X2 Rolling Demo
EgoSoft's X2 Rolling Demo is another nice DirectX 9 benchmark, offering a nice method of testing DX9-based DOT3 bumpmapping performance, along with real-time stencil shadowing, something that will be used heavily in DooM3. We don't test with stencil shadowing enabled by default, but look for variations on the standard X2 demo configuration to make an appearance in future HEXUS articles on new GPU's.
Performance parity initially almost always indicates we are system limited, that's the case here too. As we start to make things harder on the cards, the ASUS wins out due to the clock advantage. Given it executing shader instructions to the same overall efficiency as the R350 GPU in the 9800 Pro, the increased clocks explain the performance difference.
It's certainly not earth shattering, but a win nonetheless. It's nice to see some parity in performance at the end of testing, in a real world DX9 game engine, to restore some waning faith in NVIDIA.
It also gives me faith in our new graphing method, I hope you can interpret it OK. I know you appreciate the big drop in image data it brings at least.
