Για το πλήρες άρθρο εδώGame play Evaluation Summary:
Quake 4
Let’s go over what we experienced with each game. In Quake 4, we found a major bug with “Ultra Quality” mode on the Radeon X1800 XT that, for all intents and purposes, made this mode unplayable. Performance was there, but the bug keeps you from starting up the first level of the game. Otherwise, what we found was that there was a performance difference between Ultra and High Quality mode and that, for the time being, it is best to use High Quality mode on the Radeon X1800 XT, especially in Multiplayer. In High Quality mode, we found 1600x1200 with 2XAA and 8XAF very playable on the Radeon X1800 XT. These are the same quality settings we found playable on the BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX in Quake 4. Graphing the performance, we could see that the BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX is slightly faster in real-world game play performance, but inside the game, this difference is not noticeable.
We know that some other “benchmarks” on other sites are showing that -- with a recorded timedemo -- the Radeon X1800 XT is providing faster frame rates than a GeForce 7800 GTX with this new OpenGL fix driver. This just shows that there are more differences starting to crop up now in games where a recorded timedemo is not accurately reflecting the actual, real-world game play experience. Remember, timedemos are recorded events that may not play back AI and Physics in the same way as when you actually get inside the game and play it like a gamer. Our results fully reflect playing the game.
F.E.A.R.
We were most anxious to test these video cards out in F.E.A.R. To our surprise, 1600x1200 was an unreachable resolution. We found that we had to drop to 1280x960 with maximum in-game settings to achieve the best performance. At this resolution, we found 2XAA playable. In fact, we were able to have each video card’s Transparency Antialiasing algorithm enabled for even better Anti-aliasing. Soft Shadows stress these video cards and make it unplayable; however, in our opinion, enabling Soft Shadows doesn’t result in drastically improved image quality. Instead, we’d rather enable a high level of AA in this game. In some areas – especially in shadows – it looked like the BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX OC was doing some slightly better Anti-aliasing. Other than that, all the effects looked the same.
Serious Sam 2
In Serious Sam 2, we found a very big bug with HDR enabled on the Radeon X1800 XT. There was a very distinct, blocky pattern visible around objects receiving HDR lighting. There was also a very large performance hit making 1024x768 with no AA the only setting that was playable with HDR enabled. Right now, with the Radeon X1800 XT, you will have to disable HDR for Serious Sam 2. With HDR disabled, we found 1600x1200 with 4XAA and 16XAF very playable. We were able to play just fine with HDR enabled on the BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX OC at 1600x1200. Of course, with the BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX, you cannot run AA with HDR in this game. If you want to run the game with AA, you will have to disable HDR, and then you can run it at 1600x1200 with 4XAA and 16XAF, which is the same as the Radeon X1800 XT.
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast stresses each video card when HDR is enabled. The method of HDR that Valve has implemented fully supports AA with both video cards. We found that 1600x1200 with 4XAA and 16XAF was just barely playable on the Radeon X1800 XT with HDR enabled. The BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX OC was definitely not playable at 1600x1200 with 4XAA and 16XAF with HDR enabled. We had to decrease the AA setting to 2X to get acceptable performance. We did see a slight difference on reflections with HDR where the 7800 GTX was brighter, but this was only noticeable in static screenshots as we compared them offline.
Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2 seemed to perform very well on the Radeon X1800 XT. We were able to take the game up to 1600x1200 with 4X Adaptive AA, and we still experience very smooth performance. The BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX OC managed 4XAA, but only with its TR MSAA quality setting, not TR SSAA.
EverQuest II
With EverQuest II, we also found that the Radeon X1800 XT performed better as it allowed 2X Adaptive AA and High Quality 16XAF at 1600x1200. The BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX OC was playable at 1600x1200 with 2X TR MSAA, but not TR SSAA.
Need for Speed Underground 2
In Need for Speed Underground 2, there was no question that the ATI Radeon X1800 XT was faster. At 1600x1200 with 4XAA and 16X HQ AF, the Radeon X1800 XT pulled into the lead throughout the game. Performance was excellent and very playable on both video cards at 1600x1200 with 4XAA, so both were very much playable.
