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Center AD #2
HIS Radeon HD 2600 PRO IceQ 512MB HIS Radeon HD 2600 PRO IceQ 512MB: Hi-Fi design, 5.1 Audio, Superior Cooling, DirectX 10, HD Playback - but can it keep up with the competition? Let's find out.
Date: August 23, 2007
Manufacturer: Hightech Information Systems
Written By: Scott Harness
Price: ~$140 USD

Tomb Raider: Anniversary - FPS

 
Min
Max
Avg
HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ 512MB
26
126
86.275
Nvidia 8600GT
86
136
116.95

The HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ 512MB really does show how it struggles with anti-aliasing compared to the 8600GT when playing Tomb Raider: Anniversary. You may be thinking that at first glance, while yes, the 2600 Pro is slower, it's not that bad. But you also have to consider that the 8600GT is also running at 2x anti-aliasing and 2x anisotropic filtering. Generally speaking the game experience is fine on both cards but it will obviously have an impact on Image Quality.

Tomb Raider: Anniversary - Image Quality

HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro left, Nvidia 8600GT right

Tomb Raider: Anniversary is lot more forgiving than Legend in most levels of the game but we were still unable to utilize any filtering with the HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro. Still, the image is nice enough without it, just not as nice as it could be. Both images are pretty similar, but the 8600GT just takes the edge off ... er ... the edges, as you would expect since it's able to do 2x anti-aliasing.

Need For Speed: Carbon - FPS

 
Min
Max
Avg
HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro IceQ 512MB
22
34
28.9
Nvidia 8600GT
9
34
26.4

I should have probably lowered the settings on both cards for this game, as both do rather poorly here. The settings were set to high rather than maximum and anything lower really did start to detract from the eye candy so I left it at High. Still, once again the 8600GT comes out on top as while the HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro numbers are higher (just), again the 8600GT is able to keep up and perform 2x anti-aliasing.

Need For Speed: Carbon - Image Quality

HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro left, Nvidia 8600GT right

Need For Speed: Carbon is no where near as visually appealing as Most Wanted, but like Most Wanted does benefit from both anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. We were only able to use 2x anisotropic filtering with this card and maintain playable frame rates, which means that much like Tomb Raider, the image is nice but could be nicer.

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