To test the cards performance we ran it through a mixture of OpenGL, DirectX 7, DirectX 8 and DirectX 9 benchmarks. Up against the Asus is the ATi reference 9800 XT which we reviewed last week, the FX5950 and FX5900s from nVIDIA, and an ATi 9800 Pro. For reference we also included the results from an older card; the 9700 Pro.
For drivers I used the latest official WHQL certified drivers for both nVIDIA and ATi cards. The Detonator 52.16s were pitted against the Catalyst 3.9 drivers
First up, let's get the older titles out of the way. Quake III with IQ enabled at 1280x1024 can still tax the graphics card enough to show scalable differences between, for example, a 9800 pro and a GeForce FX 5950. For that reason I still have no qualms about using it as an OpenGL test, especially considering it still a very popular online game.
We can see the Asus is immediately out of the traps well, with it matching the ATi reference model almost identically. The 9800XT cards show a decent lead over the competition in this particular title.
3DMark 2001SE is a useful DirectX 7 and 8 benchmark.
All cards here perform well, with the Asus posting results just a little lower than the reference card. The variance is still less than a percent however, so it's well within the error margin of this benchmark.
Another Open GL game, this time Return to Castle Wolfenstein. RTCW is based on a highly tweaked version of the Quake III engine with more detailed textures, many added special effects and other eye candy.
The nVIDIA cards here show good performance, just a modicum slower than the Asus 9800XTs top slot performance.
