 |
HIS X1600 Pro IceQ3 Turbo: Two cards are generally faster than one. Are they fast enough to make the added cost worthwhile though? |
|
| Date: |
June 9, 2006 |
| Manufacturer: |
|
| Written By: |
|
| Price: |
|
|
|
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
|
