The DOOM 2 Benchmark! - 224 results ( DEMO2 - 5aug96) Jeff Rollason
This benchmark is now featured by the magazine Personal Computer World who
routinely include DOOM fps ratings for the machines that they are testing.
This page is maintained by PocketWare
The latest version of this file is normally available on:
CompuServe: GO ACTION, lib 17 as DOOMBENC.ZIP
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pocketware/bench.htm
http://www.dcs.kcl.ac.uk/benchmarks/ (no longer updated)
This is a games benchmark based on the 3D game DOOM 2. It is a more useful
means of assessing a machines potential to run 3D games than conventional
benchmarks which just measure particular aspects video and processor
performance. DEMO2 is used for the benchmark as it did not change between
v1.66 and v1.9 of DOOM 2. The DOOM 2 engine may have changed a little
between these versions, but the differences are small in performance.
This release of the DOOMBENC results also provides the results of the
tests run through the RATING program to test video card performance (See
the end of this doc).
Please submit your own results for this test. EVEN BETTER, SUBMIT RESULTS
FOR YOUR MACHINE WITH DIFFERENT VIDEO CARDS etc.. Make sure that your
machine is running at its full potential. Careful tweaking of the CMOS can
yield a substantial improvement in machine performance (check that wait
states are set to 0, hidden refresh is on, cache enabled etc..)
NEW! Summary table below: (results rounded and ISA results ignored)
Processor: Worst--Median--Best
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
|----+----|----+----|----+----|----+----|----+----|----+----|----+----|----+----|
PPro200 34---------------------------62-----------------------87
P166 60--------70--------80
P150 57----------69--73
P133 45----------------63---------74
P120 49-----55-------65
P100 29---------------------53------60
P90 28------------43-----------55
P75 29------39----43
P66 32-33
P60 31
686P166+ 63------------78-79
686P150+ 69-72-73
|----+----|----+----|----+----|----+----|----+----|----+----|----+----|
C586-120 46-49----56
AmdDX160 48
486dx100 26-------35--38
AmdDX100 10------------------30--33
486dx66 15---------24--28
486dx33 10-12
The "median" value is the mid result, e.g. 5th best out of 9, 10th out of 19 etc.. (See
note 18 for an explanation of the PPro200 performance).
The order of the following table has been reversed to suit Web viewing.
Fps Bdate Cpu Cache Mem Vbus Video Computer
---- ---- ----- ----- --- ----- ---------------------- --------------------
.86.8 ?/?? Pro200 256 32e PCI Hercules 128/V 2Mb *Venus VS440FX Natoma 82440FX
79.7 9/95 P166 512b 32e PCI Stingray 64 2meg DRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
.79.6 6/96 686P166+ 512b 32e PCI Diamond Video 2001 S3 *(28)Shuttle 553
78.6 9/95 P180 512b 32e PCI Stingray 64 2meg DRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
78.5 1/96 P166 512b 24e PCI Hercules Stingray 64/V *Supermicro MB
.78.4 9/96 686P166+ 512b 16e PCI Diamond 3D 2000 (OE) *DFI G586IPC
77.8 5/96 686P166+ 256b 16e PCI Diamond 2001 *Shuttle 553
.76.4 1993 Pro200 256 32e PCI Diamond St. 3D S3virge *Venus FX440 fastvid 111
74.5 1995 P166 512b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *SuperMicro P55CMS(24)
74.1 ?/95 P133 512b 32e PCI Hercules Stingray 64/V *Endevour/Triton
.73.0 6/96 686P150+ 512b 16e PCI Diamond 3D S3 *(28)Shuttle 553
.72.8 6/96 686P150+ 512b 16e PCI Diamond Video 2001 S3 *(28)Shuttle 553
72.0 9/95 P150 512b 32e PCI Stingray 64 2meg DRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
.71.8 6/96 686P150+ 256b 16e PCI Diamond 3D S3 *(28)Shuttle 553
71.6 9/95 P133 512b 32e PCI Stingray 64 2meg DRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
.71.1 6/96 686P150+ 256b 16e PCI Diamond Video 2001 S3 *(28)Shuttle 553
70.7 10/95 P133 512b 24e PCI Hercules Stingray 64/V *Supermicro P55CMS
69.7 7/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-2001 *Tyan Titan III
.69.1 6/96 686P150+ 256b 16e PCI Diamond 3200 VideoVRAM *(28)Shuttle 553
69.0 10/94 P133 256b 24e PCI Hercules Stingray 64/V *Supermicro(20)
68.8 ?/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Hercules Stingray 64/V *Supermicro(14)
68.5 1995 P150 512b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *SuperMicro P55CMS(24)
67.3 9/95 P166 512b 32e PCI Millenium 4meg WRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
67.0 1995 P133 512b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *SuperMicro P55CMS(24)
66.4 1995 P133 256b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *Triton(26)
66.1 ???? P133 256b 16 PCI Trio/64 Elsa Winner 1000
65.0 9/95 P180 512b 32e PCI Millenium 4meg WRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
