3DMark 2001 SE Gaming Tests

All the tests from 3DMark 2001 were run in the “Low Details” mode. In the “High Details” the CPU often limits the performance of the graphics card making their comparison absolutely impossible.

The tests ran at 32-bit texture color and frame-buffer depths; Z-buffer color depth equaled 24 bit. The settings of the graphics cards were the same as in the previous section.

Game 1:

We can’t state that any of the cards tested is a definite No.1 here. Moreover, the results are greatly limited by the CPU.

But look at the performance of NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4800! It’s best in 1024x768 resolution, when the workload on the graphics card is low! This can indicate only one thing: good driver optimization. The results of NVIDIA GeForce FX in 1024x768 suggest that the Direct3D part of its driver is less efficiently optimized.

Quite expectedly, 4x full-screen anti-aliasing makes the situation look much better for ATI RADEON 9700 PRO. And while NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 Ultra wins 1024x768 and 1280x1024 resolutions, RADEON 9700 PRO comes ahead in 1600x1200 when the graphics memory bus bandwidth affects the overall results most.

3DMark 2001 doesn’t use tri-linear filtering in principle. Thus, the task of NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 Ultra when performing anisotropic filtering is easier and it outperforms ATI RADEON 9700 PRO.

NVIDIA GeForce FX holds its ground in the heaviest mode until 1600x1200 resolution, when ATI RADEON 9700 PRO shows best thanks to its higher memory bus bandwidth.

Game 2:

Just like in the first gaming test of 3DMark 2001, NVIDIA GeForce FX is behind ATI RADEON 9700 PRO in 1024x768 when the graphics card workload is minimal. And once again this indicates insufficient optimization of the Direct3D part of the driver for GeForce FX.

In higher resolutions the graphics cards go neck and neck.

Full-screen anti-aliasing favors ATI RADEON 9700 PRO, but this time the advantage of the latter is even higher than in the previous test. The higher OverDraw value of this test must be allowing ATI RADEON 9700 PRO to make best use of its optimal HSR implementation.

When we enabled anisotropic filtering, ATI RADEON 9700 PRO lost its top position. 3DMark 2001 doesn’t use tri-linear filtering and this passes the advantage over to NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 Ultra.

But when both: full-screen anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering are enabled, ATI RADEON 9700 PRO regains its first place thanks to its higher memory bus bandwidth.