Tests
F.E.A.R

The first test we ran on the 8800Ultra’s was F.E.A.R. Since we started using F.E.A.R in our benchmarking suite, it has consistently proven to be a very good indicator of graphics performance at the high-end, and CPU performance at the low-end. This is due mostly to the tremendous amount of graphics and computer options available in the performance settings area of the game. In addition, the built-in cinematic sequence provides a very good sampling of the effects that are prevalent in the single player campaign.


Here you can see at very high resolutions such as 1920x1200 that there is a very strong GPU limitation. The most interesting thing to note about this test is that the 8800Ultra and the 8800GTX are neck and neck. This is likely to be partially the result of the 8800GTX we used being overclocked to 600MHz on the core, as opposed to the stock 575MHz. You will also note that the relative difference between single cards and SLI decreases significantly as the resolution drops down to 1600x1200 and then 1280x1024. This is evidence that F.E.A.R is quite CPU limited at these resolutions with a graphics subsystem capable of delivering never-before-seen performance. Note the 26 FPS increase that was achieved by overclocking the processor at 1280x1024 resolution, and how this increase compares to the difference seen at a higher resolution of 1920x1200.

Half-Life 2: Episode 1

When it really comes down to it, we are just part of the GotFrag.com network. As such, using a benchmark based on Valve’s Source engine is not so much a choice as it is a necessity. Chances are that a good amount of our readers are competitive Counter-Strike: Source players; reading the questions that arise on our forums every so often will support this notion. However, even if we weren’t basically required to run an application based on the Source engine, we still would. Despite being something like three years old already, games based on the Source engine still sport some of the most stunning visuals and outstanding effects that we have ever seen. Like F.E.A.R, Half-Life 2 allows for quite a lot of customization in terms of visual quality. As such, we expect our results to reflect the sensitive nature of the test, as well as be GPU limited on the high-end.


As expected, we see that Half-Life 2: Episode 1 is GPU limited at higher resolutions. However, it is evident from these results that the extent of which HL2 is GPU limited is not nearly as defined as with F.E.A.R. Notice that the 8800Ultra SLI graphics setup on the overclocked system still scores significantly higher than the non-overclocked setup. This would indicate that even at a very high resolution like 1920x1440, Half-Life 2 exhibits CPU limitation. This CPU limitation becomes more and more defined as resolution drops. You can see in the chart above that the difference between the overclocked system and the non-overclocked system becomes more distinct as the resolution is decreased. Furthermore, notice that the game appears to be almost entirely CPU limited at 1280x1024 resolution with all graphics cards being tested - a single 8800Ultra is right on par (and even beats, though we wouldn’t really call this a victory so much as a consequence of random variance) with 2 8800Ultra’s in SLI.