65.0 9/95 P120 512b 32e PCI Stingray 64 2meg DRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
64.1 ?/95 P133 256b 48 PCI Diamond Stealth64V-VRM Ten Tech (Triton)
64.1 3/95 P133 256 16e PCI ATI Mach64-VRAM Gateway 2000 P5
63.6 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) ASUS Triton
63.4 ?/95 P133 512b 16e PCI Matrox Millenium 4m *Supermicro/triton
63.4 9/95 P166 512b 32e PCI ATI Mach64 2M Vram *(27)Amptron PM-7600
63.4 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Spea V7 P32 DRAM S3 *(9) ASUS Triton
63.4 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(9) ASUS Triton
.63.2 8/96 686P166 256b 16 PCI Diamond Stealth 20013D *IntelTriton II
63.0 10/94 P133 256b 24e PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *Supermicro(20)
63.0 10/94 P133 256b 24e PCI ET4000/W32p DRAM 1-meg *Supermicro(20)
62.9 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' VRAM *(9) ASUS Triton
62.7 ?/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Herc' Grap' Term' 64/V *Supermicro(14)
62.7 9/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Micron Millenia
62.6 9/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Gateway2K P5-133
62.5 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *(9) ASUS Triton
.62.3 6/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Number 9 531 *Escom
.62.2 5/96 Pro200 256i 32 PCI Matrox Millenium 4m WR *Asus P/I-P6RP4
.62.2 5/96 Pro200 256i 32 PCI Diamond Stealth64 Dram *Asus P/I-P6RP4
61.9 1995 P120 512b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *SuperMicro P55CMS(24)
61.9 1995 P120 512b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *SuperMicro P55CMS(24)
61.8 9/95 P133 512b 32e PCI Millenium 4meg WRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
61.7 ?/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *Supermicro(14)
61.1 8/95 P133 256b 32 PCI Spea V7 P64Vid DRAM S3 *(9) ASUS Triton
61.0 2/95 P133 256b 24 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *Endeavour/Triton(25)
60.9 9/95 P150 512b 32e PCI Millenium 4meg WRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
60.9 3/95 P133 256b 24e PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Micron P5-133(6)
60.9 11/95 P120 256b 16 PCI Matrox Millenium 4m WR *(SiS chipset)
60.8 5/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Micron Millenia133
60.6 1-96 P133 256B 16E PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *TRITON
60.4 9/95 P100 512b 32e PCI Stingray 64 2meg DRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
60.2 1995 P120 256b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *Triton(26)
59.9 9/95 P180 512b 32e PCI ATI Mach64 2M Vram *(27)Amptron PM-7600
59.8 1995 P133 256 32e PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *ASUSTeK mobo (11)
59.8 1995 P133 256 32e PCI D.Stealth Vid64-DRAM *ASUSTeK mobo (11)
59.7 9/95 P133 512b 32e PCI ATI Mach64 2M Vram *(27)Amptron PM-7600
59.5 ?/95 P166 256b 16e PCI Spea V7 Vega+ 1MB DRAM *ASUSTek P/I-P55TP4XE Triton
59.4 5/95 P133 256b 24 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *Endeavour/Triton(25)
59.0 ????/ P133 256b 8 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Video 3200
58.7 10/94 P133 256b 24e PCI Trident 9440 1-meg *Supermicro(20)
57.5 10/95 P120 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) ASUS Triton
57.3 9/95 P150 512b 32e PCI ATI Mach64 2M Vram *(27)Amptron PM-7600
56.8 1995 P133 256 32e PCI Number 9 Motion 771 *ASUSTeK mobo (11)
56.8 1995 P133 256 32e PCI Matrox Millenium 2m WR *ASUSTeK mobo (11)
56.7 1/95 P100 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-2001 Supermicro P55CMS
56.6 3/95 P133 256 16e PCI ATI Mach64-VRAM 2m Micron P5-133(6)
56.6 1995 P100 512b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *SuperMicro P55CMS(24)
56.3 6/95 P120 256b 16e PCI STB Powergraph 64V Gateway 2000
56.0 9/95 P120 512b 32e PCI Millenium 4meg WRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
56.0 4/96 C586-120 512w 16 PCI40 Diamond 2001 *Shuttle 433
55.8 3/95 P120 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Micron Millenia120
55.7 1995 P133 256 32 PCI ATI Mach 64 Gateway 2000 P5-133
55.4 5/95 P120 256 64e PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Micron Millenia
55.1 05/95 P100 256b 16 PCI Hercules Stingray 64/V *(5)
55.0 1995 P100 512b 16e PCI D'Stealth64D2MB(S3-764)*SuperMicro P55CMS
54.7 9/95 P90 512b 32e PCI Stingray 64 2meg DRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
54.7 10/95 P100 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) Triton
54.6 1995 P120 256b 16e PCI ATI Mach64 2Mb VRAM Gateway(7*)
54.3 1995 P100 256b 16e PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Micron Millenia
54.2 ???? P100 256 16 PCI Elsa1000 s3trio64v+ *ASUS Triton(17)
54.1 10/95 P100 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64V VRM ?
