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Normally we only see the average fps and if we do that here, we will probably dismiss this game as just another system limited benchmark. Not so - look at the minimum fps. The reason: explosions and smoke are really taxing these cards above 1024 x 768. Here we see something interesting. For the first time on 1600 x 1200. with AA and AF, the GeCube X800XL falls behind the other cards, probably due to lower minimum fps. It's the ABIT X800XL EDVIO and ASUS EAX800XL 2DTV256 who is faster here.


We've finally come to our latest game benchmark, Battlefield 2. Frame rates from run to run in this game does tend to fluctuate by 10%, so mind that fact when you're looking at the benchmark. Minimum frame rates overall should be around 2/3 of the minimum in this benchmark (such as walking into smoke from a smoke grenade going off near two tanks). We see the most obvious difference is in 1600 x 1200 with AA and AF. Here, we see the ABIT RX800XL 256EDVIO is just slightly faster than the GeCube X800XL, but if we look closely we already see this trend in 1024 x 768 with AA and AF. The difference is still within the standard deviation, but it does persist from run to run and resolution to resolution, so the ABIT RX800XL 256EDVIO is most likely faster than the GeCube, although you won't notice the difference in gameplay. In conclusion, you can expect the same level of performance from any X800XL graphics cards out there, regardless of vendor, as long as they have similar clocks.

Conclusion:

In general, these cards are fast, enough for comfortable gaming up to 1600 x 1200 32 bit with 4x AA and 16x AF. However, on newer games you will have to tone down some effects. details, features or use a lower resolution (1024 x768) if you want no-lag-gameplay. While this may not seem like a good thing, it is. We're finally seeing games that makes real use of the processing power of these cards.So, even if you're not using the higher clocked Athlon 64s such as the Athlon 64 3500+, 4000+ of even the FX55 and FX57, there's still a very good and solid reasons to buy these cards.

Since the performance is generally the same for all cards, features and bundle will be the determining factor for most people. These cards basically very similar. To those who just want a basic package for gaming, we recommend the GeCube X800XL Uniwise. It has more than adequate cooling, offer just enough accessories and maintains compatibility with analog monitors. If you want more features, we recommend the ABIT RX800XL 256EDVIO. It's properly cooled with very acceptable noise levels (with no high pitched sound) and comes complete with video input / output plus HDTV support out of the box, not to mention it also has two DVI outputs. The only downside we can think of is the lack of bundled games.

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