X-bit labs

3DMark05: The Future of Computer Games in Numbers

[ 09/29/04 | by Anton Shilov]

Futuremark's 3DMark03 predicted performance of future games in mid-2003 on the hardware of that time, but was accused of unfair benchmarking. But the predictions proved to be truth and now Futuremark is back once again with the new 3DMark05. Find out which of the 22 graphics cards tested is likely to score fast in upcoming games together with X-bit labs.

ATI RADEON X700 XT: Gaming Performance Preview

[ 09/21/04 | by Anton Shilov]

ATI Technologies’ new mainstream fighter – RADEON X700 XT – is here to conquer NVIDIA’s GeForce 6600 GT product with the help of turbo-charged micro-architecture as well as new CATALYST AI set of performance boosters. Let’s find out ATI’s status in the mainstream with the help of some gaming and synthetic benchmarks.

ATI RADEON X700 XT: Architecture Preview

[ 09/21/04 | by Alexey Stepin]

ATI has finally landed RADEON X800 architecture onto a mainstream graphics processor, the one that was known under RV410 code-name. Today we are taking a look at the architecture features of the company’s new graphics card for mainstream market - ATI RADEON X700 XT.

Extreme Acceleration of NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT

[ 09/07/04 | by Tim Tscheblockov]

While the GeForce 6600 GT already delivers pretty high frame-rate in all popular games today, there is a chance to make it even faster by overclocking it a bit. However, those who want to have ultra high performance on a mainstream graphics card may try something more radical: extreme overclocking via voltmodding. Besides overclocking, we also measured power consumption and temperatures of the novelty.

NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT Assaults Mainstream Gaming Market

[ 09/07/04 | by Alexey Stepin]

Despite of not being the most highly-anticipated graphics processor of the year, the NV43, also known as the GeForce 6600, delivers just everything you would expect from a mainstream graphics card with some proof for the future: powerful architecture, support for Shader Model 3.0 and great thermal and power consumption characteristics. But how well does it perform in modern games?

Knowing the Depths: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT Architecture

[ 09/07/04 | by Tim Tscheblockov]

NVIDIA's GeForce 6600-series graphics processing units are now almost here: in a few days, in mid-September 2004, NVIDIA’s add-in-card partners are expected to begin shipments of the new mainstream hero. Let us have a look, what is inside of this graphics processor as well as find out all its strong and weak sides.

Leadtek WinFast A400 Ultra TDH Graphics Card Review

[ 09/01/04 | by Alexey Stepin]

We decided to take a look at one of the most powerful graphics card around, Leadtek GeForce 6800 Ultra. Being equipped with monumental cooling system, this product provides ultimate reliability and stability even with overclocking, deserving to be called the fastest Doom III graphics option ever tested by X-bit labs.

Power Consumption of Contemporary Graphics Accelerators. Part II: NVIDIA vs. ATI

[ 08/22/04 | by Tim Tscheblockov]

Today we are going to take a closer look at the power consumption of graphics cards based on NVIDIA chips, which are available in the today’s market. We will also compare these results with the power consumption of the cards on the rivalry solutions from ATI and see who managed to achieve better results here.

Counter Strike: Source: Performance Preview

[ 08/20/04 | by Anton Shilov]

Valve Software has just released its demo of Counter Strike: Source along with Half-Life 2 stress test for gamers around the globe to evaluate their six years work on the new incarnations of the world’s most-popular game titles. Specially for gamers and hardware enthusiasts we decided to compare different graphics cards in a yet another "judgment test".
UPDATE: X-bit labs have added performance scores of mainstream graphics cards along with more thorough image quality comparison.

Doom III: Performance and Image Quality in Different Gaming Modes

[ 08/16/04 | by Alexey Stepin]

We decided to compare a plethora of graphics cards using five demos and different quality settings of the Doom III title. The article brings you performance numbers and image quality analysis that should help you to decide which are the best settings of Doom III game for your graphics card in terms of quality and speed.

Be Doomed: Performance Preview of the Doom III Game

[ 08/03/04 | by Anton Shilov]

Be thrilled, be excited, be doomed, as we benchmarked today’s high-end graphics cards in 5 demo scenes of the much-anticipated Doom III game. Check out the fastest graphics cards on Mars with us!
UPDATE: X-bit labs have added Doom III scores for ATI RADEON X800 graphics cards with CATALYST 4.9 beta drivers.

