System Setup and Notes
Hardware
MotherboardsEpoX EP-9NDA3+ motherboard
Processor
AMD Athlon FX-53 (2.4GHz, 1MB L2, dual-channel memory), Socket 939
Graphics Cards
ATI Radeon X800 XT, AGP 8x, 256MB
Memory
1GB (2 x 512MB) Corsair DDR-I PC-3200 - 2-2-2-6
Hard Disks
1 x 36.6GB Western Digital Raptor SATA
Software
Windows XP Professional w/ SP2ATI CATALYST 4.10, 4.11, 4.12
DirectX 9.0c End User Runtime
3DMark05 v110
Call of Duty - Custom timedemo
Xpand Rally Demo - HEXUS Custom Benchmark
Unreal Tournament 2004 Retail (patched up to 3323 - HEXUS custom
timedemo)
Sims 2 - HEXUS Custom Benchmark
DOOM 3 - Custom Timedemo - High quality
Far Cry (patched to v1.3) - Custom Timedemo
Half-Life 2 - HEXUS Custom Timedemo
Notes
For our driver comparison today, we'll be using the AGP 8x variant of ATI's Radeon X800 XT, to represent driver performance for their flagship R420 line-up in the AGP sector.