3Dmark2001 SE measures video card performance simulating DirectX 8.1 games. It is very effective software for evaluating the performance from previous-generation games, programmed using DirectX 8. In this software we run six tests. We run the software in three resolutions, 1024x768x32, 1280x1024x32 and 1600x1200x32, first without antialiasing and with no frame buffer, then we put the antialiasing at 4 samples and the frame buffer at triple-buffering. This improves the video quality but lowers the performance. We were willing to see how much performance we lost by putting the VGA to run at the maximum possible image quality. It is important to notice that ATI chips can run at 6x antialiasing. Since nVidia chips cannot run at this configuration, we had to use 4x antialiasing to use a configuration that is valid to all video cards included in our bechmarks, allowing direct comparison between them.

You may be asking yourself why we added an old program in a review of a latest generation  video card. To us, it is as important to know the performance of a video card with the latest games as it is to know its performance in an older game. That’s why we kept this software in our methodology.

At a resolution of 1024x768 without any image quality enhancement, PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was 19,79% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, 22,51% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600 and 38,01% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was beaten by ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 32.87% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 26.25% faster, MSI - DOT GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 25.24% faster, XFX GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 21.57% faster,  nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 21.54% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 17.25% faster, nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 15.94% faster, Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, which was 7.61% faster, and XFX GeForce 6600 GT, which was 3.28% faster than the board was been tested.

At a resolution of 1280x1024 without any image quality enhancement, PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was 39.54% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, 41.14% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT and 67.99% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT achieved a performance similar to Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro and to XFX GeForce 6600 GT.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was beaten by ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 31.15% faster, MSI – DOT GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 26.46% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 26.29% faster, XFX GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 26.04% faster, nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 22.33% faster, nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 15.86% faster, and HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 13,65% faster.

At a resolution of 1600x1200 without any image quality enhancement, PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was 6.68% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 14.66% faster than Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, 61.27% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, 79.71% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, and 117.11% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was beaten by ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 32.67% faster, MSI – DOT GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 30.19% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 29.97% faster, XFX GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 29.37% faster, nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 24.17% faster, nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 14.89% faster, and HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 6.09% faster.

At a resolution of 1024x768 enabling image quality enhancements, PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was 13.33% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 59.00% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, 73.07% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, and 88.21% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT achieved a performance similar to Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was beaten by ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 32.04% faster, MSI – DOT GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 28.44% faster, XFX GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 28.28% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 24.31% faster, nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 18.66% faster, nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 11.23% faster, and HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 6.19% faster.

At a resolution of 1280x1024 enabling image quality enhancements, PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was 9.62% faster than Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, 29.24% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 95.99% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, 124.05% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, and 135.50% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT achieved a performance similar to HIS Radeon X800 GT.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was beaten by ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 36.11% faster, MSI - DOT GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 30.20% faster, XFX GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 28.78% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 26.32% faster, nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 20.28% faster, and nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 11.54% faster.

At a resolution of 1600x1200 enabling image quality enhancements, PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was 14.93% faster than Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, 64.15% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 205.42% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, 239.06% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, and 317.00% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT achieved a performance similar to HIS Radeon X800 GT.

PowerColor Radeon X800 GT was beaten by ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 49.99% faster, MSI - DOT GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 47.54% faster, XFX GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 44.13% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 41.36% faster, nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 32.68% faster, and nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 8.85% faster.