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, nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was 7.80% faster than Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, 12.32% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 15.35% faster than ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, 22.96% faster than factory-overclocked GeForce 6600 256 MB from XFX, 38.96% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, 42.12% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600 and 60.10% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS achieved a performance similar to nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, ATI Radeon X1600 XT, HIS Radeon X800 GTO and ATI Radeon X1600 XT.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was beaten by ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 14.54% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 14.61% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 15.80% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 16.20% faster, nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 16.66% faster and HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 23.48% faster.

At a resolution of 1280x1024 without any image quality enhancement, nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was 3.68% faster than HIS Radeon X800 GTO, 7.66% faster than ATI Radeon X1600 XT, 8.30% faster than ATI Radeon X1600 XT, 9.30% faster than ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, 16.45% faster than Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, 18.38% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 30.79% faster than factory-overclocked GeForce 6600 256 MB from XFX, 60.55% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, 62.38% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT and 93.27% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS achieved a performance similar to nVidia GeForce 6800 GT and HIS Radeon X800 GTO, its rival.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 14.92% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 13.99% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 9.77% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 7.98% faster and nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 6.33% faster.

At a resolution of 1600x1200 without any image quality enhancement, nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was 6.87% faster than its rival HIS Radeon X800 GTO, 7.05% faster than HIS Radeon X800 GT, 14.56% faster than ATI Radeon X1600 XT, 16.47% faster than ATI Radeon X1600 XT, 21.15% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 30.21% faster than Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, 38.98% faster than factory-overclocked GeForce 6600 256 MB from XFX, 83.13% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, 104.08% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT and 146.54% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS achieved a performance similar to nVidia GeForce 6800 GT and ATI Radeon X1900 XTX.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 20.47% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 16.83% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 14.45% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 10.85% faster and nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 9.34% faster.

At a resolution of 1024x768 enabling image quality enhancements, nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was 3.54% faster than ATI Radeon X1600 XT, 7.06% faster than Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, 23.62% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 42.59% faster than factory-overclocked GeForce 6600 256 MB from XFX, 73.45% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, 88.80% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600 and 105.31% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS achieved a performance similar to nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, ATI Radeon X1600 XT, HIS Radeon X800 GTO and HIS Radeon X800 GT.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 23.30% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 21.04% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 16.70% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 13.95% faster and nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 8.78% faster.

At a resolution of 1280x1024 enabling image quality enhancements, nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was 9.01% faster than ATI Radeon X1600 XT, 10.44% faster than HIS Radeon X800 GT, 10.46% faster than its rival HIS Radeon X800 GTO, 12.52% faster than ATI Radeon X1600 XT, 21.97% faster than Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, 43.80% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 75.45% faster than factory-overclocked GeForce 6600 256 MB from XFX, 118.08% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, 149.30% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600 and 162.03% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS achieved a performance similar to nVidia GeForce 6800 GT.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 28.34% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 22.33% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 19.56% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 13.53% faster, nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 8.10% faster and ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, which was 6.47% faster.

At a resolution of 1600x1200 enabling image quality enhancements, nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was 4.82% faster than its rival HIS Radeon X800 GTO, 9.42% faster than HIS Radeon X800 GT, 23.35% faster than Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, 38.37% faster than ATI Radeon X1600 XT, 43.42% faster than ATI Radeon X1600 XT, 76.18% faster than XFX GeForce 6600 GT, 123.56% faster than factory-overclocked GeForce 6600 256 MB from XFX, 227.80% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, 263.90% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT and 347.54% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS achieved a performance similar to nVidia GeForce 6800 GT.

nVidia GeForce 6800 GS was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 55.11% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 39.75% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 39.01% faster, ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, which was 34.91% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 31.72% faster and nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 23.62% faster.