3DMark06 simulates DirectX 9.0c (Shader 3.0) games and it also puts HDR (High Dynamic Range) into the equation to calculate its final score. So it simulates the most high-end games available today. Since we were comparing mid-range cards, we ran this program in two resolutions, one low (1024x768) and one high (1600x1200). The results you check below. All video cards listed below were running with the default clock rates defined by the chip manufacturer except the cards marked with ”OC“, which are cards that are factory-overclocked.

3DMark06 Professional Edition 1.10 -1024x768	Score	Difference
GeForce 8600 GTS 256 MB (MSI) OC	7248	147.63%
GeForce 8600 GTS 256 MB (MSI)	7002	139.22%
GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB (MSI) OC	6154	110.25%
GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB (MSI)	5743	96.21%
Radeon X1650 XT 256 MB (HIS)	4292	46.63%
GeForce 7600 GT 256 MB (XFX)	4192	43.22%
Radeon X1650 Pro 256 MB (HIS)	3369	15.10%
Radeon X1600 XT 256 MB (HIS)	3295	12.57%
GeForce 8500 GT 256 MB (MSI)	2927
Radeon X1300 XT 256 MB GDDR3 (HIS)	2860	2.34%
GeForce 7600 GS 256 MB (XFX)	2763	5.94%
GeForce 6600 GT 128 MB (NVIDIA)	2213	32.26%
GeForce 7300 GT 256 MB (Zogis)	2046	43.06%
Radeon X1300 Pro 256 MB (ATI)	1920	52.45%
GeForce 6600 128 MB (Albatron)	1357	115.70%
GeForce 6200 128-bit 128 MB (Leadtek)	741	295.01%

3DMark06 Professional Edition 1.10 -1600x1200	Score	Difference
GeForce 8600 GTS 256 MB (MSI) OC	4793	168.67%
GeForce 8600 GTS 256 MB (MSI)	4607	158.24%
GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB (MSI) OC	4041	126.51%
GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB (MSI)	3707	107.79%
Radeon X1650 XT 256 MB (HIS)	2923	63.85%
GeForce 7600 GT 256 MB (XFX)	2765	54.99%
Radeon X1650 Pro 256 MB (HIS)	2117	18.67%
Radeon X1600 XT 256 MB (HIS)	2086	16.93%
GeForce 7600 GS 256 MB (XFX)	1796	0.67%
GeForce 8500 GT 256 MB (MSI)	1784
Radeon X1300 XT 256 MB GDDR3 (HIS)	1781	0.17%
GeForce 7300 GT 256 MB (Zogis)	1281	39.27%
Radeon X1300 Pro 256 MB (ATI)	1100	62.18%