CryTek FarCry 1.33	Source: Ubisoft

Real-time editing, bump mapping, static lights, network system, integrated physics system, shaders, shadows, and a dynamic music system are just some of the state of-the-art features that the CryENGINE offers. The game was set to Ultra quality and the Ubisoft's Regulator demo was run.

CryTek FarCry 1.33
Regulator LQ 640x480	FPS	Ranking
ASRock AM2V890-VSTA (K8T890 200/800 A64 5000+)	185.2
Albatron KM51PV-AM2 (GF6150 200/800 A64 5000+)	170.27
MSI K9N SLI Platinum (NF 570 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+)	171.25
Asus M2-CROSSHAIR (NF 590 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+)	175.26
Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H (975X 200/667 PD 840)	81.43
MSI P4N Diamond (NF4 SLI 200/800 PD 840)	171.25
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 PD 840)	84.69
Asus P5N32-SLI Premium (NF 590 SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX Single)	258.65
Asus P5N32-SLI Premium (NF 590 SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX SLI)	245.21
Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	243.21
MSI 975X Platinum (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	242.41
Asus P5B (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	232.49
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	241.05
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	242.58
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	242.31
MSI P965 Platinum (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	238.41
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video)	30.93
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX)	219.83
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H (G965 Express Core 2 Duo Onboard Video Driver 14.21)	35.45
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H (G965 Express Core 2 Duo Onboard Video Driver 14.25)	29.17
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H (G965 Express Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX)	241.15

Hmm... the results are interesting here. The new driver version actually decreases overall fps by 6, which is pretty significant! 3D performance with a GeForce 7800GTX is good, as you might have guessed.

ID Software Doom 3 1.3	Source: id Software

Doom 3 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.

ID Software Doom 3 1.3
LQ 640x480:	FPS	Ranking
ASRock AM2V890-VSTA (K8T890 200/800 A64 5000+)	148.4
Albatron KM51PV-AM2 (GF6150 200/800 A64 5000+)	144.5
MSI K9N SLI Platinum (NF 570 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+)	144.3
Asus M2-CROSSHAIR (NF 590 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+)	141.1
Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H (975X 200/667 PD 840)	104.3
MSI P4N Diamond (NF4 SLI 200/800 PD 840)	144.3
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 PD 840)	96.6
Asus P5N32-SLI Premium (NF 590 SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX Single)	206.7
Asus P5N32-SLI Premium (NF 590 SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX SLI)	203.5
Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	206.3
MSI 975X Platinum (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	205.9
Asus P5B (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	194.5
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	205.7
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	206.7
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	205.8
MSI P965 Platinum (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	205.3
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video)	18.7
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX)	193
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H (G965 Express Core 2 Duo Onboard Video Driver 14.21)	19
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H (G965 Express Core 2 Duo Onboard Video Driver 14.25)	12.5
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H (G965 Express Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX)	203.8

The trend of lower performance with the newer driver version continues in Doom 3 when using the onboard GMA X3000 videocard. With the GeForce 7800GTX, framerates shoot up to what is expected from an Intel Core 2 Duo system.

ID Software Quake 4 1.3	Source: id Software

Quake 4 is the latest shooter from ID and is based on the Doom 3 engine. Tweaked to for more eye candy, Quake 4 promises to be tougher on videocards and systems than its predecessor was. Quake 4 also does not have a 60 fps limiter like Doom 3, with the Ultra setting, graphic textures

ID Software Quake 4 1.3
LQ 640x480:	FPS	Ranking
ASRock AM2V890-VSTA (K8T890 200/800 A64 5000+)	154.4
Albatron KM51PV-AM2 (GF6150 200/800 A64 5000+)	152.9
MSI K9N SLI Platinum (NF 570 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+)	150.5
Asus M2-CROSSHAIR (NF 590 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+)	146.4
Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H (975X 200/667 PD 840)	127.3
MSI P4N Diamond (NF4 SLI 200/800 PD 840)	150.5
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 PD 840)	113.8
Asus P5N32-SLI Premium (NF 590 SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX Single)	203.5
Asus P5N32-SLI Premium (NF 590 SLI 200/800 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX SLI)	198.7
Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.5
MSI 975X Platinum (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.8
Asus P5B (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	191.4
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.8
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.6
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.4
MSI P965 Platinum (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo)	202.1
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video)	34.1
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX)	192.7
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H (G965 Express Core 2 Duo Onboard Video Driver 14.21)	34.8
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H (G965 Express Core 2 Duo Onboard Video Driver 14.25)	24.3
Foxconn G9657MA-8KS2H (G965 Express Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX)	202.6

In the final test of the day we see that using the new GMA3000 graphics driver decreases performance by 10 fps. Looks like Intel still has quite a bit of work left to do on its drivers. When a GeForce 7800GTX is used performance is nice and high.