Benchmarks I
Let's start the ball rolling with 3DMark 2000. Although a DX7-based synthetic benchmark, it still plays a important role in defining probable performance in the multitude of games that run under DX7 or earlier versions of DX.
Firstly, let's quickly explain our graph. We ran the benchmark at its default settings of 1024x768x16, and then at 1280x1024x32 and 1600x1200x32 to more closely mirror actual playing resolutions. The resolutions start with 1024 at the top, 1280 in the middle and 1600 at the bottom. Our Ti 4600 overclocked scores reflect our stable, overclocked speed of 320/740MHz respectively. This will be our favoured format in graphs to come.
We initially see that the Ti500 can keep some sort of parity at the default benchmark resolution. Overclocking our Ti4600 doesn't yield any great benefit, either. The card appears to be largely CPU-limited. Taking the resolution up a notch results in the Ti4600 comfortably outdistancing the Ti 500, the greater bandwidth and memory-saving optimisations truly show their worth here. The story is mirrored in the 1600x1200x32 benchmark as the Ti 4600 puts a larger percentage gap between itself and the Ti 500, over 30% at default clock speeds.
Our theoretical analysis indicated that the Ti 4600 was definitely going to be faster, it's pleasing to see it flex its considerable muscles in our first benchmark. As this is a DX7 benchmark, the potency of the dual vertex shader has yet to be realised, let's rectify that right now as we move on to the DX8.1 compliant 3DMark 2001SE.
Here we see the might of the Creative Ti 4600 in full show. The Dragothic element of 3DMark 2001SE is based almost entirely on the use of vertex shading. The Creative Ti 4600, equipped with dual vertex shaders, simply outclasses the Ti 500. The overclocked Ti 4600 ensures that the benchmark results aren't even remotely close to those posted by the Ti 500. One interesting aspect to note here is the relatively small increase in marks we see when the Creative Ti 4600 is overclocked at 1024x768x32, 11468 vs. 11018. We have a growing feeling that the test at this resolution is fundamentally CPU-limited. It's not often that a 2.4GHz P4 is the bottleneck in performance. We've become accustomed to the newest graphics card displacing the previous king-of-the-hill by a few percentage points, here we see the Creative Geforce4 Ti 4600 simply demolish the Geforce3 Ti 500.
Let's move on to an Open GL benchmark that has caught our eye recently. Vulpine GL truly stresses a card due to the number of polygons involved, it also utitlises the Geforce3 / 4's advanced features to make the benchmark that much more taxing.
We see the Creative Ti 4600 setting new, unprecedented standards. It's not simply incrementally faster, it's literally a whole new ball game. The massive raw power derived from 300/660 clocks, coupled with enhanced memory optimisations, means that it can do at 1600x1200x32 what the Ti 500 can't do at 1280x1024x32. Overclocking the Ti 4600 only reaps benefits as we move up the resolution ladder, this benchmark is effectively CPU limited at 1024x768x32, too.
