Specifications, the cards

Specifications

The GeForce 9600 GT has double the calculation power of the GeForce 8600 GTS which it replaces ; however, on paper it’s still very far behind the GeForce 8800 GT in this domain. It does compensate for this with equivalent memory bandwidth.

The Radeon HD 3650 does not add any amazing specifications compared to the Radeon HD 2600 XT which it replaces. Note that it exists in two versions : DDR2 500 MHz and GDDR3 800 MHz, just like the Radeon HD 2600 comes in GDDR3 at 700 MHz and GDDR4 at 1100 MHz.

Finally, look out for 256 MB GeForce 8800 GTs because some are equipped with 700 MHz memory instead of the official 900 MHz.

The cards

The GeForce 9600 GT used in this test was provided by Point of View. It has the reference design and specifications.

While the card produces higher noise in startup, once the driver is loaded it becomes discreet whether in rest or load.

As for the Radeon HD 3650, Powercolor provided us with its model.


The card has the same design as this brand’s Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR3 and for noise levels it is discreet.

Consumption, HD video, the tests

Power consumption

We evaluated the power consumption of the different cards. Measurements were taken at the wall socket, in order to have the total power consumption of the power supply, in this case, an Enermax Galaxy 850W. The first measurement is taken in stand-by with Windows Vista and the second is carried out in load by saturating the CPU and graphic card. You may recall that we carry out Prime95 as many times as there are CPU cores (4 in this case) in order that the CPU load be constant. Otherwise, a high performance graphic card would make the CPU work harder than a lower performance model and this could slightly affect results.


While in load the GeForce 9600 GT is between the Radeon HD 3850 and Radeon HD 3870, it consumes a little more power in stand-by as AMD gave particular attention to this area via the integration of Powerplay for its desktop cards. The Radeon HD 3000 are thus the most economical at rest.

HD video

The GeForce 9600 GT has the VP2 version of the Purevideo HD engine like all GeForce 8s except for GTX and Ultra models. So there is nothing new in this domain besides more evolved drivers. More advanced filters are now supported but especially there is the simultaneous decoding of two HD video fluxes. This enables, for example, to accelerate Picture-in-Picture type reading. Another little improvement is that the full Aero mode remains active in the reading of HD video while before Windows automatically switched to! a simplified interface.

The Radeon HD 3650 also has the same video engine, the UVD, as other cards in the line. Its advantage is that it handles complete decompression of the vc-1 format while Nvidia cards with VP2 only handle this partially.

The test

We compared the 256 and 512 MB versions of the GeForce 8800 GT and Radeon HD 3850. Of course, other specifications were identical. We added the GeForce 8800 GTS 320 and 640 MB in order to also observe the difference in performances between these two cards even if they are at the end of their product lives.

In this test, we used ten games, four of which support DirectX 10. Anisotropic filtering and HDR were activated in all cases when available in the game. Finally, transparency/adaptive anti-aliasing were activated in multisampling mode.

Of course, all Windows Vista updates relative to performance were installed.

Configuration

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850
Asus P5E
2 GB DDR2
Windows Vista
Forceware 174.12
Catalyst 8.2

Enemy Territory : Quake Wars

Enemy Territory : Quake Wars

While Quake Wars is based on the Doom 3 engine, it has undergone some evolution such as megatexturing which facilitates the work of artists; however, there is the additional cost in terms of decoding and access to megatextures. In the end, Quake Wars is a little more resource heavy than Doom 3 or Quake 4.
We saved a demo in a sequence versus 4 bots. Given that artificial intelligence was not calculated in the timedemo, results were less affected by the CPU than in actual game play or at least in this case versus our bot adversaries.

All parameters were set to a maximum in the game including 16x anisotropic filtering. The patch 1.2 was used.


In this first test, the GeForce 9600 GT positions itself between the Radeon HD 3850 and 3870 and ahead of the 256 MB GeForce 8800 GT as Quake Wars is demanding on memory. As expected, the Radeon HD 3650 is found between the two HD 2600 XTs.


Once anti-aliasing was activated, the GeForce 9600 GT surpasses the Radeon HD 3870. Nvidia cards equipped with only 256 MB show a large reduction in scores in 1680x1050.

Half Life 2 Episode 2

Half Life 2 Episode 2

Still based on the Source Engine, Half Life 2 Episode 2 doesn’t really have anything new on the technological level. It simply optimizes and more relies on the engine’s capabilities, making the game more resource heavy than its previous versions. We carry out a demo with all game options set to a maximum including anisotropic filtering which is in 16x.


The GeForce 9600 GT finishes slightly ahead of the Radeon HD 3850 and has twice the performances of the GeForce 8600 GTS.


