MSI FX5700 Ultra TD128 - Testing UT2K3, Splinter Cell
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UT2K3 (DirectX 8.1)
Unreal Tournament 2003 is a solid DX8 test, useful for comparing video card's raw DX8 horsepower. I used HardOCP's benchmark program to run "high quality" tests at 1280x1024, 32-bit color.
At 2x anti-aliasing and 8x anisotropic filtering, the FX5700U leads the entire pack. This is not surprising considering its high core and memory clock. The FX5600U comes in close second, and the R9600Pro draws last. Unreal doesn't use any advanced shader programs, which is why we see the 5600 performing so well.
The 4x AA numbers here show a very similar trend to our 2x AA test. The FX5700U maintains a small lead on all three maps and the 5600 is continuing to perform surprisingly well. None of the cards receive too harsh of a performance hit stepping up to 4x AA from 2x AA, and all the cards are playable with UT2K3 running at these video settings.
Splinter Cell (DirectX 8.1)
While Splinter Cell utilizes the UT2K3 engine, it uses pixel shaders to generate effects like night vision in the game. The demo I ran, recorded in the level "The Caspian Oil Refinery," stresses fillrate and shading efficiency. AA and AF were disabled for tests.
The FX5700U performs nearly identically to the R9600Pro. The FX5600U falls behind while the boost in core and memory clock on the overclocked R9600Pro really boosts its performance.
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