NASCAR Racing 2003 Season

NASCAR Racing 2003 Season – DirectX 8

ATI AA/AF disabled

NVIDIA AA/AF disabled

Notes

There is nothing notable here, folks. Both cards display very similar images, which includes a headless back row of spectators, a bug that seems to be plaguing both cards.

ATI 6xAA/AF disabled

NVIDIA 8xAA/AF disabled

Notes

Then, something interesting happens. We cranked the GeForce FX 5950 up to 8x anti-aliasing and the RADEON 9800 XT to 6x anti-aliasing, the maximum settings for both cards. The GeForce FX 5950 image improves dramatically; of course, the jagged edges are gone, but the textures are sharper as well. Meanwhile, the RADEON 9800 XT persists in decapitating the back row of onlookers. And while the jagged edges disappear, the card still retains poor texture quality seen in the preceding image. Consequently, the track is more detailed in the NVIDIA shot. It looks like ATI’s anti-aliasing is still superior to that of NVIDIA’s, but the discrepancies in detail are so distracting that it’s hard to tell.

ATI AA disabled/16xAF

NVIDIA AA disabled/8xAF

Notes

The GeForce FX 5950 supports 8x anisotropic filtering and the RADEON 9800 XT supports up to 16x, so those are the settings we’ve used here. The use of anisotropic filtering has a massive effect on the scene’s overall detail level, but there is still a distinct difference between the competing cards. NVIDIA’s texture clarity is progressively better than the previous scene, though the jagged edges are back due to the lack of anti-aliasing. ATI’s texture quality is much closer to that of the GeForce FX; mainly, it isn’t as bad as the baseline shot. Plus, the spectators have their heads back!

ATI 4xAA/8xAF

NVIDIA 4xAA/8xAF

Notes

In our previous image quality article we argued that 4x anti-aliasing and 8x anisotropic filtering provided a good balance between graphical detail and performance. Although we’re focusing primarily on maximized settings this time around, it’s still important to consider the midrange settings that are more realistic at high resolutions.

With both AA and AF turned on, the overall package is a mixed bag. ATI turns in better anti-aliasing as seen on the concrete barrier in the background and the fence in the foreground. The grass in the background is still noticeably blurrier than the GeForce FX 5950, though.

ATI max quality

NVIDIA max quality

Notes

There isn’t much argument here - with all of the visual details maxed out, the GeForce FX 5950 delivers a very nice picture. The difference in anti-aliasing quality is debatable, though you’ll invariably have to visit the topic of playability before settling on a favorite. As before, the background grass is just a bit clearer on the GeForce FX than it is on the RADEON 9800 XT.