Real World benchmarks are just that. They run a sequence recorded strait from game play (generally called a “timedemo”) from a game that you can run out to the store and buy. At the end of the timedemo an average frames per second value is reported. This value gives a good indication as to how a hardware setup with particular driver settings will perform with that specific game. Testing of Real World benchmarks is done using two different resolutions (1024×768 and 1600×1200) and two different image quality settings (2xAnisotropic Filtering/No Anti-Aliasing and 8xAniso/4xAA).
Novalogic Commanche4 Demo – Demo Benchmark
Commanche4 we see both cards putting up very playable frame rates across all screen resolutions and image quality settings. The EN6600GT was the apparent winner however giving almost 40 FPS at 1600×1200 with 4xAA and 8xAniso.
Epic Games Unreal Tournament 2004 – Benchemall Recorded Demo
Here we see the 9800 Pro pulling ahead at low resolution and low image quality. Though as soon as you start turning on Anisotropic filtering and Anti-Aliasing, the EN6600GT takes the win again. Both cards did put up very playable frame rates throughout all of these tests.
Valve Half Life 2 – OCmodshop Coastal Firefight Demo
Half Life 2 is one of the newest games to hit the market and uses quite an efficient engine even though it has some of the best graphics to be seen. Here we see the 9800 Pro falling behind in all tests except for the large resolution high image quality test. The test was conducted several times with similar results.
Ubisoft Far Cry – HardwareOC Steam Demo
The large amount of vegetation, water and lighting in Far Cry can bring any modern graphics card to its knees. We see similar results here as to what we saw in the Half Life 2 tests. The EN6600GT meets or leads the pack in all tests but the large resolution high image quality. Although the 9800 Pro doubles the EN6600GT’s average frame rates, neither card produces playable frame rates at these settings.
iD Software Doom 3 – OCmodshop Guardian Demo
With some of the best graphics and dynamic lighting ever seen, Doom 3 is virtual hell on modern gamming machines. To top it off our OCmodshop Guardian demo takes place in one of the busiest points of Doom 3 (the Hell Guardian boss fight). In these tests the EN6600GT blows away the 9800 Pro; though in this game the EN6600GT still won’t produce playable frame rates at large resolution and image quality.
Overall I am very surprised and impressed with the Asus EN6600GT’s performance. Knowing that the 9800 Pro is one of the top dogs of our recent last generation of video cards, I was expecting the modest 6600 series card to choke as soon as the image quality settings were turned up. It did very well and from seeing the distribution of frame rates, it should be a great card in real world gaming for those with low resolutions up to 1280×1024. Even if you own a 1600×1200 monitor, you should be happy if you can sacrifice some image quality to keep frame rates playable. Otherwise, look elsewhere to the leading edge cards on the market.
