Quake 3 is one of the most demanding games out on the market today and has become a standard benchmark in video card reviews. Having had an opportunity to review the TNT, TNT2, and GeForce 256, we see a trend continuing with the GeForce2 GTS. Similar to comparisons between the TNT to the TNT2, and TNT2 to the GeForce 256, the GeForce GTS begins to outperform the GeForce 256 DDR at high resolutions (1024x768 and up).

In normal and high quality settings, the GeForce2 GTS provides a significant increase in performance at resolutions of 1024x768 and higher - especially in 16-bit color. Even at a resolution of 1024x768 in 32-bit color, a 25% increase in frame rate, from 63.6 to 78.4, isn't too shabby. You can also count on an additional 10-15% increase in frame rates when overclocking.

I've also included benchmark results for those of you who enjoy playing Quake 3 a notch above the standard high quality settings. I refer to it as max quality and includes high geometry and the highest texture setting. I only included results based on 32-bit color/32-bit textures.

Note that when 32-bit color was used (green and yellow bars), 32-bit textures were used. When 16-bit color was used (blue and red bars) , 16-bit textures were used.

Quake 3 - Normal Settings - Demo001

Percent Increase in Frames Per Second

Quake 3 - High Quality Settings - Demo001

Percent Increase in Frames Per Second

Quake 3 - Max Quality Settings - Demo001

Percent Increase in Frames Per Second

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