Test Setup

Since the new Catalyst 3.8 drivers showed absolutely no performance difference to the previous driver release, the scores we recorded in our 9800 XT review can still be considered valid. While we tested the Radeon 9600 XT with the Catalyst 3.8, the scores for the 9800 XT where determined using the Catalyst 3.7.

Literally at the last minute we received NVIDIA's new "Force Ware" driver v52.16, which NVIDIA is calling a WHQL candidate. We didn't have enough time for extensive image quality tests but the new driver solved the issues in AquaMark 3 and the performance numbers indicate, that the anisotropic filtering quality is better than in previous drivers. Additionally, all tests were also run with the drivers v44.03 and v45.23. For an image quality comparison of these drivers, we invite you to read the following articles:

• Aquamark3: Accurate Benchmarking for Old and New (DirectX9) Apps?
• NVIDIA Detonator FX 45.23
• Introducing ATi's New Middle Class: The Radeon 9600 PRO
• NVIDIA GeForceFX 5900 Ultra: The Way FX is Meant to be Played!!
• Strike Force: The new ATI Radeon 9800, 9600 and 9200 Series

We will take a closer look at image quality in a follow-up article as soon as NVIDIA's new v52.16 driver has been WHQL certified.

The results taken from games with a built-in benchmark feature are given in blue. Scores recorded using FRAPS are in gray and those from in-game tests are green.