System Setup and Notes
The X300 SE HyperMemory 128MiB was benchmarked on a 1.6GHz Athlon FX system, used to simulate an entry-level Athlon 64 system. An NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache with the same 64-bit, 32MiB on-board memory configuration and 96MiB memory augmentation provided the opposition.Test Platform
| Test System | |
| Processor | AMD Athlon 64 FX 1600MHz, 1MiB L2 |
| Mainboard | ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe |
| Memory | 2 x 256MiB OCZ Technology DDR-400 2.5-4-4-8 @ 400MHz |
| Disk Drive | 36GB Wester Digital Raptor SATA |
| Graphics Cards | X300 SE HyperMemory 128MiB (RV370) (350/300) (32MiB on-board, 128MiB total) NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache (NV44) (350/350) (32MiB on-board, 128MiB total) |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional, SP2 |
| Mainboard Software | NVIDIA nForce4 Platform Driver Version 6.66 |
| Graphics Driver Software | ATI CATALYST 5.7 WHQL NVIDIA ForceWare 77.72 WHQL |
Benchmark Software
Unreal Tournament 2004
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher's Bay
Far Cry
Half-Life 2
D3D RightMark
ShaderMark 2
Notes
What I wanted to find out was whether these budget PCI Express boards were suitable for playing the latest games at any resolution and settings, no matter what they were. DirectX 8.0-class games (and earlier) are generally easy enough for these accelerators to chew through (as you'll see with Unreal Tournament 2004).The basic tenet of my investigation was if the latest games were within reach of the gamer on a budget who has just switched to PCI Express with an eye to buying something a bit more powerful later on. 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768 were tested (I've not used those lower resolutions for serious gaming in years) and lesser levels of MSAA and anisotropic texture filtering were also applied to see if playable gaming could be had. Anti-aliasing is especially useful at lower resolutions, moreso than at high resolutions, making it prudent to explore.