With anti-aliasing, the new arrival surpasses all Radeon HD cards and isn’t very far from the GeForce 8800 GT thanks to an equivalent memory bandwidth which is important with this filter.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

We carry out an identical movement and measure the framerate with fraps. The test was done in high quality, complete dynamic lighting, maximum details (anisotropic filtering 16x) and foliage shadows. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. uses an engine based on differed rendering, which is fundamentally incompatible with MSAA and makes the use of anti-aliasing impossible. A type of filtering of edges carried out with a shader can be activated but results are mixed. The 1.00004 patch is used..


The GeForce have always had an advantage in this game and this doesn’t change – at least when they are equipped with 512 MB.


Nvidia has just recently started offering anti-aliasing in this game via its drivers. The mode is relatively resource heavy but functions.

Rainbow Six : Vegas

Rainbow Six : Vegas

The first PC game based on the Unreal Engine 3.0, Rainbow Six : Vegas is still a very resource heavy game. We measure performances in the introductory scene. The HDR mode is activated as it is more or less obligatory because without it banding is very noticeable. Shadows are set to “low” as higher quality in this domain lowers performance too much in certain areas.


Designed for the Xbox 360, this game has a natural affinity for Radeon HD architecture which shows excellent performances here. The Radeon HD 3850 thus has a net advantage over the GeForce 9600 GT. Given that the game mainly depends on calculation power, the Radeon HD 3650 finishes behind the Radeon HD 2600 XT.


The game does not support anti-aliasing but Nvidia has implemented it to drivers as it has done with Oblivion. This is contrary to AMD who unfortunately didn’t make this effort.

Oblivion

Oblivion

We saved a specific movement in order for it to be always identical and the test reproducible. Of course, HDR was activated.


In this game, the Radeon HD 3850 is ahead of the GeForce 9600 GT. Calculation power is the most important factor in Oblivion, so the Radeon HD 3650 finishes behind the two Radeon HD 2600 XTs which have their GPUs set at a slightly higher frequency thus giving them more calculation power.


Once FSAA 4x is activated and for once, the Radeons widen their lead.

Colin McRae DIRT

Colin McRae DIRT

To test Colin McRae‘s latest opus which is very resource heavy we carried out a well defined sequence in high quality mode. Note that the activation of anti-aliasing is highly recommended given the way menus are rendered and because post processing effects amplify aliasing. The patch 1.2 was used.


The GeForce 9600 GT places between the Radeon HD 3870 and 3850.


With anti-aliasing 4x, results are identical.

Bioshock

Bioshock

The first game based on the Unreal Engine 3.0 to support DirectX 10, Bioshock has great graphics even in DirectX 9 mode while at the same time being less resource heavy than Rainbow Six : Vegas. We carry out a well defined sequence of movement with all options pushed to a maximum.


In DirectX 9 mode, the Radeon HD 3850 has slight better scores than the GeForce 9600 GT. The Radeon HD 3650 finishes behind the Radeon HD 2600 XT.


Like with Rainbow Six : Vegas, Nvidia allows the activation of anti-aliasing for this game which doesn’t normally support it while AMD doesn’t offer this option. The GeForce 9600 GT does very well here.


In DirectX 10 mode, performances generally show small increases especially in 1680x1050. On the other hand, this isn’t the case for the GeForce 9600 GT which actually has a lower score. For this reason, the Radeon HD 3850 have a slight lead.


The latest Nvidia drivers enable the activation of anti-aliasing in DirectX 10 mode for games based on the Unreal Engine 3.0.

Company of Heroes

Company of Heroes

Given that Company of Heroes received a DirectX 10 patch that adds a real plus on the graphics level, we decided to add it to our test protocol. All graphic settings were pushed to a maximum except for terrain details which remained on High (Ultra mode is reserved for DirectX 10). Textures were also limited to High, because the game indicates a lack of system memory for the GeForce in DirectX 9 mode with Ultra textures.

We run the integrated test on version 1.71.


With this game in DirectX 9 and although rendering is rather simple, calculation power is the most important allowing the Radeon HD 3850 to surpass the GeForce 9600 GT. The Radeon HD 3650 is behind the HD 2600 XT.


Once anti-aliasing 4x is activated, performance reductions are significant for the Radeons which are easily surpassed.


In DirectX 10, scores are clearly lower as the engine displays more advanced graphics. Also note that we changed the values on the x axis. The Radeon HD 3850 and GeForce 9600 GT are equivalent here.


With anti-aliasing in DirectX 10, GeForce cards take the lead again although this time with smaller leads.

World in Conflict

World in Conflict

Very resource heavy and with nice graphics, it’s only natural World in Conflict joins our test suite. We carry out the internal test with the patch 1.0002. All game options are pushed to a maximum.