.54.1 05/96 P100 512b 32e PCI Millenium 4m WRAM SuperMicro P55T2S 430HX
54.0 9/95 P120 512b 32e PCI ATI Mach64 2M Vram *(27)Amptron PM-7600
54.0 1995 P120 256b 8e PCI ATI Mach64 2Mb DRAM Gateway(7*)
53.9 9/95 P120 256b 8e PCI #9 GXE64 1M DRAM Dell Dimension (23)
53.7 1995 P100 256b 16e PCI STB Powergraph 64V 2DR Gateway 2000
53.7 1995 P100 256 16 PCI Hercules Stingray64/V (18)Hi-Grade TMC+Triton
53.4 9/95 P100 512b 32e PCI Millenium 4meg WRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
53.2 95? P100 256 16 PCI Diamond StealthPr-VRAM *(Plato)
52.7 10/94 P100 256b 32 PCI33 Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Supermicro P55CMS
52.5 11/92 P90 256w 16 PCI #9 GXE 64 2Mb DRAM Dell Dimension
52.1 9/95 P100 512b 32e PCI ATI Mach64 2M Vram *(27)Amptron PM-7600
52.1 3/95 P100 256b 16e PCI #9 Motion 771 2m Dell Dimension
51.3 1995 P90 512b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *SuperMicro P55CMS(24)
51.0 09/95 P120 256b 24e PCI Matrox Millenium 2m WR *UMC Triton
51.0 05/95 P100 256b 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *(5)
50.7 1995 P100 512 32 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *
49.8 1995 P100 256 8e PCI Stingray 64/V 2meg edo *Neptune
49.8 10/95 P90 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) Triton
49.7 1995 P100 256 16 PCI ET4000/W32p DRAM 2-meg (18)Hi-Grade TMC+Triton
49.3 3/96 C586-120 256w 16 PCI40 Stealth 64 Video DRAM *Shuttle 433
49.3 05/95 P100 256b 16 PCI Matrox Millenium 2m WR *(5)
49.2 8/94 P90 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *
49.1 1995 P90 256b 16e PCI Trio64 S3 on board Dell Dimension
49.0 9/95 P120 256 8e PCI #9 GXE64 1M DRAM Dell Dimension (23)
.48.8 5/96 P100 256 16f PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *Zappa
48.8 11/94 P100 256 16 PCI Hercules Stingray64/V *(plato)
48.6 ???? P100 256 16 PCI Elsa1000 s3trio64v+ *Umc chipset(17)
48.2 9/95 P90 512b 32e PCI Millenium 4meg WRAM *(27)Amptron PM-7600
48.0 10/95 AmdDX160 256 16 VLB Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(3) Deep Green 40MHz overclk
47.5 6/95 P100 256 16 PCI ATI Mach64-DRAM Quantex Microsy'
47.3 9/95 P90 256b 8e PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Mesh Elite(Triton)
47.1 9/95 P90 512b 32e PCI ATI Mach64 2M Vram *(27)Amptron PM-7600
46.0 ??/95 AmdDX133 256w 8 PCI Hercules Stingray64/V *TMC PCI48AF 33MHz(21)
45.8 3/96 C586-120 256w 16 PCI40 Stealth 64 Video DRAM *Shuttle
45.3 12/94 P100 256 32 PCI33 Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(4)
45.1 12/95 AmdDX133 256 12 PCI S3 TRIO-64 ,2Mb Ram ?(CPU running-33Mhz)
45.0 ??/95 P133 256b 16e PCI Cirrus 5429/30/34 Atlantic Coast
43.4 10/94 P90 256 8 PCI Alpine CL-GD5434 Packard Bell
43.1 12/94 P100 256 32 PCI33 Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(4)
43.0 ??/95 AmdDX133 256w 8 PCI ET4000/W32p 1-meg *TMC PCI48AF 33MHz(21)
43.0 6/95 P90 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *
43.0 11/92 P90 256 8 PCI #9GXE64Pro 2meg Dell Dimension
42.9 1995 P75 512b 16 PCI Herc Stingray64/Video *SuperMicro P55CMS(24)
42.4 1992 P90 256 24 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Gateway 2000
41.9 3/95 P90 512 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Micron
41.8 1992 P90 256? 32 PCI Spider Tarantula 64 *(Plato)
