fastest games machine survey
Tim Grant
Te...@msn.com
---- The DOOM 2 Benchmark! ( DEMO2 - 19oct95) Jeff Rollason ----
This is a games benchmark based on the 3D game DOOM 2. It is a more useful
means of assessing a machines potential to run 3D games than conventional
benchmarks which just measure particular aspects video and processor
performance. DEMO2 is used for the benchmark as it did not change between
v1.66 and v1.9 of DOOM 2. The DOOM 2 engine may have changed a little between
these versions, but the differences are small in performance.
This release of the DOOMBENC results also provides the results of the tests
run through the RATING program to test video card performance (See the end of
this doc).
Please submit your own results for this test. EVEN BETTER, SUBMIT RESULTS FOR
YOUR MACHINE WITH DIFFERENT VIDEO CARDS etc.. Make sure that your machine is
running at its full potential. Careful tweaking of the CMOS can yield a
substantial improvement in machine performance (check that wait states are
set to 0, hidden refresh is on, cache enabled etc..)
fps BIOS Cpu+clk L2 MB Video videocrd PC Make/Mobo/
Date cach mem Bus Mem Chipset
---- --- ------- ---- --- ----- ------------------ --------------
4.4 1991 386dx33 64 4 16isa Trident Tiny Computers
9.9 10/95 AmdDX100 256 16 ISA Paradise PVGA1A-JK *(3)
10.1 1991 486dx33 0 20 ISA Onboard ET4000 IBM PS/1
10.3 1989 CyrDX66u 64 8 ISA ATI Wonder(integrated) Horthgate slim386
10.5 1992 486sx50 ??? 12 local Paradise Toshiba 4400SX
.11.2 1993 486SX33 256 8 VLB Genoa 8500VL Lucky (LSI)
.11.2 1994 486dx100 256 20 ISA16 Trident 8900 *(Green)(10)
11.8 6/92 486sx33 256 4 VLB Cirrus CL-GD5422 *
12.2 4/92 486dx36 256 8 ISA9 ET4000 1MB DRAM *(Pacomp)
12.8 1993 486dx33 0 8 VLB Cirrus AVGA3 5424 Opus
.14.1 1994 486dx100 256 20 ISA16 Oak OTI-077 *(Green)(10)
14.8 1992 486dx66 256 16 VLB Diamond Stealth Viper *
16.5 1993 ibmDX75 256 16 VLB Herc'Graph'Pr0 2Mb Blue Lightning
17.0 1993 486d2-50 0 16 local Onboard 32bit S3 *
18.9 10/95 AmdDX100 256 16 VLB Diamond Stealth Viper *(3)
19.0 1992 486dx66 256 16 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM *(2)
19.2 12/94 P90 256 32 ISA Tseng ET4000 1MB DRAM *(4)
19.7 1992 486d2-50 256 8 ISA Onboard ET4000 Compaq
21.5 ? CyrDX66 256 8 VLB Diamond Stealth SE *
21.5 6/92 486dx50 256 8 VLB Genoa 8500VL Generic
21.9 1992 486dx66 256 8 VLB Speedstar Pro *
25.2 1994 486dx66 256 16 VLB SpeedStar Pro *
26.0 1992 486dx100 256 16 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM *(2)
26.1 1993 486dx66 256 16 PCI ATI grap'ult' (mach32) GW2K
26.2 1992 486dx66 128 16 VLB Cirrus AVGA3 5428 *
27.1 1995? 486dx66 256 8 VLB ET4000/W32p DRAM *
27.5 4/94 486dx66 256 12 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM Dan Technology(8)
27.7 3/94 486dx100 256 16 VLB Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *
27.8 10/94 486dx66 256 32 PCI ATI Mach64 2MB DRam *
28.2 6/94 AmdDX80 256 16 VLB Orchid Kelvin64 2-DRAM *
28.4 4/94 486dx66 256 12 VLB Diamond Stealth32-VRAM Dan Technology(8)
29.2 95? P100 256 8 PCI Trident PT540 Atlantic Systems
29.3 1993 486dx100 256 16 VLB Cirrus 5426(integrated)AST Advantage Pro
31.4 10/95 AmdDX100 256 16 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM *(3)
31.6 1994 AmdDX100 256 16 VLB ATI Mach64 -2meg *
.31.7 1995 P75 256 16 PCI Trident 9440 RM (Microstar mobo)
31.9 1994 P66 256 8 PCI ATI GX Mach 64 VRAM Hi-Grade(1)
31.9 1994 P66 256 8 PCI ET4000/W32p DRAM Hi-Grade(1)
32.5 12/94 P75 256 32 PCI33 Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(4)
32.7 10/95 AmdDX100 256 16 VLB Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(3)
33.0 1994 486dx100 256 16 VLB Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *
33.2 11/92 P90 512 32 VLB Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *Opti
33.3 1994 P66 256 8 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Hi-Grade(1)
34.0 1994 P90 256 8 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Vale Platinum
.34.0 1994 486dx100 256 20 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM *(Green)(10)
35.1 10/94 486dx100 256 12 VLB Diamond Stealth32(ET4) *
