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FIC Radeon 8500 Videocard Review
FIC Radeon 8500 Videocard Review - PCSTATS
The FIC Radeon 8500/AT0008 is one of the first in the series of FIC videocards to hit the market.
 70% Rating:   
Filed under: Video Cards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: FIC Mar 01 2002   C. Sun  
Home > Reviews > Video Cards > FIC Radeon 8500

Overclocking, Benchmarks, Comparisons

Overclocking Notes

The heatsink on the FIC 8500 is attached to the core via thermal glue, and our actual test sample was not sitting completely flush. The bare memory chips did get a bit warm during testing, but Radeon's rarely come with memory cooling so this is not out of the norm.

I was pleased that the FIC 8500 reached retail speeds of 275/550 MHz during a quick overclocking test. Any attempt higher however, and the core would lock up during the Dragon Gothic test in 3DMark 2001, or the memory would start to artifact during other benchmarks.

test system specs:

computer hardware:

processor: athlonxp 1900+
clock speed: 1.6 ghz clocked at 1.7 ghz for testing (10x170)
motherboards: epox 8kha+
chipsets: via kt266a
videocard:

MSI GeForce 3 Ti500 (MS-8854) (GeForce3 Ti500 240/500)
MSI GeForce 2 Ti (MS-8836) (GeForce2 Ti (250/400)
ATi Radeon 64 MB VIVO (Radeon 183/366)
ATi Radeon 8500 (Radeon 8500 275/550)

FIC Radeon 8500 (Radeon 8500 250/500)
FIC Radeon 8500 (Radeon 8500 275/275)

Sound Card: N/A
Network Card:

N/A

Memory:

256MB Corsair PC2400 CAS2 DDR

Hard Drive: Samsung SV6004H 5400RPM UDMA100 60GB
CDROM: Panasonic 48x CD-ROM CR-594-B
Floppy:

Panasonic 1.44MB Floppy Drive

Heatsink: AVC Sunflower
PowerSupply: Enermax 431Watt
Software Setup Windows 98SE
VIA 4in1 4.37V
DetonatorXP 22.80
Radeon 9009
DirectX 8.1
Benchmarks

3DMark2000 Ver 1.1
3DMark2001 SE
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Quake III Arena Ver 1.17
Serious Sam 2

3DMark2001SE with AA
Quake III Arena Ver 1.17 wiht AA

3DMark2000 Ver 1.1 Source: MadOnion

3DMark2000 is still a popular benchmarks for evaluating 3D performance even though it is getting a bit dated. 3DMark2000 continues to provide benchmark results that guage DirectX7 performance and hardware transformation and lighting that older games still use. Version 1.1 ensures more reliable functionality with hardware and operating systems that were released after the launch of 3DMark2000 in December 1999.

Higher numbers denote better performance.

3DMark2000 v1.1 Benchmark Results
Video Card 3DMarks Ranking
1. GeForce2 Ti 11101
2. GeForce3 Ti500 12964
3. Radeon 64 DDR 6115
4. ATi Radeon 8500 12758
5. FIC Radeon 8500 12105
6. FIC Radeon 8500 (oc'ed) 12801

The original Radeon 64DDR does quite badly in 3DMark2000 but then again, it was never good at 16bit benchmarks. 3DMark2000 can't really tell the difference between the GeForce2/3 or Radeon 8500. It's just not taxing enough to the videocard and that's evident since the GeForce2 Ti can compete with the bigger guns.

3DMark2001SE Source: MadOnion

3DMark2001SE is the latest installment in the 3DMark series by MadOnion. By combining DirectX8 support with completely new graphics, it continues to provide good overall system benchmarks. 3DMark2001SE has been created in cooperation with the major 3D accelerator and processor manufacturers to provide a reliable set of diagnostic tools. The suite demonstrates 3D gaming performance by using real-world gaming technology to test a system's true performance abilities. Tests include: DirectX8 Vertex Shaders, Pixel Shaders and Point Sprites, DOT3 and Environment Mapped Bump Mapping, support for Full Scene Anti-aliasing and Texture Compression and two game tests using Ipion real-time physics.

Higher numbers denote better performance.

3DMark2001SE Benchmark Results
Video Card 3DMarks Ranking
1. GeForce2 Ti 5301
2. GeForce3 Ti500 8974
3. Radeon 64 DDR 4012
4. ATi Radeon 8500 9354
5. FIC Radeon 8500 9089
6. FIC Radeon 8500 (oc'ed) 9329

The Radeon 8500 has always done well in 3DMark2001/SE. Here even the stock FIC Radeon 8500 is able to best the GeForce3 Ti500. The older non programmable T&L cards the GeForce2 Ti and Radeon 64 DDR are left way behind in the dust. It's not a surprise that the FIC Radeon 8500 when overclocked is the same speed as the ATi Retail Radeon 8500.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Source: ID Software

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a relatively new game benchmark. However, RTCW takes up where Quake III left off and continues to form the basis of the first person shooter system stressing that QIII has become a hallmark for. Based upon the Quake III engine, RTCS is obviously going to be quite taxing on even a top end system.

Higher numbers denote faster frames per second (FPS), and hence, better performance.

RTCW MAX 1024x768 atdemo6
Video Card FPS Ranking
1. GeForce2 Ti 57.6
2. GeForce3 Ti500 59.8
3. Radeon 64 DDR 48.6
4. ATi Radeon 8500 59.2
5. FIC Radeon 8500 58.3
6. FIC Radeon 8500 (oc'ed) 58.8

RTCW MAX 1024x768 atdemo8
Video Card FPS Ranking
1. GeForce2 Ti 141.2
2. GeForce3 Ti500 170.8
3. Radeon 64 DDR 105.7
4. ATi Radeon 8500 165.2
5. FIC Radeon 8500 158.1
6. FIC Radeon 8500 (oc'ed) 167.1

At 1024x768 we're barely pushing the FIC Radeon 8500. Sure it's slower then the GeForce3 Ti500 and the ATi Radeon 8500, however you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. It looks like there is some room for improvement since the Radeon 8500 hardware is more powerful then the GeForce3 Ti500.

RTCW MAX 1600x1200 atdemo6
Video Card FPS Ranking
1. GeForce2 Ti 34.7
2. GeForce3 Ti500 43.2
3. Radeon 64 DDR 24.1
4. ATi Radeon 8500 45.2
5. FIC Radeon 8500 42.9
6. FIC Radeon 8500 (oc'ed) 45.1

RTCW MAX 1600x1200 atdemo8
Video Card FPS Ranking
1. GeForce2 Ti 63.1
2. GeForce3 Ti500

98.1

3. Radeon 64 DDR 46.3
4. ATi Radeon 8500 85.4
5. FIC Radeon 8500 80.7
6. FIC Radeon 8500 (oc'ed) 86

At the higher resolutions, both Radeon 8500's stay very close to the GeForce3 Ti500 but can't quite beat it. Hopefully newer drivers will give the Radeon 8500 a speed boost!

< Previous Page © 2023 PCSTATS.com Next Page >

 

Contents of Article: FIC Radeon 8500
 Pg 1.  FIC Radeon 8500 Videocard Review
 Pg 2.  — Overclocking, Benchmarks, Comparisons
 Pg 3.  Quake III Arena Benchmarks
 Pg 4.  Antialiasing Benchmarks, Conclusions

 
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