Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Performance

In Chaos Theory, we have another instance where the single 7800GTX is able to outperform the 6800U SLI setup in most situations. Without AA/AF, it wins by 10% and 42% at 1600 and 2048 respectively. With AA/AF, however, the 6800U SLI beats the single 7800GTX by 39% at 1600x1200. Again, the 6800U cards seem to have difficulty running 2048x1536, with the single card taking running 115% faster at 1600x1200 than 2048x1536. If you're looking for the ultimate in resolutions and image quality, the 7800GTX SLI setup manages an impressive 80% performance advantage over the single card at the highest resolutions. Whether or not that's worth the cost is up to the individual to decide, of course - most of use would be perfectly happy with 1600x1200 and 4xAA. The 6800U SLI setup also leads the single 6800U by 81% at 2048, though with an average frame rate below 40 FPS, it's something of a hollow victory.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory


Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory


Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory


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  • CrystalBay - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    Does this card play Riddick smoothly @ shader 2++ ?????
  • fishbits - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    "In aboot 5 years i figure we'll be paying 1000 bucks for a video card. These prices are getting out of control, every generation is more expensive then the last. Dont make me switch to consoles damnit."

    Funny, I can't afford the very best TVs the minute they come out. Same for stereo components. But I don't cry about it and threaten "Don't make me switch to learning the ukelele and putting on my own puppet shows to entertain myself!" Every time a better component comes out, it means I get a price reduction and feature upgrade on the items that are affordable/justifiable for my budget.

    Seriously, where does the sense of entitlement come from? Do these people think they should be able to download top-of-the-line graphics cards through BitTorrent? Do they walk around Best Buy cursing out staff, manufacturers and customers for being so cruel as to buy and sell big-ass plasma TVs?

    On second thought, get your console and give up PC gaming. That way you can stop being miserable, and we can stop being miserable hearing about your misery.
  • tazdevl - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    Funny how the single card deltas here are higher than at any other site.

    Unwhelmed for the amount of money and lack of performance increase.

    Have to commend nVIDIA for ensuring retail availability at launch.
  • archcommus - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    Impressive, but I'm still happy with my X800 XL purchase for only $179. For what it seems, with a 1280x1024 display, I won't need the kind of power this card delivers for a very long time. And less than $200 compared to $600, with still excellent peformance for now and the forseeable future? Hmm, I'll take the former.
  • Lonyo - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    I would have liked some 1280x1024 benchmarks with 8xAA from the nVidia cards and 6xAA from ATi to see if it's worth getting something like a 7800GTX with 17/19" LCD's to run som esuper high quality settings in terms of AA/AF.
  • segagenesis - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    I'm not disappointed. For one thing the price of current cards will likely drop now, and there will also be mid-range parts soon to choose from. I think the transparency AA is a good idea for say... World of Warcraft. The game is loaded with them and too often can you see the blockyness of trees/grass/whatever.

    #44 - Actually are you new to the market? :) I remember when early "accelerated" VGA cards were nearly $1000. Or more.

    Everybody lambasted NVIDIA last year for the lack of product (6800GT/Ultra) to the market, so them actually making a presence this year instead of a paper launch should also be commended. Of course, now what is ATI gonna pull out of its hat?
  • KeDaHa - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    The screenshot shows very clearly that SSAA provides quite a quality improvement over no AA

    The difference is bloody miniscule, perhaps if you used an image SLIGHTLY larger than 640x480 to highlight the difference?
  • L3p3rM355i4h - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    Wowzers. Time to get rid of teh 9800...
  • shabby - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    In aboot 5 years i figure we'll be paying 1000 bucks for a video card. These prices are getting out of control, every generation is more expensive then the last.
    Dont make me switch to consoles damnit.
  • Xenoterranos - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link

    Hell, for the same price as an SLI setup I can go out and get a 23 inch cinema display...And since these cards can't handle the 30" native resolution anyway, it's a win-win. And yeah, whats up with the quality control on these benchmarks! I mean really, I almost decided to wait for the ATI next-gen part when I saw this (GeForce man since the GeForce2 GTS!)

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