35.3 1994 486dx100 256 12 VLB Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Gateway486-33
36.0 1994 486dx100 256 16 PCI ATI WinTurbo Mach64-Vr *
35.8 12/94 P90 0 32 PCI30 Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(4)
37.4 1/95 486dx100 512 16 VLB Herc' Dyn' Pro (ET4) *
38.3 1995 486DX100 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM GatewayP4D(Saturn2)
38.4 1994 486dx100 256 16 VLB #9GXE64(S3-864) Dell Dimension
39.0 1995 AmdDX120 256 20 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *
39.0 12/94 P90 256 32 PCI30 Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(4)
39.3 5/95 P90 256 32 PCI ATI Graph'Pro Turbo/VR *(plato)
40.9 12/94 P90 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Zeos Pantera
41.4 12/94 P90 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Micron Po'Sta'+
41.6 10/95 P75 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) Triton
41.8 1992 P90 256? 32 PCI Spider Tarantula 64 *(Plato)
41.9 3/95 P90 512 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Micron
42.4 1992 P90 256 24 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Gateway 2000
43.0 11/92 P90 256 8 PCI #9GXE64Pro 2meg Dell Dimension
43.0 6/95 P90 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *
43.1 12/94 P100 256 32 PCI33 Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(4)
43.4 10/94 P90 256 8 PCI Alpine CL-GD5434 Packard Bell
45.3 12/94 P100 256 32 PCI33 Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(4)
47.5 P100 6/95 256 16 PCI ATI Mach64-DRAM Quantex Microsy'
48.8 11/94 P100 256 16 PCI Hercules Stingray 64/V *(plato)
49.2 8/94 P90 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *
49.3 05/95 P100 256b 16 PCI Matrox Millenium 2m WR *(5)
49.8 10/95 P90 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) Triton
50.7 1995 P100 512 32 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *
.50.1 1995 P100 256 16 PCI ET4000/W32p DRAM 2-meg Hi-Grade TMC+Triton
51.0 05/95 P100 256b 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *(5)
52.1 3/95 P100 256b 16e PCI #9 Motion 771 2m Dell Dimension
.52.7 10/94 P100 256b 32 PCI33 Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Supermicro P55CMS
53.2 95? P100 256 16 PCI Diamond StealthPr-VRAM *(Plato)
54.0 1995 P120 256b 8e PCI ATI Mach64 2Mb DRAM Gateway(7*)
54.3 1995 P100 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Micron Millenia
54.6 1995 P120 256b 16e PCI ATI Mach64 2Mb VRAM Gateway(7*)
54.7 10/95 P100 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) Triton
55.1 05/95 P100 256b 16 PCI Hercules Stingray 64/V *(5)
55.4 5/95 P120 256 64e PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Micron Millenia
55.8 3/95 P120 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Micron Millenia120
56.6 3/95 P133 256 16e PCI ATI Mach64-VRAM 2m Micron P5-133(6)
.56.8 1995 P133 256 32e PCI Number 9 Motion 771 *ASUSTeK mobo (11)
.56.8 1995 P133 256 32e PCI Matrox Millenium 2m WR *ASUSTeK mobo (11)
57.5 10/95 P120 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) Triton
.59.8 1995 P133 256 32e PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *ASUSTeK mobo (11)
.59.8 1995 P133 256 32e PCI D.Stealth Vid64-DRAM *ASUSTeK mobo (11)
60.8 5/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Micron Millenia133
60.9 3/95 P133 256b 24e PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Micron P5-133(6)
61.1 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Spea V7 P64Vid DRAM S3 *(9) Triton
62.5 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *(9) Triton
62.9 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' VRAM *(9) Triton
63.4 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Spea V7 P32 DRAM S3 *(9) Triton
63.4 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(9) Triton
63.6 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) Triton
64.1 3/95 P133 256 16e PCI ATI Mach64-VRAM Gateway 2000 P5
.69.0 ?/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Hercules Stingray 64/V *Supermicro Mobo
Results preceded by "." are new results. "?" = details to follow or unknown.