41.6 1995 Nx586100 256 16 PCI Cirrus logic 5436
41.6 10/95 P75 256b 32 PCI Herc' Grap' Term' (S3) *(9) Triton
41.4 12/94 P90 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Micron Po'Sta'+
40.9 12/94 P90 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM Zeos Pantera
40.4 7/95 P75 256 8e PCI #9 MOTION 531 2M DRAM *TRITON (22)
40.4 1993 P90 ??? 16 PCI Cirrus Logic 5434 *TS54P AIO Triton(16)
39.3 5/95 P90 256 32 PCI ATI Graph'Pro Turbo/VR *(plato)
39.0 4/94 P90 256 16 PCI? ATI GX Mach 64 2m-VRAM *AMI
39.0 1995 P75 256b 16 PCI Cirrus Logic CL-GD5434 * SIS
39.0 1995 AmdDX120 256 20 PCI Diamond Stealth64-VRAM *
39.0 12/94 P90 256 32 PCI30 Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(4)
38.8 1995 P75 256 8 PCI ET4000/W32p DRAM Hi-Grade (TMC)
38.4 1994 486dx100 256 16 VLB #9GXE64(S3-864) Dell Dimension
38.3 1995 486dx100 256 16 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM GatewayP4D(Saturn2)(15)
37.4 1/95 486dx100 512 16 VLB Herc' Dyn' Pro (ET4) *
36.7 10/95 486dx100 ??? 8 PCI Trident 9440 *
36.4 7/95 P75 256 8e PCI #9 MOTION 531 2M DRAM * TRITON (22)
36.0 1994 486dx100 256 16 PCI ATI WinTurbo Mach64-Vr *
35.8 12/94 P90 0 32 PCI30 Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(4)
35.5 1995 486dx100 256 16 PCI STB Lightspeed(ET4) GatewayP4D(Saturn2)(15)
35.3 1994 486dx100 256 12 VLB Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Gateway486-33
35.1 10/94 486dx100 256 12 VLB Diamond Stealth32(ET4) *
34.0 1996? Pro200 256i 64e PCI Matrox Millenium 4m WR Gateway P200-Orion
34.0 1994 P90 256 8 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Vale Platinum
34.0 1994 486dx100 256 20 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM *(Green)(10)
33.3 9/95 486dx100 128 12 PCI Trident 9440 Escom
33.3 1994 P66 256 8 PCI Diamond Stealth64-DRAM Hi-Grade-SIS(1)
33.2 11/92 P90 512 32 VLB Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *Opti
33.0 1994 486dx100 256 16 VLB Diamond Stealth64-DRAM *
32.8 10/95 AmdDX100 256 16 VLB Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(3) Deep Green
32.5 12/94 P75 256 32 PCI33 Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *(4)
31.9 1994 P66 256 8 PCI ET4000/W32p DRAM Hi-Grade-SIS(1)
31.9 1994 P66 256 8 PCI ATI GX Mach 64 VRAM Hi-Grade-SIS(1)
31.7 1995 P75 256 16 PCI Trident 9440 RM (Microstar mobo)
31.6 7/94 486dx80 512 8 VLB Genoa 8500VL 2meg DRAM *overclocked(19)
31.6 1994 AmdDX100 256 16 VLB ATI Mach64 -2meg *
31.4 10/95 AmdDX100 256 16 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM *(3) Deep Green
31.1 1994 P60 ??? 16 PCI #9 GXE 64 Dell Dimension XPS
30.8 1994 Nx586/90 ?? 32 VLB Spea V7 Mercury(S3-928)*
30.6 7/94 486dx80 512 8 VLB ATI Mach32 2meg VRAM *overclocked(19)
30.3 1995 AmdDX100 256 32 VLB Diamond Stealth64 DRAM *EFA/SIS
30.2 12/92 P83ovdr 256 16 VLB ATI Mach32 Gateway 2000(12)
29.6 ???? 486dx100 256 8 VLB Genoa Phantom2m ET4000 *ASUStek
29.3 1993 486dx100 256 16 VLB Cirrus 5426(integrated)AST Advantage Pro
29.2 95? P100 256 8 PCI Trident PT540 Atlantic Systems
28.9 12/94 P75 256b 8 PCI ATI Mach64 2MB DRAM Insight
28.4 4/94 486dx66 256 12 VLB Diamond Stealth32-VRAM Dan Technology(8)
28.3 1994 486dx66 128 16 VLB Tseng ET4000 1MB Dell 466 MXV
28.2 6/94 AmdDX80 256 16 VLB Orchid Kelvin64 2-DRAM *
27.8 1993 P90 ??? 16 PCI Cirrus Logic 5434 *(16)
