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, XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was 13.01% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, 15.58% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600 and 30.20% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro. Keep in mind that XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB was running at 400 MHz (core) and 800 MHz (memory) , while its rival, Albatron GeForce 6600, was running at 300 MHz (core) and 500 MHz (memory).

XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was beaten by ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E, which was 40.84% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 39.16% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 33.82% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 31.55% faster , nVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 28.83% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 24.27% faster, nVidia GeForce 6800 GS, which was 22.96% faster, nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 22.88% faster, ATI Radeon X1600 XT, which was 21.62% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GTO, which was 21.20% faster, HIS Radeon X1600 XT, which was 20.72% faster, Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, which was 14.06% faster, XFX GeForce 6600 GT, which was 9.47% faster and ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, which was 6.60% faster.

At a resolution of 1280x1024 without any image quality enhancement, XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was 22.75% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, 24.15% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT and 47.77% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro. Keep in mind that XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB was running at 400 MHz (core) and 800 MHz (memory), while its rival, Albatron GeForce 6600, was running at 300 MHz (core) and 500 MHz (memory).

XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 50.30% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E, which was 49.09% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 43.57% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 41.23% faster, NVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 39.07% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 31.71% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GS, which was 30.79% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 29.20% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GTO, which was 26.16% faster, ATI Radeon X1600 XT, which was 21.49% faster, HIS Radeon X1600 XT, which was 20.77% faster, ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, which was 19.67% faster, Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, which was 12.32% faster and XFX GeForce 6600 GT, which was 10.48% faster.

At a resolution of 1600x1200 without any image quality enhancement, XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was 31.77% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, 46.84% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT and 77.40% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro. Keep in mind that XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB was running at 400 MHz (core) and 800 MHz (memory), while its rival, Albatron GeForce 6600, was running at 300 MHz (core) and 500 MHz (memory).

XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 67.43% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 62.37% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 59.07% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 54.06% faster, NVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 51.96% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 40.60% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GS, which was 38.98% faster, ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, which was 38.08% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GTO, which was 30.05% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 29.83% faster, ATI Radeon X1600 XT, which was 21.31% faster, HIS Radeon X1600 XT, which was 19.33% faster, XFX GeForce 6600 GT, which was 14.72% faster and Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, which was 6.74% faster.

At a resolution of 1024x768 enabling image quality enhancements, XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was 21.64% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, 32.40% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600 and 43.98% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro. Keep in mind that XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB was running at 400 MHz (core) and 800 MHz (memory), while its rival, Albatron GeForce 6600, was running at 300 MHz (core) and 500 MHz (memory).

XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 75.81% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 72.60% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 66.41% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 62.49% faster, NVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 55.11% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 45.39% faster, ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, which was 43.63% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GS, which was 42.59% faster, ATI Radeon X1600 XT, which was 42.41% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GTO, which was 39.83% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 38.80% faster, HIS Radeon X1600 XT, which was 37.72% faster, Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, which was 33.20% faster and XFX GeForce 6600 GT, which was 15.35% faster.

At a resolution of 1280x1024 enabling image quality enhancements, XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was 24.30% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT, 42.09% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600 and 49.35% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro. Keep in mind that XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB was running at 400 MHz (core) and 800 MHz (memory), while its rival, Albatron GeForce 6600, was running at 300 MHz (core) and 500 MHz (memory).

XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 125.18% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 114.62% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 109.76% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 99.19% faster, NVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 89.67% faster, ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, which was 86.81% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 75.88% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GS, which was 75.45% faster, ATI Radeon X1600 XT, which was 60.94% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 58.87% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GT,O, which was 58.84% faster, HIS Radeon X1600 XT, which was 55.93% faster, Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, which was 43.85% faster and XFX GeForce 6600 GT, which was 22.01% faster.

At a resolution of 1600x1200 enabling image quality enhancements, XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was 46.63% faster than Albatron GeForce 6600, 62.78% faster than ATI Radeon X600 XT and 100.19% faster than Sapphire Radeon X600 Pro. Keep in mind that XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB was running at 400 MHz (core) and 800 MHz (memory), while its rival, Albatron GeForce 6600, was running at 300 MHz (core) and 500 MHz (memory).

 XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB (which is factory-overclocked) was beaten by ATI Radeon X1800 XT, which was 246.75% faster, ATI Radeon X850 XT P.E., which was 212.42% faster, ATI Radeon X1800 XL, which was 210.77% faster, ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, which was 201.59% faster, MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, which was 194.46% faster, NVidia GeForce 7800 GT, which was 176.37% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GT, which was 126.74% faster, NVidia GeForce 6800 GS, which was 123.56% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GTO, which was 113.28% faster, HIS Radeon X800 GT, which was 104.31% faster, Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro, which was 81.23% faster, ATI Radeon X1600 XT, which was 61.57% faster, HIS Radeon X1600 XT, which was 55.88% faster and XFX GeForce 6600 GT, which was 26.89% faster.