Gearing Up For 64bit: Beta Graphics Driver Comparison
by Derek Wilson on June 16, 2004 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
The Test
Our test platform for 64bit is the same platform that we used in our most recent 32bit reviews on the NVIDIA 6800 and ATI X800 parts, and the only thing that has changed is the software running on the hardware.| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD Athlon 64 3400+ |
| RAM: | 1GB OCZ PC 3200 2:2:2:6 |
| Hard Drive(s): | Seagate 120GB 7200 RPM (8MB Buffer) |
| Video Card(s): | NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra ATI Radeon 9800 XT |
| Motherboards: | FIC K8T800 |
| Driver Versions: | Catalyst Beta 1 for WinXP 64 ForceWare 57.30 for WinXP 64 |
Again, it is important to remember that not only are we looking at beta video drivers, we are also running on a beta operating system. All of our games are 32bit games, and, as such, they will all be running within the WoW64 component of Windows (which still needs some work in the area of compatibility). Some of our games didn't work because they weren't supported by the driver, and some games didn't work because Windows couldn't handle running them. It really is hard to tell at this point what's wrong with what and where.
Two games that we really wanted to see make it into this test suite that didn't were Painkiller and FarCry. Currently, we have only been able to play around with the demo versions of Painkiller, neither of which we could get to run (though, we hear that the retail version of the game is playable). FarCry ran beautifully, and we were really excited about it. Unfortunately, one of the few things that we ran into which was less than functional was the benchmarking functionality. We couldn't record or playback any benchmarks at all.
It is also important to note that ATI and NVIDIA do not currently have drivers that support R420 and NV40 based cards under a 64bit operating system. We have asked each of them if they could provide us with a beta 64bit driver so we could run some tests on the latest and greatest hardware, but we have yet to get our hands on anything. We will definitely keep you posted.
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Flerbizky - Friday, June 18, 2004 - link
And where's the 64bit Far Cry part of the article ?... That could've been quite interesting as well..http://www.amd.com/farcry
Cheers.
TrogdorJW - Thursday, June 17, 2004 - link
19: That's the whole point: WoW is an interface that allows for 32-bit applications to run on the 64-bit OS. AMD64 supports a mode where 32-bit applications are run concurrently with 64-bit applications under a 64-bit OS, but you still need to have the 32-bit interface that the old applications understand, and that interface then ties into the 64-bit OS.I'm not sure what Pjotr is thinking when he says that you can run 32-bit drivers under 64-bit Linux, though. In my experience with Linux, you need to compile practically every driver/application/utility to get it to work, which of course gives you 64-bit drivers under 64-bit Linux and 32-bit drivers under 32-bit Linux. It's just like Windows: the drives and the OS need to be 64-bit, while you can have a compatibility interface to run 32-bit applications.
glennpratt - Thursday, June 17, 2004 - link
Pjotr: I didn't think you could run 32bit software while running within a 64bit OS (which would be using the processors long mode). If plain 32bit software could be run without WOW, why would M$ be making it?araczynski - Thursday, June 17, 2004 - link
My only point is that (in my opinion) until EVERYthing is out of beta, any performance data that comes out is completely worthless/meaningless especially in a field as finacky as graphics performance.As such, deducing ANYthing from worthless data is in turn, itself worthless and futile.
Pjotr - Thursday, June 17, 2004 - link
#11,The Linux distros have not all come as far. Some are better at AMD64 than others.
AMD64 also allows direct hardware 32 bit execution, unlike the WoW, so you can run 32 bit drivers in an AMD64 64 bit OS.
Shinei - Thursday, June 17, 2004 - link
Anemone, these are beta drivers, you have to expect the performance to not be as spectacular as the stuff the companies already know (x86-32). And we also have to consider that these results are using yesterday's cards; 64-bit NV40 and R420 should be a great deal more satisfying, especially if paired up with improved drivers. I imagine that nVidia's driver team experience will produce something approaching x86-32 performance by the time XP64 is ready to roll, with ATI pushing out its final beta around the same time; but, what do I know about programming, I just play the games and moan when they don't work right. ;)Anemone - Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - link
Looks like there is a lot of improvement before they are going to impress gamers...TrogdorJW - Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - link
At the risk of engaging the wrath of all the Linux fanboys out there, let's just point out that running the latest 64-bit Linux distros right now is perhaps even worse than XP-64 beta in many areas. Sound support is severely lacking, as is 3D accelerated graphics support. Text mode and unaccelerated X work fine, although they don't show massive performance boosts. Still, with sound and graphics support being a difficult proposition for all but the best Linux hackers, 32-bit is still the way to go.This, by the way, is based off of personal experience with trying to run Linux on an Athlon 64 3000+ system. 32-bit Linux is running happily now, although with the 2.6 kernel I still can't get Nvidia's drivers to work. I'll try 64-bit Linux again in about three or four months, I think.
glennpratt - Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - link
And WOW is nothing new just so you know. If you run a 16bit app in 32 bit Windows XP you will see WOW in your process lists with programs running in it tabbed out a space.Cygni - Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - link
The differences between Nvidia and ATI arch when computing 64bit wont really be known until we have 64bit games to look into.WoW = Windows on Windows. Think of it as a 32bit emulator. Since Win64 its a native 64bit OS, WoW allows you to run 32bit programs by wrapping or emulating the 32bit calls made by the program into 64bit calls for the OS to understand.