GeForce cards are rather comfortable in this game and the GeForce 9600 GT places ahead of the Radeon HD 3870. Note the poor results of the GeForce 8800 GT 256 MB.


With anti-aliasing 4x, GeForce 8 domination is confirmed even more.


In DirectX 10 mode, the resources devoted to the game are higher. Without anti-aliasing we find ourselves in the same situation as in DirectX 9 with this filter.


As you can see with anti-aliasing 4x, the Radeon HD 3800s are left behind.

Crysis

Crysis

A must in terms of gaming, Crysis was tested with its patch 1.1 (optimized for multi-GPUs) as well as with the latest drivers specific to this patch: Forceware 174.12 and Catalyst 8.2. We carried out the internal test in DirectX 9 Medium + shaders quality on High (corresponds to HDR and without which the game is much less impressive and FSAA is non-functional) and in DirectX 10 High mode.


The GeForce 9600 GT once again places between the two Radeon HD 3800s and thus offers double the performances of the GeForce 8600 GTS.


With anti-aliasing, for some unknown reason, the game crashes in 1680x1050 with the GeForce 9600 GT. In 1280x1024, it finishes far ahead of the Radeon HD 3800.


In High and DirectX 10 mode, the GeForce 9600 GT is equivalent to the Radeon HD 3870.


Once FSAA 4x is activated, the Radeon HD 3870 slightly sets itself apart from the GeForce 9600 GT which actually is equal to the Radeon HD 3850 512 MB, as 256 MB is a limitation here even for the Radeons.

Recap of performances

Recap

Although each game’s results are of interest (all the more true when this involves memory limitations), we calculated a performance index based on all scores with the same weight for each game. A score of 100 was attributed to the GeForce 9600 GT in 1280x1024.


On average, the GeForce 9600 GT finishes slightly ahead of the Radeon HD 3850 while the GeForce 8800 GT is 20% ahead. Lower down the line, the Radeon HD 3650 places between the GeForce 8600 GT and GTS, or exactly at the same level as the Radeon HD 2600 XT.


With anti-aliasing 4x activated, the GeForce 9600 GT surpasses the Radeon HD 3870 while it is slightly behind in 1680x1050. This is due to a bug in drivers that prevents launching Crysis in Medium quality in these test conditions.

Note that results in Rainbow Six : Vegas and Bioshock were not taken into account because AMD cards are not capable of anti-aliasing in these games. You can consult a graph which otherwise includes these results in graphs here.


In DirectX 10, the GeForce 9600 GT is found between the two Radeon HD 3800s. As for the Radeon HD 3650, it’s equivalent to the GeForce 8600 GT.


In DirectX 10 and FSAA 4x, the GeForce 9600 GT consistently produces solid results and easily surpasses the Radeon HD 3870. You can also see the gap between it and the former mid-range.

Note that results obtained in Bioshock were not taken into account here because AMD cards are not capable of anti-aliasing in this game. You can consult a graph that otherwise includes this information here.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Given the performances of this GeForce 8700 GT… we mean GeForce 9600 GT, it’s hard not to be impressed. For 170 € the card offers performances that enable you to really take advantage of the latest resource heavy games and this in satisfactory conditions.

To be sure, it was already the case with the Radeon HD 3850 although it is less consistent especially when anti-aliasing is active, a big black mark against the Radeon HD 2000 and 3000. In addition, Nvidia shows a real desire to offer high quality required for demanding gamers by regularly integrating anti-aliasing support in drivers for all games that don’t support it. Combined with slightly better performances compared to the Radeon HD 3850, this makes the GeForce 9600 GT the new reference in the mid-level.

You may recall, we highly recommend you avoid the GeForce 8800 GT 256 MB. Of course it does well in certain situations but as soon as memory use increases (and this is more often the case) it crumbles.

Lower down the line and for demanding gamers, the Radeon HD 3650 unfortunately doesn’t add anything new and is just equal to the Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR3, because the 2600 XT GDDR4 version is superior. Of course it is the same price and DirectX 10.1 and PCI Express 2.0 support is always a nice bonus but we were expecting more. The only good news in the bottom of the table is that with the evolution of drivers, the little Radeons have become much more competitive with the GeForce 8600 GT and GTS.

A normal benefit of competition is that this launch is an occasion to witness another price war between AMD and Nvidia. The first informed us yesterday of a price reduction on the Radeon HD 3850 and 3870. The former should be shortly found for 150€ in its version 512 MB for the 170€ for the Radeon HD 3870. This is something that should boost the interest of these cards if the price changes prove to be true in practice. Some Nvidia partners like PNY did not wait and reacted directly by offering a GeForce 9600 GT for 149€. It’s hard to resist such a deal!