"(n)" indicates same machine tested with differing components. Cache figures
with "b" suffix indicate "burst" (e.g. 256b). Ram with "e" suffix indicate
EDO ram. ISA16 indicates 16-bit ISA card instead of 8-bit. PCI33 indicates
PCI running at 33MHz (instead of 30 MHz). ISA can be run at 7.5MHz or 10MHz
etc. "*" for PC make indicates "Home brew". The figures above assume the
fastest ISA rate available. "local" indicates a proprietry local bus, as used
in some portables and earlier desktop machines.
Figures should be for machine in normal configuration (not clean boot),
running from DOS (not a DOS Window). Win95 allows Windows to be shut down to
plain DOS. Please distinguish Stealth32 from Stealth64. They are completely
different cards!
-------- How to run the Benchmark ---------
The frames per second is obtained by running:
DOOM2 -NOSOUND -TIMEDEMO DEMO2
This prints out gametics and realtics to run the entire demo (2). Ignore the
"cannot open demo2.lmp" message. DEMO 2 is now used as this is the only DEMO
which has not changed with DOOM version number.
fps = (gametics/realtics)*35
Figures are for "no sound", screen size the largest with status bar and full
detail. L2che is the external cache, not the on-chip cpu cache. The BIOS date
is displayed when your PC starts up (the BIOS date almost certainly does not
matter, but it is an easy indication of the age of the motherboard).
-------- How do I get my results in the listing? --------
Post your figures to me directly on CompuServe 100031,3537 (or internet
10003...@compuserve.com), otherwise I will miss them.
--------- Conclusions ---------
Buying a machine for 3D games is hard without advice or experience. Published
benchmarks may not be helpful, for example the notorious 3DBENCH program
looks convincing but when applied to 2 machines that differed in their DOOM
fps speed by 2.4 : 1, 3DBENCH only managed to show a variance of 5% between
them
You may want to interpret the information above as you choose, but I have
tried to glean a few conclusions.
------- Notes and Wisdoms(?)
1. It seems that the choice and age of the motherboard is evidently
critical for the 486 based systems. The variations in performance are
substantial.
2. Overdrive processors with old motherboards are probably a waste of time.
The figure 26.0 above was an Intel 486dx100 overdrive, which I returned
and exchanged for an AmdDx100 with a new motherboard (actually much
cheaper!), yielding a somewhat improved 31.4 and leaving me with a
spare motherboard.
3. Video Cards: The Trident PT540 looks like a card to avoid! The P100 with
this card passed the cpu benchtests but did very badly in the fps
rating. The home brew(3) machine above was tried with 4 video cards,
showing a 3.2 : 1 variation in fps performance, confirming the
importance of the choice of video card. In particular DOOM ran half as
fast with a Diamond Stealth Viper-VRAM than a old cheap generic DRAM
ET4000/W32. Note that Diamond keep changing chipsets: the Viper to
Stealth32 to Stealth64 used Weitek, ET4000/W32 then S3. Note that cards
that use interleaved RAM almost certainly do not offer extra benefits
for DOS games (e.g. Hercules Dynamite Power, whose interleaving needs 2
meg of ram and whose benefits are only available to Windows drivers
etc.).
4. ISA bus? Don't even think about using an ISA-bus video card!!
5. PCI or VLB? The conventional wisdom is that PCI is better, with its
technical advantages. However I have examined 4 magazine reviews with
compare the same cards based on VLB and PCI, and all (to their surprise)
concluded that the VLB cards were generally faster, sometimes by up to
30%. This may be attributable to the fact that the processor actually
sits on the VLB whereas PCI has some buffered connection with a separate
processor bus. Also VLB will run at the speed that the processor runs
(usually 33MHz) whereas PCI usually runs at 30MHz. It appears that P66,
P100 and P133 machines run PCI at 33MHz. Maybe all this will change, but
at the moment (aug95) the 486 VLB machines may have an advantage that
the Pentium PCI machines do not have.
