MESH Matrix² CrossFire 1300/1600 gaming performance
Our graphics-card testing procedure is determined by the card(s) in question. The MESH Matrix² CrossFire 1300 system, for example, uses two Radeon X1300 Pro 512MB cards in CrossFire mode. We consider this ATI SKU to be a low-end part. With that in mind, the MESH Matrix² CrossFire 1300's 3D abilities have been tested at 1024x768 and 1280x1024, without antialiasing or anisotropic filtering applied in either case.The Matrix² CrossFire 1600 uses 2 Radeon X1600 Pro 512MB cards in tandem, and can thus be considered to be midrange GPUs. We've tested them at 1280x1024 4x AA and 8x AF and 1600x1200 with no AA and 8x AF. Our testing methodology revolves around the kind of resolutions and settings end users would expect from various setups.
Given the disparity between testing resolutions and settings, we've presented the results in a table format. Firstly, the MESH Matrix² CrossFire 1300's results in our regular games.
| Game | Resolution/setting | Resolution/setting |
| Quake 4 - Low Detail | 1024x768 No AA No AF | 1280x1024 No AA No AF |
| CrossFire | 70 | 55.1 |
| Non-CrossFire | 43.6 | 30.7 |
| Far Cry - Low Detail | 1024x768 No AA No AF | 1280x1024 No AA No AF |
| CrossFire | 74.77 | 52.87 |
| Non-CrossFire | 56.74 | 35.65 |
| Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Low Detail | 1024x768 No AA No AF (HDR) | 1280x1024 No AA No AF (HDR) |
| CrossFire | 45.39 | 30.07 |
| Non-CrossFire | 23.73 | 15.73 |
Testing with a low-detail setting and with no antialiasing or anisotropic filtering, we see that CrossFire performance constitutes a meaningful increase in framerate. For example, with Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory run at 1280x1024 with HDR, non-CrossFire performance is half that of two cards running in tandem. Unlike the Matrix² CrossFire 1900XT setup, losing half the framerate really does make a huge difference in your games'-playing experience.
Now on to the Matrix² CrossFire 1600. Just to reiterate, we've run the benchmarks at 1024x768 with 4x AA and 8x AF and at 1600x1200 with no AA and 8x AF. This time, as well as a change in resolution, we've upped image quality to the games' medium settings.
| Game | Resolution/setting | Resolution/setting |
| Quake 4 - Medium Detail | 1280x1024 4x AA 8x AF | 1600x1200 No AA 8x AF |
| CrossFire | 53.1 | 51 |
| Non-CrossFire | 30.6 | 31.4 |
| Far Cry - Medium Detail | 1280x1024 4x AA 8x A | 1600x1200 No AA 8x AF |
| CrossFire | 39.12 | 41.24 |
| Non-CrossFire | 25.7 | 28.78 |
| Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Medium Detail | 1280x1024 No AA 8x AF (HDR) | 1600x1200 No AA 8x AF (HDR) |
| CrossFire | 36.2 | 26.17 |
| Non-CrossFire | 19.64 | 14.23 |
The reason for the similarity between 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 results in our first two gaming benchmarks lies with the use of 4x AA at the 1280x1024 setting and none at 1600x1200. Again, CrossFire shows between a 55-95% gain in performance over a single card. It's worth repeating that at the low-end of the scale, the increases are incredibly meaningful.
