Performance in First-Person 3D Shooters

Battlefield 2

The new, 5.12 version of the Catalyst driver doesn’t change anything in the Battlefield 2 standings. The Sapphire RADEON X1800 XL is still much slower than the GeForce 7800 GT in the “pure speed” mode.

The Sapphire looks much better when full-screen antialiasing is on. Its highly efficient ring-bus memory controller helps it get closer to the GeForce 7800 GT in 1280x1024 and leave it behind in the higher resolution. Note also that the Sapphire gives you a comfortable 60fps even in 1600x1200 with enabled FSAA and anisotropic filtering in this game.

Overclocking adds some more speed, but not much enough to reach the level of the higher-category solutions, the GeForce 7800 GTX 512 and RADEON X1800 XT 512MB.