 |
HIS
X1600 Pro IceQ3 Turbo: Two cards are generally faster
than one. Are they fast enough to make the added cost worthwhile
though? |
|
|
|
|
Half
Life 2
|
Frames
Per Second
|
Min
|
Max
|
Avg
|
|
HIS
X1600Pro IceQ Turbo
|
34
|
93
|
54.37
|
|
Asus
6600GT
|
31
|
121
|
60.36
|
Using
Fraps to measure real world running and gunning, the X1600Pro
keeps pace with the 6600GT, however I think the GT's memory
is giving it the extra nudge to assist in outperforming the
X1600Pro. Turning on AA and AF appears to aid the X1600Pro to
edge closer, as it barely drops 2 FPS, where as the 6600GT drops
almost 5.
Call
of Duty 2
|
Frames
Per Second
|
Min
|
Max
|
Avg
|
|
HIS
X1600Pro IceQ Turbo
|
13
|
24
|
19.65
|
|
Asus
6600GT
|
15
|
38
|
25.86
|
The
X1600Pro struggled to give frame rates at levels I would deem
acceptable. ~20 FPS is not enough to play and enjoy a game.
Unfortunately, ramping up the AA and AF only cause you to drop
further to a completely unplayable state, 10 FPS is a slide
show at best, movement is severely hampered and there is no
way to snipe at this frame rate. Once again, I feel the 6600GT's
extra memory aids it in outperforming the X1600Pro. Turning
on AA and AF only amplifies this.
Quake
4
|
Frames
Per Second
|
Min
|
Max
|
Avg
|
|
HIS
X1600Pro IceQ Turbo
|
40
|
90
|
57.08
|
|
Asus
6600GT
|
24
|
78
|
50.41
|
Although
using the Doom3 engine, the performance is not similar as
one would expect. This is in part due to Quake4 is much brighter
and there is a lot more for your graphics card to draw. Especially
when compared to the dank dungeons for the Doom3 demo used.
The X1600Pro did not disapoint here, although the Doom3 engine
is getting close to 2 years old, the midrange cards seem to
have caught up with it. Of course, the 6600GT once again outperforms
the X1600Pro, while we move to AA/AF turned on, once again
the 6600GT takes a bigger hit then the X1600Pro does.
Need
for Speed: Most Wanted
|
Frames
Per Second
|
Min
|
Max
|
Avg
|
|
HIS
X1600Pro IceQ Turbo
|
12
|
24
|
17.93
|
|
Asus
6600GT
|
13
|
27
|
19.84
|
Using
Fraps to measure in game driving antics, the X1600Pro struggled
to deliver a smooth game. Turning on AA/AF only exacerbated
this issue, making the steering sluggish and unresponsive
at times. The 6600GT did not fair much better, only a slight
FPS gain over the X1600Pro and not enough to say it was any
more playable at the high graphics settings chosen.
3dMark
2006
|
3dMark
2006
|
Score
|
|
HIS
X1600Pro IceQ Turbo Single
|
1866
|
|
Asus
6600GT
|
1584
|
The
HIS X1600Pro IceQ Turbo performs above what all of the previous
tests show. In every aspect, the X1600Pro scores better then
the 6600GT, if life were only synthetic.
Linux
A
quick note while talking about CrossFire on Linux. Unfortunately,
there is no driver support for CrossFire on any Linux distribution,
therfore if you are running a linux varient, CrossFire is not
a solution, needless to say, SLI is currently shipping for Linux,
once again putting ATI behind the 8 ball as it were.. One can
only hope that this is remedied soon by ATI, as this is a growing
gaming segment that can not be dismissed for long... That being
said, I loaded up Zenwalk 2.4 and ran a few tests with a single
HIS X1600Pro IceQ Turbo. Performance of Quake 4 and Quake 3
(my 2 linux supported games) were on par with that of a single
card solution on Windows XP. Lets just hope that soon, I will
be able to verify that a CrossFire solution does the same.
NEXT
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