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Test System and Quality Settings

Test System

Video Card Test System Setup
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 4000+
Motherboards	MSI K8N Neo2 nForce3 Ultra
Power Supply	Antec 460 watt
Memory	2x512MB Corsair PC3200LL DDR
Hard Drive	250GB Maxtor 7200RPM SATA
Sound Card	Creative Labs Live!
Video Card	ATI X800 XT Platinum Edition ATI X800 XT ATI X800 Pro ATI 9800 Pro NVIDIA 6800 Ultra OC NVIDIA 6800 Ultra NVIDIA 6800 GT NVIDIA 6800 OC NVIDIA 6600 GT
Video Drivers	NVIDIA 67.02 BETA ATI Catalyst 4.12 BETA
DirectX Version	DX 9.0c
Operating System	Windows XP w/ Service Pack 1

Graph Breakdown

As I mentioned before, we have a LOT of data here.  One hundred and forty-four graphs in total.  That's a lot, so here's how it is broken down for easy reading.

First, we have seperated the testing into groups of each demo.  Then we have seperated all those results into three categories: Ultra High End Cards, High End Cards, and Mid-Range Cards.  The Ultra High End Cards consist of the X800 XT PE, X800 XT, 6800 Ultra OC, and 6800 Ultra.  The High End Cards include the 6800 GT and the X800 Pro.  Finally, the Mid-Range cards are the 6800 OC, 6600GT, and 9800 Pro.  I seperated them this way to showcase what performance you are getting based on the cost of the card.  All the Ultra High end cards are priced above $500, if you can find them, the high end cards are priced at $400 and, the mid range cards are $300 and below. 

I think you'll find this method to simplify things quite a bit.  Oh, and it was completely impossible to get 9 data sets on a line graph to be legible. 

Quality Settings

For our testing, we ran benchmarks at 1024x768, 1280x960, and 1600x1200 resolutions.  For each of those resolutions, we ran the tests at both 0xAA / 0xAF and 4xAA/ 8xAF settings. 

IQ Settings for our 0xAA and 0xAF tests

IQ Settings for our 4xAA and 8xAF tests

Now, let's move on to the hordes of data.

Next Page - pcp_town01 - Ultra High End Cards

Review Index:
- Select - Introduction and Testing Half-Life 2 Test System and Quality Settings pcp_town01 - Ultra High End Cards pcp_town01 - High End Cards pcp_town01 - Mid-Range Cards pcp_canals09 - Ultra High End Cards pcp_canals09 - High End Cards pcp_canals09 - Mid-Range Cards pcp_c17_12 - Ultra High End Cards pcp_c17_12 - High End Cards pcp_c17_12 - Mid-Range Cards pcp_trainstation02 - Ultra High End Cards pcp_trainstation02 - High End Cards pcp_trainstation02 - Mid-Range Cards Image Quality Conclusions