A later input on VLB and PCI was provided by Paul Schmitz [71776,337]
Sep95 who tried a three PCI and three VLB boards when choosing his
DX4-based machine. He found that the PCI boards were all faster the the
VLB boards, which suggests that perhaps PCI has now sorted out any
problems it did have.
6. The Intel 486dx100 machines above seem to be some 10% faster than the
AmdDX100 machines. This could be attributed to the larger 16k cache in
the Intel chip compared to the 8k of the Amd version. The Intel chip
also has a beefed-up integer multiply which is 3-5 times faster than a
DX2-100 would be. Amd now have a 120MHz version out with two types of
cache. The theoretically faster Write-Back version of the latter seems
to be actually between 1% slower and 6% faster.
8. Memory? Almost all machines above have 8meg+. None seem to show any
obvious advantage having 16meg. One user reports though that he has 32
megs of RAM and lets DOOM sit in his 14meg Smartdrive cache! This
undoubtably kills those minor jerks as DOOM loads each new scene.
9. What should I buy? With limited funds a $160 AmdDx100 with motherboard
looks an economic base for a machine. If funds are less tight the P100
looks good value at the moment (Aug95). Wait until the P6 is out! The
Pentium price will be bound to drop. If funds really are tight, then a
486dx66 on a newer motherboard will still perform well. If you have the
money for a Pentium then the Supermicro and Micronics motherboards look
good.
10. NexGen P90? These look very cheap, but I was warned off buying one
because of user reported compatibility problems. NexGen now have a P133.
11. Windows 95? It seems that Windows 95 shutdown to DOS is as fast as a
pure DOS machine, whereas Windows 95 running a DOS session will probably
be 20% slower (provide figures for shutdown Windows).
12. Asynchronous or pipelined burst cache? Steffen Itterheim [100606,2141]
had the patience to ty out a number of different hardware, clock and
video combinations for these tables. For a P90, the pipelined cache
added about 5% on the fps performance. For a P133 this increased to 6%.
13. Two very consistent independent tests looking at fps performance against
clock rate have shown the following results. These came from (1) Steffen
above and (2) and (3) Timothy Zakharov [73773,3047]. These results
looked at Pentium P75, P90, P100, P120 and P133 with (1) Graphite
Terminator, (3) Hercules Stingray + Triton and (3) Stingray + Supermicro
motherboard with pipeline burst cache
clock fps[1] fps[2] fps[3]
ratio ratio ratio ration
P75 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
P90 1.2 1.2 1.19 1.19
P100 1.33 1.31 1.32 1.32
P120 1.6 1.38 1.38 1.41
P133 1.77 1.53 1.53 1.55
P120->133 1.11 1.11 1.11 1.10
From these tests above it can be seen that the P120 offers a poor
performance return for the clock rate. This is (I believe) because the
120 uses a 60MHz bus whereas the P100 and P133 both use 66 MHz. Unless
you can get a very favourable price for a P120, then maybe only the only
upgrade from 100 is the 133.
Thats' enough for now.
Jeff Rollason
Author of the Shareware "PocketD Plus" - The tiny but advanced file manager.
"BEST UTILITY" award winner 92, 94 and 95. Download from CIS as POCK.ZIP.
------------------------Results of RATING program-------------------------
This uses the RATING program and provides a way of comparing large numbers
of inter-related results. An earlier version of this test included all
instances where cards were tested on similar machine types. This proved to
be too vulnerable to varying performance of one 486/Pentium compared to
another, so I have restricted the input to examine results where groups of
video cards were tested on a common physical machine. This comparision is
only valid where all results can be linked by a chain of common video cards
or the same testing platform.
Video card Rating
1. Hercules Stingray64/V 1087
2. Diamond Stealth32-VRAM 1032
3. Hercules Graphite Terminator 1028
4. Diamond Stealth64-DRAM 1027
5. Diamond Stealth64-Video64 1025
6. Spea V7 P32-DRAM 1020
7. Hercules Dynamite Power 1018
8. Hercules Graphite Terminator-VRAM 1012
9. Diamond Stealth64-VRAM 1009
10. ET4000/W32 991
11. Spea V7 P64-DRAM 983
12. ATI Mach64 DRAM 976
13. Number-9 Motion-771 974
14. Matrox Millenium 973
15. ATI Mach64 VRAM 964
16. Diamond Stealth Viper 596
---------------------- File used as input to RATING ----------------------
This is provided with this release as DOOMBENC.RAT. The RATING program
and instuctions can be downloaded as RATING.ZIP.