OCZ Technologies Titan 3 GeForce3 Review
By: Mike Chambers - August 10, 2001
Serious Sam
The Beyond 3D scripts were used to test performance in Serious Sam. In addition to the basic settings listed here, there are a multitude of other graphics settings that are enabled in the Maximum and Extreme settings.
Serious Sam Screenshots - 1024x768
Setting 1
Setting 4
Again we see the benefit of anisotropic filtering as textures are clearly defined. Even the painted figures on the columns and wall look better.
Serious Sam Version 1.02 Settings
Settings
1
Normal - Texture Compression On and 32-Bit Textures
2
Maximum - Texture Compression Disabled
3
Extreme - 16 Sample Anisotropic Filtering
4
Extreme - 32 Sample Anisotropic Filtering
Serious Sam Karnak Demo - 1024x768
Having recently upgraded from a 700MHz to a 1GHz Pentium 3 processor, I saw frame rates increase by as much as 20 frames per second in the Karnak demo using the reference GeForce3. With a 1.3GHz processor, I've seen frame rates hovering around 80 frames per second. This is an indication that performance in Serious Sam is quite dependent on processor speed. However, the Titan 3 was able to squeeze out a few extra frames.
Serious Sam Karnak Demo - 1280x1024
Similar to Quake 3, the Titan 3 performs best at high resolutions with advanced graphics options enabled. An increase in performance of 3%, 5%, 7%, and 9% in the respective settings was achieved over the reference GeForce3.
DroneZ
For DroneZ performance, the GeForce3 Normal and GeForce3 Bump configurations were tested. The GeForce3 Bump configuration relies on the GeForce3's nFiniteFX engine when using vertex shaders to generate bump mapping effects.
DroneZ Screenshots - 1024x768
Setting 1
Setting 2
Given a choice, I would definitely prefer using the bumpmapping option in DroneZ. I'm sure most players also would only if the hit in performance wasn't too severe.
DroneZ Demo Settings
Settings
1
GeForce3 Normal
2
GeForce3 Bump Mode
DroneZ - 1024x768
At a resolution of 1024x768, the Titan 3 provided a 4% increase in performance in the GeForce3 Normal mode and a 5% increase in the GeForce3 Bump mode. Overclocked to 240MHz/560MHz, performance increased by 7% and 12%.
DroneZ - 1280x1024
More of the same at a resolution of 1280x1024 with a performance increase of 7% in the GeForce3 Normal mode and 8% in the GeForce3 Bump mode and 14% and 16% when overclocked.
3DMark2001
The Nature benchmark is one of the most impressive demonstrations of real-time graphics rendering I've ever seen on a personal computer.
3DMark2001 Screenshots - 1024x768
Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2
I'm sure most gamers would agree, but even the with the combination of a 1GHz processor and GeForce3, 30 frames per second in the nature demo may still be a ways off.
As the overall 3DMark2001 score is based on the game tests, it makes sense to also include them in a review. The Nature test received a significant increase in performance going from 20.5 frames per second to 24.8, which is a gain of 21%.
