The third test shows a somewhat different picture: the RADEON X1800 XT CrossFire loses its advantage in the extreme FSAA modes and the GeForce 7800 GTX SLI takes the lead at 4x FSAA. We suspect this to be due to the more efficient vertex processors of the GeForce 7800 GTX since the more complex geometry is the single difference of the third test from the second one.

The GeForce 7800 GTX SLI finds the extreme FSAA modes much more difficult than they are for the RADEON X1800 XT CrossFire. The graphics cards in the latter platform have two times more graphics memory which is also clocked at a considerably higher frequency – a very important factor when there’s a huge load on the graphics memory subsystem. Moreover, it is easier to perform 14x Super AA than 16x SLI AA that uses regular super-sampling. In the relatively easy 4x FSAA mode both these platforms have almost the same speed, with a minor advantage on the part of the ATI RADEON X1800 XT CrossFire.