CONTENTS

1. Video card features
2. Testbed, test tools, 2D quality
3. Test results: Quake3 ARENA
4. Test results: Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
5. Test results: Return to Castle Wolfenstein

1. Test results: Code Creatures DEMO
2. Test results: Unreal Tournament 2003
3. Test results: Unreal II: The Awakening
4. Test results: RightMark 3D
5. Conclusion

Unreal Tournament 2003

In general, the High-End cards go on a par (remember about the "optimizations" in this test). In the Middle-End sector the Connect3D cards lose in the heavy modes, though the RADEON 9600 PRO wins in the light one (without AA and anisotropy) and in the AA mode, and the RADEON 9600 keeps close to it.

In the low-end sector the RADEON 9200 is still ahead.

Unreal II: The Awakening

The RADEON is matchless!

RightMark 3D

While the RADEON wins in the High-End and Middle-End sectors at the expense of more efficient shaders, the RADEON 9200 loses because it doesn't support DX9 and its shaders v1.1 are pretty slow, the FX 5200 performs not bad in the v1.1. with its crawling DX9 functions.

Conclusion

In general, the cards perform quite well as compared to their competitors. They have both victories and lost battles. But I can't say that one or another RADEON or GeForce FX can be considered an undoubted champion. It's for you to decide and make the choice.

1. Connect3D RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB is a copy of the reference card without any eye-popping features. It's the fastest accelerator in ATI's camp, and users' decision to buy it or not will much depend on its price (Connect3D makes it very low, as compared to other firms). 
2. Connect3D RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB is also a copy of the reference card. The price, vendor's popularity and accessory pack will be its determining factors. 
3. Connect3D RADEON 9600 128MB has its own design and demonstrates excellent 3D quality, but its 2D quality is imperfect. The card is however reliable, and it comes without a fan (that is why it won't make any noise). 
4. Connect3D RADEON 9200 128MB: we can say all the same about this card, including its inferior 2D quality. 

I'd complain about so poor accessory packs and miserable retail packages. But some mass media sources shows with their poll results that many of those who buy cards of even High-End level don't care much about the packages. I can't agree with them, but it's my own opinion.

In our 3Digest you can find full comparison characteristics for video cards of this and other classes.