27.8 10/94 486dx66 256 32 PCI ATI Mach64 2MB DRam *
27.7 3/94 486dx100 256 16 VLB Herc' Dyn' Power (ET4) *
27.5 4/94 486dx66 256 12 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM Dan Technology(8)
27.1 1995? 486dx66 256 8 VLB ET4000/W32p DRAM *
26.2 1992 486dx66 128 16 VLB Cirrus AVGA3 5428 *
26.1 1993 486dx66 256 16 PCI ATI grap'ult' (mach32) GW2K
.26.0 1992 486dx100 256 16 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM *(2)
.25.8 8/96 AmdDX80 256 16 VLB Diamond Stealth SE *AMI
25.5 1994 Nx586/90 256 16 VLB Herc' Dyn' Pro (ET4) Alaris/Nexgen(13)
25.2 1994 486dx66 256 16 VLB SpeedStar Pro *
24.6 2/95 486dx66 256 8 PCI sis 86c201 (?) *SIS sg86c201
23.3 12/92 486dx66 256 16 VLB ATI Mach32 Gateway 2000(12)
23.2 1990 486DX66 0 16 ISA CIRRUS LOGIC GD54XX NEC Powermate 466ES
.22.4 11/95 AmdDX100 256 48 VLB Diamond Viper VLB 2MB *
21.9 1992 486dx66 256 8 VLB Speedstar Pro *
21.5 ? CyrDX66 256 8 VLB Diamond Stealth SE *
21.5 6/92 486dx50 256 8 VLB Genoa 8500VL Generic
19.8 1992 486dx66 256 8 VLB Cirrus logic CL-GD542V *
19.7 1992 486d2-50 256 8 ISA Onboard ET4000 Compaq
19.2 1993 486dx66 128 16 VLB Diamond Speedstar Pro *EFA/SIS
19.2 12/94 P90 256 32 ISA Tseng ET4000 1MB DRAM *(4)
19.0 1992 486dx66 256 16 VLB ET4000/W32i DRAM *(2)
18.9 10/95 AmdDX100 256 16 VLB Diamond Stealth Viper *(3)
17.0 1993 486d2-50 0 16 local Onboard 32bit S3 *
16.5 1993 ibmDX75 256 16 VLB Herc'Graph'Pr0 2Mb Blue Lightning
15.2 1990 486dx50 256 8 ISA16 NCR 77C22E 2Mb DRAM *
14.8 1992 486dx66 256 16 VLB Diamond Stealth Viper *
14.1 1994 486dx100 256 20 ISA16 Oak OTI-077 *(Green)(10)
12.8 1994 Nx586/90 256 16 ISA16 Tseng ET4000 Alaris/Nexgen(13)
12.8 1994 Nx586/90 256 16 16 ATI Graphics Wonder Alaris/Nexgen(13)
12.8 1993 486dx33 0 8 VLB Cirrus AVGA3 5424 Opus
12.2 4/92 486dx36 256 8 ISA9 ET4000 1MB DRAM *(Pacomp)
11.8 6/92 486sx33 256 4 VLB Cirrus CL-GD5422 *
11.2 1994 486dx100 256 20 ISA16 Trident 8900 *(Green)(10)
11.2 1993 486SX33 256 8 VLB Genoa 8500VL Lucky (LSI)
10.5 1992 486sx50 ??? 12 local Paradise Toshiba 4400SX
10.3 1989 CyrDX66u 64 8 ISA ATI Wonder(integrated) Horthgate slim386
10.1 1991 486dx33 0 20 ISA Onboard ET4000 IBM PS/1
9.9 10/95 AmdDX100 256 16 ISA Paradise PVGA1A-JK *(3)
4.4 1991 386dx33 64 4 16isa Trident Tiny Computers
Results preceded by "." are new results. "?" = details to follow or unknown.
"(n)" indicates same machine tested with differing components (28). Cache
figures with "b" suffix indicate "burst" (e.g. 256b), "w" write-back. Ram with
"e" suffix indicate EDO ram. ISA16 indicates 16-bit ISA card instead of 8-bit.
PCI33 indicates PCI running at 33MHz (instead of 30 MHz). ISA can be run at
7.5MHz or 10MHz etc. "*" for PC make indicates "Home brew". The figures above
assume the fastest ISA rate available. "local" indicates a proprietry local
bus, as used in some portables and earlier desktop machines.
Figures should be for machine in normal configuration (not clean boot),
running from DOS (not a DOS Window). Win95 allows Windows to be shut
down to plain DOS. Please distinguish Stealth32 from Stealth64. They are
completely different cards! PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR INFO READY FORMATTED AS
ABOVE! This will make our life much easier (we are organising this
service for free).