The Sims 2
In The Sims 2, the Radeon X1800 XT did not seem to perform as well as the BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX OC. While 1600x1200 with 2XAA was playable on both video cards, performance was generally slower on the ATI Radeon X1800 XT.
Overall Summary: 8)
Looking back at the performance, the results are quite interesting. In the situations where the Radeon X1800 XT excels, you’ll see that the Anti-aliasing level plays an important role. This could indicate either that the 512MB of video card RAM is helping the situation, or that the memory controller is more efficient at processing high levels of AA.
In DOOM 3, we were used to seeing the GeForce 6 series stomp on the performance of the Radeon X800/X850 series. This time around, it is good to see ATI matching NVIDIA with Quake 4 performance. It seems that all the work ATI has done with their drivers and hardware has paid off. In a blind taste test, at the same highest playable settings, you would not be able to tell the difference between both video cards.
F.E.A.R performance also seems to be equal on both video cards. This new game stresses the current generation of video cards. Neither card outshined or outmatched the other in this game. Both cards allowed for 1280x960 with 2X their transparency AA methods with maximum in-game settings.
In some games, the BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX OC pulled out ahead in terms of performance. In others, the Radeon X1800 XT came out on top. However, there were no big showstoppers that put either card on a pedestal. I hope that ATI can work out the pesky Ultra Quality bug in Quake 4 and the HDR bug in Serious Sam 2. Obviously, the Radeon X1800 is not nearly matured in terms of drivers as its competition.
The Radeon X1800 XT is a louder video card so this is something to keep in mind if you wish to maintain a quieter running system. However, each manufacturer can implement their own heat sink and fan so the final sound results may vary. We have also determined that heat does not seem to be a big determining factor between the video cards. The Radeon X1800 XT seems to be slightly warmer, but it is nothing major.
Image quality is also very similar between the video cards. In Quake 4, F.E.A.R, Serious Sam 2, and the other games, we did not see any major image quality differences in the effects rendered in the games. Only some slight AA differences were present, but, again, it was nothing major. HDR seems to be all the rage lately, and except for the bug in Serious Sam 2, and the very, very slight difference in Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, we found no other differences in HDR image quality. Most differences are going to have to be studied to be truly seen. We have not seen any glaring differences that would reach out and grab you doing actual gameplay.
The Bottom Line:
We’ve said this time and time again in other reviews, but the bottom line comes down to price, performance, and availability. As of 11/03/2005, Newegg had the Radeon X1800 XT for sale. It has however since then gone on backorder. Talking to ATI about this, they explained that they had changed up their shipping strategy a bit, in that they shipped smaller quantities of the card to more e-tailers and retailers. Given this, we should see the X1800 XT moving into stock with a wider footprint than in the past. That said, ATI was not specific to how many cards had been shipped, so seeing if they stay in stock will be an issue to watch as well.
The MSRP for the 512MB Radeon X1800 XT is $549; this is no small amount of change. We have seen retail GeForce 7800 GTX-based video cards online for $100 cheaper than the X1800 XT’s MSRP. As of yesterday, the X1800 XT was selling for approximately $50 over MSRP. If money is no object, the Radeon X1800 XT keeps a steady pace with GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB video card; furthermore, in some cases, it offers a faster gaming experience than NVIDIA’s current top-of-the-line card.
The Radeon X1800 XT does have an interesting new feature – which is unavailable on the GeForce 7800 GTX – as it has the ability to do AA with all methods of HDR. Therefore, if this is important for you, the X1800 XT might be the better choice. There also seems to be a lot of performance headroom with the Radeon X1000 series, which we have seen with the recent OpenGL Fix drivers. I sincerely hope that ATI can keep making the X1000 series more efficient through driver updates. Whichever card you chose, you won’t be disappointed as each allows a very high level of game play performance and image quality.
The performance of the Radeon X1800 XT isn't an issue as there is plenty of it. As we saw in the past with ATI's top-of-the-line cards, pricing and availability are the big questions facing ATI's flagship cards.
