The X2 - The Threat Demo is another high-end 3D benchmark that takes the form of a rolling demo. It may be technically DirectX 8 in design, but its high-end 3D support and features make this a serious test for current 3D games, and not far removed from our DirectX 9 benchmarking. Once started, the X2 demo displays various game scenes, and incorporates the space-sim aspects of the game into a test run that can really separate the high-end cards from the pack.
The Verto GeForce 6800 Ultra and Radeon X800 XT are in tight with X2 Demo benchmarking, and it's ATI coming out with a slight performance lead. The NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT stays right in the thick of things, just back of the two top-end powerhouses. It is quite amazing how close the last-generation NVIDIA and ATI cards stay in the overall race, especially the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra, which just falls short of 110 fps at 1280x1024.
Once we add 4X AA and 8X AF detail settings to the mix, framerates drop across the board, but the Verto GeForce 6800 Ultra remains just back of the Radeon X800 XT for the overall crown. The GeForce Series 6 and Radon X800 cards also regain their significant performance advantage compared to the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra and Radeon 9800 XT.
The Comanche 4 benchmark from Novalogic gives us an opportunity to use an actual flight sim for 3D video testing. This is a different game engine that we've ever used before, so don't be put off by the relatively low framerates. Just like the high fps of Quake 3, a card's relative position is the most important factor. These tests were run in 32-bit mode, with sound disabled.
Like Wolf: ET, the Comanche 4 benchmark scores are very tightly packed, and even the high-end Verto GeForce 6800 Ultra can only muster a very slight advantage. We know that Comanche 4 is CPU-limited to some degree, but the higher detail settings should bring us a clearer picture.
The higher AA and AF settings do provide a more standard performance graph, with the Verto GeForce 6800 Ultra in front, and the Radeon X800 XT again moving up in the rankings once anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering are brought into play.
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