How to run the Benchmark
The frames per second is obtained by running:
DOOM2 -NOSOUND -TIMEDEMO DEMO2
This prints out gametics and realtics to run the entire demo (2). Ignore the
"cannot open demo2.lmp" message. DEMO 2 is now used as this is the only DEMO
which has not changed with DOOM version number.
fps = (gametics/realtics)*35
Figures are for "no sound", screen size the largest with status bar and
full detail. Joystick disabled. L2che is the external cache, not the
on-chip cpu cache. The BIOS date is displayed when your PC starts up
(the BIOS date almost certainly does not matter, but it is an easy
indication of the age of the motherboard).
-------- How do I get my results in the listing? --------
Post your figures to me directly on CompuServe 100031,3537 (or internet
100031.3537@compuserve.com), otherwise I will miss them.
--------- Conclusions ---------
Buying a machine for 3D games is hard without advice or experience. Published
benchmarks may not be helpful, for example the notorious 3DBENCH program
looks convincing but when applied to 2 machines that differed in their DOOM
fps speed by 2.4 : 1, 3DBENCH only managed to show a variance of 5% between
them. You may want to interpret the information above as you choose,
but I have tried to glean a few conclusions (below):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round-up thoughts:
This benchmark is nearing the end of its useful life as the new generation
of games are taking over. Not many people are interested in what a machine
can to at 320x200 resolution now that games are commonly run at 640x480,
800x600 and higher. DOOM is still a great game which I think will always be
playable for deathmatches for some time to come. Note though that the new
"Final DOOM" can run in 640x480 resolution, so the need for 320x200
benchmarks is now definately receding! Note that Final DOOM allows you to
play the DOOM2 wad and custom WADs, extending the life of DOOM and making
the DOOM2.EXE engine redundant.
So where next? - The main two types of 3D game to need high performance
engines are the flight simulators and the 3D action games that followed
DOOM (I would include DESCENT in the latter category). I have very few
views about the flight sims, but the 3D action games seem to have divided
into two distinct types:
1. Sprite-based games such as DOOM and DUKE3D
2. Polygon-based games such as QUAKE and the forthcoming PREY
The performance of these games on differing hardware is very variable. For
example DUKE3D depends on fast video card whereas QUAKE depends on a fast
fpu (floating point unit). Given a fast video card a Cyrix P166+ processor
will often out perform a Pentium Pro 200 for DUKE3D, but will be 2.5 times
slower for QUAKE.
Where does this leave the potential games player?
I would guess that the coming generation of 3D action games are either going
to be based on the excellent QUAKE engine or something similar, so the most
significant benchmark will be those based on QUAKE. One key aspect of the
QUAKE engine which makes is so attractive for future game developers is its
entensibility (if there is such a word). It has been designed to make it
easy to add new features and effects almost without limit.
Having examined the results of QUAKE tests on web pages it seems that the
performance of machines critically depends on just the processor. Examining
the published results the following approximate performance ratios are
apparant:
AmdDx160 0.6 (486-type)
Cyrix P166+ 1.0
Intel P100 1.0
Intel P133 1.2
Intel P166 1.4
Intel P200 1.7
Intel PP200 2.4
I'm sorry, but all 486 varients are non-starters!
Conclusion: QUAKE testers are already out there, so go looking for them!
Jeff Rollason - August 1996
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes and Wisdoms(?) - DOOM2 - 1994-96
1. It seems that the choice and age of the motherboard is evidently
critical for the 486 based systems. The variations in performance
are substantial.
2. Overdrive processors with old motherboards are probably a waste of
time. The figure 26.0 above was an Intel 486dx100 overdrive, which I
returned and exchanged for an AmdDx100 with a new motherboard
(actually much cheaper!), yielding a somewhat improved 31.4 and
ving me with a spare motherboard.
3. Video Cards: The Trident PT540 looks like a card to avoid! The P100
with this card passed the cpu benchtests but did very badly in the
fps rating. The home brew(3) machine above was tried with 4 video
cards, showing a 3.2 : 1 variation in fps performance, confirming
the importance of the choice of video card. In particular DOOM ran
half as fast with a Diamond Stealth Viper-VRAM than a old cheap
generic DRAM ET4000/W32. Note that Diamond keep changing chipsets:
the Viper to Stealth32 to Stealth64 used Weitek, ET4000/W32 then S3,
then ARK2000 and so on. Note that cards that use interleaved RAM
almost certainly do not offer extra benefits for DOS games (e.g.
Hercules Dynamite Power, whose interleaving needs 2 meg of ram and
whose benefits are only available to Windows driver etc.).
