ATI's Next Generation
The Radeon 8500 and Radeon 7500 Review

Untapped Power

By Dave Altavilla
10/22/01

 

 

 

 

 

Head-to-Head  Performance Progressions
OpenGL goodness

 

We decided we would expose you to something new in benchmarking for this review.  We've found a new OpenGL test called GLExcess and it is really growing on the HotHardware Tech Team. This benchmark tests raw fill rate, polygon count and memory bandwidth, with a gorgeous OpenGL engine behind it.

 

 

 

At both 16 and 32 bit color, at 800X600 resolution in this test, the Radeon 8500 can't keep up with the GeForce3 Ti500.  At 16 bit color, the race is fairly close but once in 32 bit mode, the NV product walks away with it.  What is surprising here as well is that the Radeon 7500 is virtually left in the dust here.  Other notables are that the GF3 Ti200 actually falls behind the GF2 Ti.  We didn't think that was possible either.  However, our personal "Graphics Ninja", Marco "BigWop" Chiappetta, pointed out to us that the GF2 Ti has a significantly higher raw pixel-fill rate.  This is why in the low bandwidth tests at 16 bit color,  it smoked the GF3 Ti 200.  Thanks Woparoo... ;-)

 

 

 

 

Talk about a repeat performance.  Everything just scaled back a few notches here for all the cards in the test.

 

 

Vulpine Software's GLMark
More in the OpenGL Gauntlet

 

Vulpine software's GLMark is a little less "synthetic" perhaps than GLExcess.  It runs various demo scenes filled with snugly glad paramilitary female operatives in various alien environments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It should have become apparent to you that the folks at ATi have a little bit more optimization to do with the Radeon 8500 and its driver.  Although perhaps it is superior on paper from a "specmanship" standpoint, the R8500 can't keep pace with the GeForce3 Ti500 here.  Also, it is only in the highest resolutions that it is able to surpass the GF3 Ti200 in this test.  The R7500 is also strong at the higher resolutions but falls behind in the lower resolutions. That can only mean one thing, drivers.

 

 

Let's fire up Quake 3 and wrap it up.

 


 

Quake 3 Time Demos and The Final Assesment