A
completely rewritten 3D engine based on DirectX8 encompasses many visual effects
such as volumetric Nebulae (gas clouds) that have a real impact in the game (you
can hide in them) and many new engine, shield, weapon and explosion effects.
Objects cast real dynamic 3D shadows! Dynamic DP3 bump mapping allows a
previously unseen level of detail.
X2: The
Threat |
640x480: |
FPS |
Ranking |
Shuttle XPC SD11G5 (915GM 133/533) |
40.988 |
|
AOpen Mini PC MP915-B (915GM 133/533) |
39.144 |
|
X2: The Threat framerates are
not half bad... the AOpen Mini PC MP915-B can play older games at lower
resolutions.
Unreal Tournament
2003 |
Source: Epic |
|
Unreal
Tournament 2003 is the sequel to 1999's multiple ' Game of the Year' award
winner. It uses the very latest Unreal Engine technology - where graphics, sound
and game play are taken beyond the bleeding edge. Unreal Tournament 2003 employs
the use of Vertex as well as Pixel Shaders and it's recommended that you use a
DirectX 8 videocard to get the most out of the game.
UT2003 -
640x480 |
Flyby |
FPS |
Ranking |
Shuttle XPC SD11G5 (915GM 133/533) |
85.37 |
|
AOpen Mini PC MP915-B (915GM 133/533) |
77.45 |
|
Botmatch |
FPS |
Ranking |
Shuttle XPC SD11G5 (915GM 133/533) |
40.63 |
|
AOpen Mini PC MP915-B (915GM 133/533) |
38.12 |
|
UT2003 framerates are half
decent also. At a resolution of 640x480 the game is perfectly
playable.
Unreal Tournament
2004 |
Source: Epic |
|
Unreal
Tournament 2004 is the sequel to the highly popular UT2003 and uses the very
latest Unreal Engine technology. Unreal Tournament 2004 employs the use of
Vertex and Pixel Shaders and it's recommended that you use a DirectX 9 videocard
if you plan to play competitively.
UT2004 -
640x480 |
dm-rankin |
FPS |
Ranking |
Shuttle XPC SD11G5 (915GM 133/533) |
30.96 |
|
AOpen Mini PC MP915-B (915GM 133/533) |
27.41 |
|
as-convoy |
FPS |
Ranking |
Shuttle XPC SD11G5 (915GM 133/533) |
20.77 |
|
AOpen Mini PC MP915-B (915GM 133/533) |
15.63 |
|
ctf-bridgeoffate |
FPS |
Ranking |
Shuttle XPC SD11G5 (915GM 133/533) |
36.86 |
|
AOpen Mini PC MP915-B (915GM 133/533) |
32.38 |
|
UT2004 is a much more stressful
game than UT2003 and here framerates are much lower. The AOpen Mini PC MP915-B
is slower in every test. Integrated graphics chipsets have never been intended
to take on the stresses of 3D gaming, so none of this is very
surprising.
Doom 3 is
the most advanced game to date. it takes advantage of the latest videocard
technology and pushes the processing power of the CPU to its absolute limit. At
its highest setting, Ultra quality, texture sizes pass the 500MB mark which
means even tomorrow's videocards will have a hard time running everything. The
frame rates in the game itself are locked at 60 fps so anything above that point
is wasted. Each test is run three times with the third run being
recorded.
Doom 3 |
LQ 640x480: |
FPS |
Ranking |
Shuttle XPC SD11G5 (915GM 133/533) |
5.4 |
|
AOpen Mini PC MP915-B (915GM 133/533) |
4.7 |
|
In the final test, the Intel
GMA900 is simply too slow to allow gamers to play Doom 3. So where does all this
leave us?