4. ISA bus? Don't even think about using an ISA-bus video card!!
5. PCI or VLB? The conventional wisdom is that PCI is better, with its
technical advantages. However I have examined 4 magazine reviews
with compare the same cards based on VLB and PCI, and all (to their
surprise) concluded that the VLB cards were generally faster,
sometimes by up to 30%. This may be attributable to the fact that
the processor actually sits on the VLB whereas PCI has some buffered
connection with a separate processor bus. Also VLB will run at the
speed that the processor runs (usually 33MHz) whereas PCI usually
runs at 30MHz. It appears that P66, P100 and P133 machines run PCI
at 33MHz. Maybe all this will change, but at the moment (aug95) the
486 VLB machines may have an advantage that the Pentium PCI machines
do not have.
A later input on VLB and PCI was provided by Paul Schmitz
[71776,337] Sep95 who tried a three PCI and three VLB boards when
choosing his DX4-based machine. He found that the PCI boards were
all faster than the VLB boards, which suggests that perhaps PCI has
now sorted out any problems it did have. As of Jan96 I think that
PCI definately has a big advantage in both performance and
availability. I would not choose to buy a VLB-based machine now
unless it was a real bargain!
Aug 1996 Footnote: What is VLB? -- I hear people ask!!
6. The Intel 486dx100 machines above seem to be some 10% faster than
the AmdDX100 machines. This could be attributed to the larger 16k
cache in the Intel chip compared to the 8k of the Amd version. The
Intel chip also has a beefed-up integer multiply which is 3-5 times
faster than a DX2-100 would be. Amd now have a 120MHz version out
with two types of cache. The theoretically faster Write-Back version
of the latter seems to be actually between 1% slower and 6% faster.
The newer AmdDX133 (also known as Amd586) looks more interesting
though (see 9 below).
8. Memory? Almost all machines above have 8meg+. None seem to show any
obvious advantage having 16meg. One user reports though that he has
32 megs of RAM and lets DOOM sit in his 14meg Smartdrive cache! This
undoubtably kills those minor jerks as DOOM loads each new scene.
9. What should I buy? With very limited funds a $160 AmdDx133 with
motherboard looks a good choice. The only results so far suggest
that this cheap cpu can deliver a performance between that of a P90
and P100 (closer to P100) for just $40! This assumes that you
overclock it to 40MHz giving an internal Quadupled 160MHz clock,
otherwise the performance is in the range P75-P90. Scanning the
BENCHMARK and PCHW forums indicates that overclocking of this cpu is
common practice. This processor will not guarantee to work with all
486 motherboards. If the AmdDX133 is not specifically supported then
the recommended jumper settings are the P24D or DX/DX2 with the
clock set to x2 (not x3).
Another new and similar option is the Cx5x86-120 which delivers
approximately the same performance (see results table, reported as
c586-120), and seems to be even cheaper. This is the original Cyrix
M1 processor which has an architecture which rivals the Pentium in
its complexity. This processor is not a simple upgrade option though
and you would be wise to choose a motherboard which explicity
supports the processor rather than just try it on your existing
board.
Another budget option is the Amd 5x86-K5 which is pin compatible with
the Pentium. This seems to offer an integer performance advantage at
the expensive of floating point (bad for QUAKE). The processor is
cheaper than the equivalent Intel part.
If funds are less tight the P166 looks the best value Pentium at the
moment (Aug96). However the Cyrix 686 looks better value for money
but will be very poor for running QUAKE. Note that
a Cyrix 686 P166+ actually runs at 133MHz. The "+" indicates that
the clock rate is the Pentium equivalent, not the actual clock. If
you are building your own system note that the 686 runs very hot! If
you have the money for a Pentium then the Supermicro, Tyan, Asustek
and Micronics motherboards look good. the Amptron PM-7600 also looks
very fast, but I have not seen any feedback about compatibility with
this board.
10. NexGen P90? These look very cheap, but I was warned off buying one
because of user reported compatibility problems. NexGen now have a
P133. From the couple of bench results received it looks as if a VLB
NexGen P90 is somewhere between a 486DX66 and 486dx100 in
performance! (less than the slowest P66). Also I had it reported
that Heretic would not run on it (another report refuted this), but
it works with DOOM and Descent. This processor cannot run QUAKE at
all ! (no fpu). That looks like a thumbs down to me! (Revised
22/1/96)
11. Windows 95? It seems that Windows 95 shutdown to DOS is as fast as a
pure DOS machine, whereas Windows 95 running a DOS session will
probably be 20% slower (provide figures for shutdown Windows).
12. Asynchronous or pipelined burst cache? Steffen Itterheim
[100606,2141] had the patience to ty out a number of different
hardware, clock and video combinations for these tables. For a P90,
the pipelined cache added about 5% on the fps performance. For a
P133 this increased to 6%. Other test results (Mar96) with Triton
motherboards and EDO ram have shown improvements of 10%.
13. Two very consistent independent tests looking at fps performance
against clock rate have shown the following results. These came from
(1) Steffen above and (2) and (3) Timothy Zakharov [73773,3047].
