Home : Hardware : Reviews : XFX GeForce 8600 GT Fatal1ty Video Card
Performance
Now that we’ve looked at the numbers, let’s see how well the Fatal1ty plays. To test the XFX GeForce 8600 GT Fatal1ty, I dropped it into my test bed, set up as follows:
- Processor: Intel Core2 Duo e6400 Processor
- Memory: 2 GB of Crucial DDR2 PC2-8500 Ballistix Tracer Dual Channel RAM
- Motherboard: XFX nForce 680i LT SLI Motherboard
- Hard Drive: Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 1 TB Hard Drive
- Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream 1010W Power Supply
- OS: Windows Vista
- ForceWare Version: 160.3
- Testing Software:
- 3DMark06 Build 1.10.0
- PerformanceTest 6.1
- Prey Using the Guru3D Benchmark
- F.E.A.R. Performance Test
- Call of Juarez Benchmark
3DMark06
3DMark continues to be an excellent way to benchmark a system’s performance so you can compare it to other systems and build the best possible combination of parts. I ran all of 3DMark’s tests with the default settings. The results were:
- 3DMark Score: 4,917
- SM2.0 Score: 2,164
- HDR/SM3.0 Score: 1,849
- CPU Score: 1,767
Looking through Futuremark’s Online ResultsBrowser, I found that the Fatal1ty garnered the same or higher 3DMark scores over similar configurations. In other words, the Fatal1ty is as least as good, if not better than other 8600 GT graphics cards available on the market.
PerformanceTest 6.1
After proving itself as a useful benchmark over the past few months, PerformanceTest has become a part of my test suite. Unlike 3DMark, PerformanceTest mixes real-world frame per second (FPS) values with an overall score, giving you another scientifically comparable way to examine your computer’s abilities. I ran all of PerformanceTest’s 3D Graphics tests and came back with these results:
- Graphics 3D – Simple: 977.6 FPS
- Graphics 3D – Medium: 276.4 FPS
- Graphics 3D – Complex: 40.3 FPS
- 3D Graphics Mark: 414.2
Prey Using the Guru3D Benchmark
Guru3D has an excellent benchmark they’ve put together for Prey, which remains one of the testing standards for DirectX 9 games. I ran the Guru3D demo and Guru3D demo 2 at 1280 x 1024 resolution, highest level of Shader Detail, Aspect Ration of 4:3, Filtering mode at Anistropic 16x and Antialiasing mode at 4x and came back with the following results:
- Guru3D demo: 39.0 FPS
- Guru3D demo 2: 42.6 FPS
The Fatal1ty does very well in the first of three real-world benchmarks, keeping pace with Prey’s rendering demands and delivering seamless video throughout the two tests.
