Half Life 2 GPU Roundup Part 1 - DirectX 9 Shootout
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 17, 2004 11:22 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Head to Head: ATI Radeon X800 XT vs. NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra
For our first head to head comparison we have ATI's top of the line X800 XT against NVIDIA's flagship GeForce 6800 Ultra.
At lower resolutions the performance is close in our first demo, but as we crank up the resolution and turn on AA, the X800 XT pulls ahead:
| Half Life 2 AT_canals_08.dem | |||
ATI Radeon X800 XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra |
Performance Advantage |
|
| 1024 x 768 | 142.4 |
136 |
4.7% |
| 1280 x 1024 | 125.6 |
119.3 |
5.3% |
| 1600 x 1200 | 108.2 |
98.6 |
9.7% |
| 1024 x 768 - 4X AA | 126.5 |
124.4 |
1.7% |
| 1280 x 1024 - 4X AA | 103.2 |
92.8 |
11.2% |
| 1600 x 1200 - 4X AA | 81 |
68.7 |
17.9% |
| Winner | - |
- |
X800 XT |
We see the same story in our second benchmark:
| Half Life 2 AT_coast_05.dem | |||
ATI Radeon X800 XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra |
Performance Advantage |
|
| 1024 x 768 | 134.2 |
132.6 |
1.2% |
| 1280 x 1024 | 130.4 |
126.4 |
3.2% |
| 1600 x 1200 | 125.7 |
118.7 |
5.9% |
| 1024 x 768 - 4X AA | 130.1 |
132.6 |
1.9% |
| 1280 x 1024 - 4X AA | 126.7 |
119.1 |
6.4% |
| 1600 x 1200 - 4X AA | 114.7 |
95.3 |
20.4% |
| Winner | - |
- |
X800 XT |
...and our third:
| Half Life 2 AT_coast_12.dem | |||
ATI Radeon X800 XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra |
Performance Advantage |
|
| 1024 x 768 | 128.8 |
125 |
3.0% |
| 1280 x 1024 | 120.5 |
114.3 |
5.4% |
| 1600 x 1200 | 105.7 |
100 |
5.7% |
| 1024 x 768 - 4X AA | 121.7 |
116.7 |
4.3% |
| 1280 x 1024 - 4X AA | 105.7 |
97.7 |
8.2% |
| 1600 x 1200 - 4X AA | 86.6 |
73.7 |
17.5% |
| Winner | - |
- |
X800 XT |
The X800 XT continues to maintain a significant lead at higher resolutions with AA enaabled:
| Half Life 2 AT_prison_05.dem | |||
ATI Radeon X800 XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra |
Performance Advantage |
|
| 1024 x 768 | 150.1 |
148.4 |
1.1% |
| 1280 x 1024 | 136.8 |
129.6 |
5.6% |
| 1600 x 1200 | 109.3 |
97.2 |
12.4% |
| 1024 x 768 - 4X AA | 143.5 |
132.1 |
8.6% |
| 1280 x 1024 - 4X AA | 111.5 |
95.1 |
17.2% |
| 1600 x 1200 - 4X AA | 84.9 |
69.9 |
21.5% |
| Winner | - |
- |
X800 XT |
In our final test the X800 XT only really separates itself from the 6800 Ultra at 1280 x 1024 and 1600 x 1200 with AA enabled.
| Half Life 2 AT_c17_12.dem | |||
ATI Radeon X800 XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra |
Performance Advantage |
|
| 1024 x 768 | 88.1 |
84.6 |
4.1% |
| 1280 x 1024 | 86.3 |
84 |
2.7% |
| 1600 x 1200 | 84.1 |
80.1 |
5.0% |
| 1024 x 768 - 4X AA | 87.2 |
84.3 |
3.4% |
| 1280 x 1024 - 4X AA | 84.3 |
77.4 |
8.9% |
| 1600 x 1200 - 4X AA | 80.3 |
65.6 |
22.4% |
| Winner | - |
- |
X800 XT |
What the X800 XT holds over the 6800 Ultra is a 10 - 20% performance advantage in high resolution AA performance, but at lower resolutions and with AA disabled the performance is very similar between the two.
| Summary | |||
Average Performance Advantage (X800 XT over 6800 Ultra) |
|||
| 1024 x 768 | 2.8% |
||
| 1280 x 1024 | 4.4% |
||
| 1600 x 1200 | 7.8% |
||
| 1024 x 768 - 4X AA | 4.0% |
||
| 1280 x 1024 - 4X AA | 10.4% |
||
| 1600 x 1200 - 4X AA | 19.9% |
||
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alexlck - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
In map AT_coast_05.dem, GF6800U have no performance penalty with 4xAA@1024x768?HardwareD00d - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
hey, #27, I was gonna say that ;)jediknight - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
Well, it's obvious from the benchmarks. They don't lie.ATI RULZ NVIDIA SUXORZ!!
(lol@#3)
bob661 - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
Do you need HL2 to play CS: Source? Thanks.wien - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
#24 There is.. It's called Counter-Strike: Sourcebob661 - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
Anyone know if there's multiplayer support in HL2? Thanks.L1FE - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
Nice and thorough comparison. That 6600GT looks more and more enticing...Rekonn - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
Great article, looking forward to reading the next one with slower cpus. Being cpu limited with an A64 4000+ is a little scary, I wonder what kind of fps an XP3200+ gets when paired with an AGP 6600GT. (still running an overclocked Barton 2500+)Jalf - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
I'm surprised at how well NV stacks up... And good to see the 6800 GT beat the X800 Pro. Not because I'm an NV fan, but simply because it makes it easier to choose. When the 6800 GT wins over the equivalent ATI card, even in an ATI-optimized game, then it's kinda easy to choose what to buy... :DIt's a lot harder with the other cards, where both companies scores some wins in different games.
Regs - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
Yeah, I'm hoping a CPU round up will come after part two! I can afford a 400 dollar video card but not paired with a 700 dollar AMD CPU.I did notice a lot of stuttering in my gaming experience with a A64 3000 + 6800 GT/1024 MB pC3200. I was playing at 1280x1024 with 4x/8x max details. So likely I would have to cut out the 8x Aniso to have smooth gameplay. I don't know if that was what Anand was mentioning about with the "Shimmering" of textures with the Manhatten calculations.