Open Source

This time around, we decided to explore some of the more interesting open source benchmarks. Since source code is easily available, we wish to give developers some ideas on what 7100GS is capable of.

We start off with a range of technical demonstrations developed by ATi engineer, going by the monicker of "Humus". You can visit his impressive page over here.

Volumetric Fog 2 (Open GL)

Dynamic Light Mapping (DirectX)

HSR Bench (Open GL)

A slow card better knows how to cull!

Next up is the test suite developed by Rightmark.org on the DirectX API. Check out the result dump here.

Futuremark 3DMark2001SE

As GPUs grow more and more powerful, older 3D benchmarks like 3DMark2001SE become more and more system bound. The drawing power adopted by this DX8.1 benchmark is similar to that of older generation games released a couple of years within the millenium. Many last generation MMORPGs and RTS games fall under the same category for system requirements.

Here we see the pixel drawing abilities of the 7100GS fall to its knees when "Nature" was run. With its abundant scenes of foilage to cull and render, it was no surprise that a low-end graphics solution like the 7100GS couldn't cut it.

Futuremark 3DMark03

A very comprehennsive benchmark even by today's standard, 3Dmark03 benchmarks everything from DX7 to DX9.0 with gusto. The earlier tests, such as "Wings Of Fury" are more CPU dependent, and the the later ones like "Mother Nature" tends to bottleneck on the GPU side if a current generation low-end or mid-range Graphics Accelerator is employed.

Futuremark 3DMark05

3DMark05 was released in a largely undecided era, sporting 3D techniques far more advanced than the hardware during its time could conquer.

At 1024 X 768, the poor 7100GS was dozing off into a slideshow. The high fillrate required by the benchmark meant that the 7100GS's 4 Pixel Pipes running at 350MHz could not keep up.

Futuremark 3DMark06

Futuremark's latest and greatest: 3DMark06 is one benchmark that would put even the highest end of current generation graphics acclerators to shame. Utilising SM3.0 and HDR rendering for some of its tests, it promises to be the most relevant test for today's high-end FPS and RPG games.

At 1280 X 1024 it was no surprise that the frames literally halted between themselves.

All is not lost, as ultimately the 3DMark family remains as a bunch of synthetic tests that shows what graphics accelerators are capable, or incapable of. I do not see the possibility of rabid benchmarkers furiously working to bring the 7100GS (SLI or not) into the Online Result Browser Hall Of Fame at the moment. Gamers on a shoestring budget should look at the next page, where we test out the 7100GS with games utilising popular graphics engines.