Budget Performance Tests
For these tests, we ran only 800x600 and 1024x768. These are the only two resolutions that make any sense to run with Battlefield 2. 640x480 is all but unplayable as the text is mangled and layout gets broken. At 800x600, both cards do well, but the NVIDIA 6200 TurboCache maintains a performance lead here both with and without AA (though, the ATI card does close the gap when AA/AF are cranked up).
When we move up to 1024x768, the TurboCache card shows a little more capability than the HyperMemory part. Of course, both low end cards have very choppy performance at parts here. Tests with AA on at this resolution would have been a waste of time, and we strongly recommend playing the game at 800x600 without AA and Low Texture Filtering settings. In fact, turning down some of the options may help, but the player is at a disadvantage with less than maximal settings on view distance and shadows. Also, at this low resolution, we can see that an upgrade would offer playable frame rates at more than twice the performance. On high end parts, we are very CPU limited, and the SLI configuration is hampered because of added driver overhead.
Serious gamers will not want to play with these cards, but the casual gaming experience can be quite enjoyable. For a budget system, the ability to play current generation games without sacrificing shader effects will become more and more important as time goes on. As games rely more heavily on shading rather than simple textures and geometry to paint the experience, budget users will be glad that both ATI and NVIDIA offer options like these.
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sethborg - Thursday, December 22, 2005 - link
What monitors support these high resolutions, the article doesn't say which one they used!TokyoBrit - Tuesday, August 9, 2005 - link
I wouldn't of minded seeing the 6600GT, 6800GT and 6800U in SLI configuration in the article, as those are a more likely configuration than the 7800GTX SLI that did get included.Anyone care to comment on the expected performance improvements of 6600GT SLI compared to a single 6800GT, 6800GT SLI compared to a single 6800U, and 6800U SLI compared to a single 7800GTX?
CrystalBay - Sunday, July 31, 2005 - link
Thanks Derek, !ShadowVlican - Sunday, July 17, 2005 - link
much better with the update, thanks derekJNo - Monday, July 11, 2005 - link
Guys, I think most of you are missing the point - this is not meant to be a *comprehensive* test of BF2 (with CPU, *all* midrange cards and picture detail analysis etc) but a general look at how a game that will become part of anandtech's new benchmark suite, performs in general across a range of cards. It does this very well and gave me an impression of how a variety of core cards scale with the game.Again, the article is called "BF2 **GPU** Performance Analysis" so stop whinging about lack of CPU scaling tests and not knowing how the game performs on true midrange systems - that is not the point of the article!! Read a general BF2 performance article elsewhere for that...
Powermoloch - Sunday, July 10, 2005 - link
Replying #61Just recently I had received my X850XT for about $ 350. I'm still amazed about the benchamrks and hopefully will getting this copy of the game. It's performance is dazzling.
Powersupply - Sunday, July 10, 2005 - link
Almost forgot...I whonder how much DICE/EA payed Anandtech for this one...Powersupply - Sunday, July 10, 2005 - link
I rarely write any comments but i feel obliged to do so this time around because this article stinks. Quoting what #45 said:" The more I think about what information this article *should have* presented, I come to realize that it is just fluff. The basic conclusion is that higher-priced cards get better FPS. No duh?"
That's the simple and ugly truth.
Sadly I feel that an increasing percentage of articles are just fluff here on Anandtech.
beorntheold - Sunday, July 10, 2005 - link
the last game i played from EA was NFSU2. just as in NFSU the time was not constant... in a racing game. think about it.BF2? well, the demo won't start in fullscreen mode no matter what i do (and i did spend a while working on the problem). oh, and that patch fiasco... 8|
makes you wonder--how do Blizzard do it? :)
yanman - Sunday, July 10, 2005 - link
BF2 that is