3D Performance with Fallout 3 Part 2: Mainstream Cards November 10, 2008 Brandon Sandman Bell

Introduction

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Since it’s largely based on the same Gamebryo game engine used in Oblivion, Fallout 3 performs quite well with the mainstream cards represented here in this article. We did turn down the graphics settings one notch, from "very high" to "high", but otherwise no real compromises were made; we even included 8xAA benchmark results.

Fortunately going from very high to high doesn’t compromise image quality badly, we’ve taken a batch of screenshots to highlight the differences:

[image]

System setup

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Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650

ASUS P5E3 Premium

4GB (4x1GB) OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Platinum

EVGA GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB
NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 512MB
NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT GDDR3 512MB
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
ForceWare 180.43

ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB GDDR3
ATI Radeon HD 3850 512MB
ATI Radeon HD 3870 1GB
ATI Radeon HD 4830 512MB
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB
Far Cry 2/STALKER Hotfix driver

300GB Western Digital Caviar SE

Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit w/Service Pack 1

Benchmarks

Fallout 3

Fallout 3 4xAA

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Fallout 3 Performance 1600x1200x32
Card	Min FPS	Max FPS
GeForce 9800 GTX	47	92
GeForce 9600 GT	41	78
GeForce 9600 GSO	24	57
GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB	39	74
GeForce 9500 GT DDR2	11	27
GeForce 9500 GT GDDR3	15	35
GeForce 8800 GT/9800 GT	38	83
Radeon HD 3850 512MB	29	60
Radeon HD 3870 1GB	31	67
Radeon HD 4830	35	77
Radeon HD 4850 512MB	36	81
Radeon HD 4670	23	53

Notes

The GeForce 9800 GTX and 9800 GT swept our performance tests with 4xAA. Even the 9600 GT put up a surprising showing against the Radeon 4850, running neck-and-neck with the ATI card in our testing. We have a feeling that drivers may be playing a role in the 4850’s performance, as the card should be performing closer to the 9800 GTX rather than the 9600 GT. For instance, the Radeon 4850 runs 19% slower than the 9800 GTX at 1600x1200. Likewise, ATI’s Radeon 4830 performs closer to the 8800 GTS 640MB than the 9800 GT it’s intended to compete against.

At the lower end of the mainstream segment, ATI’s Radeon 4670 finished 4-10% behind the GeForce 9600 GSO.

Over and over again we’ve seen ATI’s 4000 series GPUs put up very strong 8xAA performance. Let’s see if that continues for the cards we tested today.

8xAA Performance

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Fallout 3 Performance 1600x1200x32
Card	Min FPS	Max FPS
GeForce 9800 GTX	31	72
GeForce 9600 GT	25	59
GeForce 9600 GSO	16	36
GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB	23	55
GeForce 8800GT/9800GT	27	62
Radeon 3850 512MB	23	50
Radeon 3870 1GB	24	51
Radeon 4830	29	64
Radeon 4850	30	70
Radeon 4670	20	48

Notes

The GeForce 9800 GTX continues to outperform the Radeon 4850 under 8xAA, although the margin separating the two cards has shrunk to just 5% at 1600x1200. In a similar fashion, the performance picture changes drastically for the Radeon 4830 under 8xAA. In fact the 4830 actually outran the 9800 GT at 1600x1200 and 1920x1200.

The Radeon 4670 also managed to outperform the GeForce 9600 GSO, although this wasn’t as much of a surprise because the 9600 GSO card we used for testing sports just 384MB of memory. This really hurt the card at higher resolutions where it just doesn’t have enough onboard memory and has to swap from system RAM as a result.

ATI’s older 3850 and 3870 cards continue to outperform the 4670 however.

Conclusion

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Because of this, the Radeon 4830 finished behind the GeForce 8800/9800 GT under 4xAA, but managed to pull ahead of the GeForce GT boards under 8xAA.

The GeForce 9600 GT really surprised us with its performance in Fallout 3. Not only did the card outperform the GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB, it nearly matched the 9800 GT in performance, running just 4-9% slower than the 9800 GT overall. The Radeon 3850 and 3870 also put up a stronger showing than we expected.

Moving further down the totem pole, the Radeon 4670 struggled against the 9600 GSO under 4xAA, although the tables turned with 8xAA, with the newer Radeon card pulling ahead of the 9600 GSO by 19% at 1600x1200. Our GeForce 9600 GSO board shipped with just 384MB of memory, which certainly put it at a disadvantage at such a high AA level. A 768MB GSO board would have fared better, but these cards generally sell for $20-$30 more than 384MB cards. At that point you’re better off going with a 9600 GT.

We tested the GeForce 9500 GT DDR2 and GDDR3 under 4xAA, although honestly we feel that hardware enthusiasts in this price bracket would be best served by holding onto their cash until they can afford to spend another $30 or so for a Radeon 4670 or GeForce 9600 GSO. Both of these GPUs deliver much better performance than the GeForce 9500 series, as well as ATI’s own Radeon 4500s.

Fallout 3 doesn’t push GPUs like Crysis or STALKER: Clear Sky, but it is an enjoyable experience nonetheless. Because it isn’t as graphically demanding as some of the other games on the market, you don’t have to fork over $400 or more on a new graphics card for the best Fallout 3 experience if you don’t want too, in fact the cards we tested today are more than capable of handling the game.

This is probably a refreshing change if you’re tired of hearing the hype around DX10 graphics and Vista; Fallout 3 requires neither to deliver its best graphics. In fact the game is surprisingly tame on hardware and loads quicker than any game we’ve tested in quite some time. When combined with the game’s solid gameplay and storyline, Fallout 3 should appeal to a large audience of RPG fans as well as FPS gamers looking for an alternative to the linear style of most shooters.