic performance? At this low of a resolution the CPU is really the deciding factor of the amount of FPS being pushed, even though the Radeon bested the GeForce 3.

1024x768 16-bit

Radeon 8500 128 Meg=231.9 FPS
ATI Radeon 8500 128 MEG (overclocked to 302 MHZ)=234.2
GeForce3=224.7 FPS

At 1024x768 the CPU is taken out of the equation a bit and the deciding factor is the cards themselves. Once again we see respectable frame rates from both cards. The Radeon 8500 was designed to compete with the GeForce3 line of cards and it does a beautiful job of doing so in the Quake 3 tests. Overclocking doesn't help the Radeon out very much here.

Image Quality

So is the Radeon 8500 easy on the eyes? When playing games I found the color depth to be visually pleasing. Games such as Quake 3 seemed to take advantage of the Radeon's advanced lighting features, as the player models seemed to move realistically and less jerky then they did when playing with the GeForce 3 cards. Whether or not developers are ever going to take advantage of the Direct X 8.1 functionality this card brings is up in the air, especially with Direct X 9 around the corner, but for now the Radeon 8500 brings some very impressive visual capabilities to the table.

DVD Playback

ATI may not have what it takes to always keep up with NVidia in the 3d performance sector, but it always has destroyed NVidia when it comes to multimedia playback. ATI has the Rage Theater chip to thank for this. My experience with DVD Playback on the Radeon was phenomenal. There was never a stutter in the video, and much like the way the games player, character movement was fluid and never choppy.

Conclusion

I must say that I was very impressed with the Radeon 8500. Games look great, DVD playback is superb, and the ability to use multiple monitors sweetens the deal even more. Even though there are DirectX 9 cards around the block, I doubt you will find a better card for your money than the Radeon 8500.

Pros

Able to handle any game with ease.
Makes games look great.
Great DVD playback.
ATI driver support is very solid now.
Overclockable.

Cons

Expensive
DirectX 9 cards are coming soon.

Bottom line

The Radeon 8500 is one of the best cards out there right now, but newer, faster cards with better features are on the horizon.

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