10 - Game testing

Okay then, onwards to game performance. First a quick run with 3DMark06 though.

What we did was we took the 780G mainboard a Radeon HD 3870 and started monitoring performance on both the incredibly affordable Athlon X2 4850. Then we re-did the benchmarks, this time with the TBL bugged Phenom processor.

And as unfair as it is, we'll compare that to our baseline test-system which consists out of a nForce 680i with Core 2 Extreme E6800 processor, CPU scaling wise this should be very interesting though.

Mind you that the 680i mainboard ($225) alone is still 30% more expensive than today's tested 780G + Athlon X2 4850 processor at $150-175. Both platforms obviously use the same Radeon HD 3870 graphics card.

Watch and observe.

Synthetic benchmarking: 3DMark 06

Literally millions and millions of benchmark results have been submitted to Futuremarks Online ResultBrowser database. It has become a point of great prestige to be the holder of the highest 3DMark score. A compelling, easy-to-use interface has made 3DMark very popular among game enthusiasts. Futuremarks latest benchmark series, 3DMark03 up-to 3DMark06, continues this tradition by providing a Microsoft DirectX 9 benchmark.

The introduction of DirectX 9 and new hardware shader technologies puts a lot of power in the hands of game developers. Increasingly realistic 3D games will be available over the next year and a half. The use of 3D graphics will become more accessible to other applications areas and even operating systems.

Okay, as you can see with the low budget X2 4850 processor we definitely lose some overall score. With a Phenom things look much better. But this is 3DMark06 ... let's look at some actual games.

Gaming: F.E.A.R.

As many of you will be aware, F.E.A.R (or First Encounter Assault & Recon in short) involves a rather mysterious looking girl in a red dress, a man with an unappetizing taste for human flesh and some rather flashy action set pieces aka The Matrix. All of this is brought together by one of the best game engines around.

F.E.A.R. makes its cinematic pretensions clear from the start. As soon as the credits roll, and the music starts, you are treated to the full works. The camera pans across scores of troops locked 'n' loaded and ready to hunt you down, all seemingly linked to 'Paxton Fettel', a strange kind of guy with extraordinary psychic power capable of controlling battalions of soldiers and a habit of feeding off any poor unfortunate innocents - presumably to aid his powers of concentration. It doesnt end there, after a short briefing at F.E.A.R. HQ you are sent off to hunt down Fettel equipped with reflexes that are 'off the chart'. These reflexes are put to excellent use, with a slow motion effects like that of Max Payne, or the before mentioned Matrix. But here, it is oooohhhh so much more satisfying thanks to the outstanding environmental effects. Sparks fly everywhere, as chunks of masonry are blasted from the walls and blood splatters from your latest victim. The physics are just great, with boxes sent flying, shelves tipped over, and objects hurtling towards your head. And the explosions, well, the explosions just have to be seen, and what's so great about this is you can witness it in all its glory in slow motion.

Let me confirm to you that based on this, F.E.A.R. will have you shaking on the edge of your seat, if not falling off it. The tension is brought to just the right level with key moments that will make your heart leap. Play the demo and you will see what I mean. The key to this, is the girl. Without revealing anything significant, lets just say that she could take on the whole of Mars for creepiness.

Image Quality setting:

• 4x Anti Aliasing
• 16x anisotropic filtering
• Soft Shadows Disabled

When we load up FEAR, we can see that the TBL bug is hurting the Phenom, real bad. Btw look how dismal the 780G integrated graphics right now is performance wise. Hey, we do test at high-specced settings.

But once you hit the 1280x1024 resolution (which most of you guys have) look again at performance of the 175 USD X2 3850+780G mainboard and the 500 USD C3E E6800+680i mainboard.

Bang for buck wise you'll gain much more from the 780G platform and only loose a little.