Inno3D GeForce 6800 Review - Testing - Far Cry, Halo, NFSU

Far Cry v1.1 (DirectX 9.0)

The final Far Cry 1.2 patch with Shader Model 3.0 support has not been released yet, so we went ahead with testing version 1.1. FRAPS was used to find frame rate during one specific, repeatable section of the game. The cards were tested using the game's default detail options.

Upping resolution and visual quality does not seem hit the 6800's performance significantly in Far Cry. At the three settings tested with the 6800, average framerate stayed by 50 FPS, minimum framerate stayed above 30 FPS, and the only thing that really dipped was max FPS but that is less important. Even with the increased resolution and IQ, the Inno3D 6800 performs better or matches the performance given by the 9800XT and FX5900XT. These leaps in resolution and IQ without trouncing performance are what make the latest video cards out on the market great.

Halo (DirectX 9.0)

Though ported from the Xbox, Halo for the PC is an extremely graphically demanding game. I would be more fond of the multiplayer aspect if it was not just so darn slow. FRAPS was used to benchmark Halo. We sped through a beach level atop a warthog, where enemies and enemy fire fill the screen. In game all graphics settings were enabled and particles and texture quality set to high.

Although the 6800 is able to run Halo at one resolution up, 1280x1024, while maintaining comparable performance levels, one point of the run through crippled all three video cards, bringing framerate below 30 FPS. Of these three cards, playing Halo at 1024x768 on the 6800 with vsync enabled will deliver the best Halo experience.

Need For Speed Underground (DirectX 9.0)

(On a personal note, Need For Speed Underground (NFSU) is undoubtedly the greatest racing game I've ever run across. Its graphics requirements are nothing to scoff at as the game can be pretty demanding, and the visual and audio experience the game delivers never ceases to amaze. I am nearing 100/111 races completed and though the tracks can get repetitive, the game is still fun!)

We FRAPSed one lap around Olympic Square, with detail settings left to the game's default.

Either we were unable to disable vsync in NFSU or the game's maximum framerate is locked at 60 FPS, like Doom 3. No matter what we tried, framerate topped out at 60 FPS. But judging by the average framerate and simply monitoring the tests, the game did not run at 60 FPS very often. All the cards tested dipped below 30 FPS at some point, in fact all cards performed nearly the same at base settings. We tested the 6800 at 4x AA and 16x AF for kicks, and while the framerate did go down, it maintained an average above 30 FPS. Depending on your personal preferences, this may or may not be the optimal settings for the 6800 and NFSU. I personally did not mind the minor slow down.

Next: Testing - FFXI, SpecviewPerf 7.1.1, Doom 3 >>
 

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