The Fastest Graphics Cards of Summer 2004

[ 07/31/04 | by Alexey Stepin]

The Summer is here and it is time to buy new graphics cards and play the newest games. Since the market is flooded with offerings, it is pretty hard to decide which one is better for you. We have taken 13 high-end and mainstream graphics cards and benchmarked them in 35 gaming benchmarks to find out which are worth their money.

ASUS AX800 PRO/TD Graphics Card Review

[ 07/28/04 | by Alexey Stepin]

Today we would like to introduce to you an excellent graphics card from ASUS based on ATI X800 PRO chip. The outstanding accessories set, low noise level and crystal-sharp image quality are its major trumps, which would undoubtedly appeal to you. Check out now, how fast this solution can actually be!

Power Consumption of Contemporary Graphics Accelerators. Part I: Graphics Cards on ATI Chips

[ 07/27/04 | by Tim Tscheblockov]

Contemporary graphics cards surpass the older products across a number of parameters like speed, functionality, complexity and, alas, power consumption and heat generation. We would like to introduce to you a method of measuring power consumption – and heat dissipation, too – for modern graphics cards and will also share with you the results of the tests, for the card running at their nominal frequencies and after overclocking.

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT and GeForce 6800: Overclocking and Modding

[ 07/26/04 | by Tim Tscheblockov]

Today we are going to take a closer look at the two latest graphics solutions from NVIDIA based on GeForce 6800 and GeForce 6800 GT working at their nominal frequency and at overclocked frequencies after a few sophisticated modifications of ours. Find out now what you can get for your buck!

FarCry Performance Revisited: ATI Strikes Back with Shader Model 2.0b

[ 07/25/04 | by Anton Shilov]

The latest 1.2 patch for the currently most-discussed game not only enabled Shader Model 3.0 on NVIDIA’s GeForce 6 hardware, but also brought Shader Model 2.0b for ATI’s latest RADEON visual processing units in order to improve performance and image quality. X-bit labs has run an exhaustive selection of FarCry benchmarks to find out whether long pixel shaders along with geometry instancing helped ATI to bring the performance up.
UPDATE: X-bit labs have added scores in FSAA and anisotropic filtering mode to the article.

PowerColor RADEON X800 PRO Graphics Card: Modification, Extreme Overclocking and a Duel against Leadtek GeForce 6800 GT

[ 07/15/04 | by Tim Tscheblockov]

The first question an overclocker may ask about the RADEON X800 Pro is if it’s possible to turn its disabled pipelines back on and then overclock it to the level of the RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition? Then, will the X800 Pro be able to beat its immediate rival from NVIDIA, the GeForce 6800 GT, which is a cheapened version of a top-end model, too? Read our review to find all these answers now!

The DeltaChrome S4 Pro: S3 Graphics' Entry-Level Offspring

[ 07/14/04 | by Alexey Stepin]

S3 Graphics has finally uncovered its graphics processor for entry-level market segment that will be opposed to integrated chipsets along with low-end graphics cards. The DeltaChrome S4 Pro inherited all the capabilities found in the more advanced S8 chip, but is it enough to become the king of the entry-level market?

Shader Model 3.0: Crytek's FarCry Gets Acceleration

[ 07/02/04 | by Anton Shilov]

We just got a long-expected update for the most-popular and the eye-catching game today. The promising technologies introduced along with the GeForce 6-series graphics processors proved to really bring additional performance for the innovative architecture. Find out whether the Pixel Shaders 3.0 and Vertex Shaders 3.0 really can help NVIDIA GeForce 6800 to beat ATI RADEON X800 graphics cards in the most graphics-intensive application available today.
UPDATE: X-bit labs have added scores in FSAA and anisotropic filtering mode to the article.

GeCube All-In-Wonder 9600XT Multimedia Combine Review

[ 07/01/04 | by Alexey Stepin]

The famous ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 PRO graphics card got even faster in its AIW 9600 XT incarnation thanks to higher-speed RADEON 9600 XT graphics processor. While the product that can serve all your multimedia demands perfectly cannot match the leading GPUs in terms of speed, let us find out its exact performance, as it definitely worth it.