Benchmarks - Aquamark 3
AquaMark 3The latest graphics cards on the market are all DirectX9 compatible these days, and we also see an increasing number of games utilizing the new DX9 features. To be able to see how well a graphics cards is performing in this new challenging DirectX 9 environment, AquaMark was developed.
The AquaMark3 benchmark delivers scores for specific hardware components as well as an overall score for the entire system. AquaMark3 is highly qualified to meet the needs of gamers because it's as close as possible to a typical game application. The AquaMark benchmarking series is based directly on the huge code and data base of the AquaNox games and the underlying krass game engine."
In the past we have used AquaMark 2.3 in our benchmark suite and although still a reputable application, Massive figured it was time for the next best thing. This is AquaMark 3, a benchmark that will utilize some of the finest DirectX 9 capabilities like Pixel and Vertex Shaders 2.0, and yet is by far not as Shader dependant as, for example, Half-Life 2 is. You will notice this in the overall results later in this article.
AquaMark 3, however, is not solely a DirectX9 benchmark; if you are working with a DirectX 8 or 7 compatible graphics card, you will still be able to use it just with a lot of graphical features missing. Make no mistake, AquaMark3 is a DirectX 9 benchmark. But since it's based on a real game engine it has fallbacks to DirectX 8 and even DirectX 7 that makes this software not a 100% DX9 benchmark.
Download: Aquamark 3 (63 MB)
AquaMark 3 | 800x600 | 1024x768 | 1280x1024 | 1600x1200 |
FX 5600 | 24 | 21 | 17 | 13 |
9600 256 | 29 | 23 | 17 | 13 |
Creative R9600 | 29 | 23 | 17 | 13 |
9600 Pro | 31 | 25 | 19 | 14 |
FX 5700 | 36 | 30 | 23 | 18 |
R9800XT | 41 | 35 | 26 | 20 |
FX 5700 Ultra | 41 | 35 | 27 | 21 |
5700U GDDR3 | 41 | 35 | 27 | 21 |
9700 Pro | 46 | 41 | 33 | 26 |
9800 Pro | 49 | 45 | 38 | 30 |
9800 Pro | 50 | 44 | 38 | 30 |
5900 XT | 50 | 47 | 43 | 36 |
9800XT | 51 | 46 | 40 | 33 |
5950U | 53 | 50 | 43 | 36 |
x800Pro | 54 | 51 | 47 | 41 |
x800XT | 54 | 53 | 50 | 47 |
6800GT | 61 | 59 | 55 | 50 |
6800GT 401/1.060 | 63 | 61 | 58 | 54 |
6800U | 63 | 61 | 58 | 53 |
Now that's a nice list of results I'd say. The GT was actually faster with the new 61.34 drivers then a Radeon x800 XT PE. And look at the differences between the GT and the Ultra. Now that is close.
4xAA 8xAF | 800x600 | 1024x768 | 1280x1024 | 1600x1200 |
FX 5600 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
9600 256 | 21 | 16 | 12 | 8 |
FX 5700 | 22 | 17 | 12 | 9 |
9600 Pro | 24 | 18 | 13 | 9 |
FX 5700 Ultra | 26 | 19 | 14 | 11 |
5700U GDDR3 | 26 | 20 | 14 | 11 |
R9600XT | 32 | 25 | 19 | 12 |
5900 XT | 33 | 26 | 19 | 15 |
FX 5900 Ultra | 39 | 31 | 23 | 17 |
9700 Pro | 39 | 32 | 24 | 19 |
FX 5950 Ultra | 40 | 32 | 24 | 18 |
9800 Pro | 43 | 36 | 27 | 21 |
9800XT | 45 | 39 | 30 | 23 |
6800GT | 54 | 48 | 39 | 31 |
6800GT Opt Off | 53 | 46 | 37 | 29 |
x800Pro | 50 | 46 | 40 | 34 |
6800U | 57 | 51 | 42 | 34 |
x800XT | 53 | 45 | 44 | 38 |
Aah, the Radeon x800 series show their true power. They are just so efficient with their image quality settings. It's just crazy how close the companies are.