Performance in First-Person 3D Shooters

Tomb Raider: Legend

Save for the GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB, none of the tested graphics cards could show acceptable results in this test. The GeForce 8600 GTS is the closest to that while both versions of ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR4 took last place with an average speed of below 20fps and a minimum speed of less than 10fps. In other words, the inexpensive mainstream graphics cards don’t suit for playing this game unless you lower the graphics quality settings.

Splinter Cell: Double Agent

We try to get the highest possible image quality from each game, and choosing between FSAA and HDR we preferred the latter. That’s why the game was tested with anisotropic filtering only.

The GPUs with a unified architecture show their best when high shader-processing performance is called for. The RV630 is superior to the G84 in this respect, and the Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR4 is competitive against the GeForce 8600 GTS at 1280x1024. The MSI RX2600XT Diamond 512 adds a few percent more to the reference card’s results. The resolution of 1600x1200 still doesn’t seem playable on either version of the card due to the low minimum of speed.