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Scenario
3 - OpenGL Geometry-heavy model in SketchUp 6
This is the original SketchUp mode
in test scenario 2, here in SketchUp, used again
to evaluate performance. .
On these last two tests, while the scores are
very close, the framerate for the Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT
was estimated to be about half that of the ATi X1900 XT.
Performance Analysis and Final Comments
As can be seen from the Scene 1 test, in a
'typical' architectural scene the ATi showed a clean pair
of heels to the GeForce 7300 GT. Speedups of around 25-30
% were common on such scenes when substituting the
X1900 XT. Substituting scenes of a similar complexity showed
that
this
was the sort of speed-up that we could expect across the
board. Certainly, the X1900 XT was able to move through certain
of our test scenes in real time.
The second two scenes were, admittedly, untypical
and were purposely chosen to be geometry heavy with no textures
or lights, to see if the card could produce a speed-up when
the defining characteristic of the scene is its number of
vertices. In this situation, the speedup for the X1900 XT
is less marked. However, there are some caveats: while the
overall time taken to complete a camera cycle animation was
largely unchanged, the performance of the GeForce 7300 was
marked by a tendency to drop frames – typically a framerate
reduction of around 50% was noted in comparison to the X1900
XT. This is a function of the ATi card's much greater throughput – a
maximum memory bandwidth of around 40 GB/s against the GeForce's
11 GB/s.
Now numbers are all very well, but the question
of how the card feels in everyday use is equally as important.
Sitting back and pressing play on an animation then timing
the results is not the same as orbiting, panning and zooming
intensively in SketchUp. The latter 'feel' is much more difficult
to quantify, but we would have to say that using the ATi,
you feel as though you have more 'breathing space'. While
on the models that we were using, the GeForce was on its
limit, the X1900 still had plenty of overhead left. We tested
this by the thoroughly unscientific method of simply duplicating
the current model and orbiting it. With the ATi card we were
able to get around four to six copies of complex models easily – and
rotate and zoom without going to wireframe – while
the GeForce would struggle with just two. --- TIM DANAHER,
Associate Editor.
- For more information on ATi Radeon X1900 XT go to:
- www.ati.com
Published: 2 Julyl 2007
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Related Review Article: Addendum - Silencing
the X1900 XT
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