These results looked at Pentium P75, P90, P100, P120 and P133 with
(1) Graphite Terminator, (3) Hercules Stingray + Triton and (3)
Stingray + Supermicro motherboard with pipeline burst cache.
clock fps[1] fps[2] fps[3]
ratio ratio ratio ratio
P75 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
P90 1.2 1.2 1.19 1.19
P100 1.33 1.31 1.32 1.32
P120 1.6 1.38 1.38 1.41
P133 1.77 1.53 1.53 1.55
P100->120 1.20 1.05 1.05 1.07
P120->133 1.11 1.11 1.11 1.10
From these tests above it can be seen that the P120 offers a poor
performance return for the clock rate. This is (I believe) because
the 120 uses a 60MHz bus whereas the P100 and P133 both use 66 MHz.
Unless you can get a very favourable price for a P120, then maybe
only the only upgrade from 100 is the 133.
14. Before you rush out and buy something. The next generation of 3D
games is with us. The ID game "QUAKE" is out as a shareware v1.1.
This is an important game and iniial tests indicate that it is much
more dependant on the floating point cpu power than the video speed.
At some point QUAKE is also expected to support 3D chipsets, but
probably the only chipset worth pursuing iis the 3dfx chipset
planned for the Diamond Monster and a new Creative labs card. From
an e-mail form John Carmack it seems that the Rendition Verite only
just runs fast enough to make its use worthwhile, whereas the Virge
chipset is very slow (and will not be supported). In the meantime
the only processor which runs QUAKE very well is the Pentium Pro 200
which beats the ordinary Pentium because of its impressive fpu
performance.
15. As the results come in it looks increasingly that the Hercules
Stingray is the current top card, although the new Hercules 128 is
almost certainly faster still. The Diamond Stealth 64 Graphics 2001
uses the same ARK chipset as the Stringray and is equally fast.
Initial tests for the DUKEBENC benchmark suggest that it is not so
fast at higher resolutions where the Matrox Millenium looks better
(see below).
16. An important new game out is Duke Nukum 3D (DUKE3D) which offers
almost any screen resolution you like (providing you are willing to
edit DUKE3D.CFG). This extra benchmark is needed as DOOM only
supports the 320x200 resolution which will not accurately predict
SVGA results. The performance of this game, and doubtless other
hi-res games, is greatly enhanced by the UNIVBE protected mode video
drivers. In one instance I managed to improve from 20 fps to 38 fps!
An advantage of 5-25% may be more common. I started up such a
benchmark, now maintained by Tim Zakharov, distributed as
DUKEBENC.TXT. Under the rules of the ACTION forum I am not allowed
to mention the name of the forum where this is posted, but use your
imagination to guess which forum this must be! Another new companion
benchmark is DESCBENC started by Ron Darge [75127,2465], also
available in this forum. This provides another means of assessing a
hi-res game. Video cards which perform well in all three benchmarks
must be winners!
17. If you have not got a copy then have a look at the Univbe protected
mode drivers. This mainly benefit higher resolution graphics but can
also improve DOOM 2 performance (perhaps by 4%). Some commercial
games come with this driver as standard. I registered my own copy at
$28 - Money well spent! You can try these out as shareware first.
18. If you scan list above at 34.0 fps you will see the first Pentium
Pro 200 result, gving it a performance somewhere around a 486DX100
or P60!, and even then with the advantage of EDORAM and a nice new
chipset! This bizarre poor result is caused by a flaw in the Pro
which by default makes video writes very slow. This can be corrected
by John Hinkley's program FASTVID which corrects the problem and
makes a huge difference. The later newer Pro scores above are much
more impressive, but still not great. Note though that the
Pro200 runs QUAKE much faster than a P200, making
it an attractive option.
I said originally that I was not going to buy a Pro! - but I have
changed my mind!
19. One card which looks bad in these ratings is the Matrox Millenium.
However the companion benchmark "DUKEBENC" maintained by Tim
Zakharov shows that the Millenium looks the card of choice, easily
beating the stingray for the higher resolutions. However I have also
seen reported problems with DUKE3D and the Millenium for 800x600 and
higher resolutions so this may not be the perfect choice.
Thats' enough for now.
Jeff Rollason
Author of the Shareware "PocketD Plus" - The tiny but advanced file manager.
"BEST UTILITY" award winner 92, 94 and 95. Download from CIS as POCK.ZIP.
------------------------Results of RATING program-------------------------
This uses the RATING program and provides a way of comparing large numbers
of inter-related results. An earlier version of this test included all
instances where cards were tested on similar machine types. This proved to
be too vulnerable to varying performance of one 486/Pentium compared to
another, so I have restricted the input to examine results where groups of
video cards were tested on a common physical machine. This comparision is
only valid where all results can be linked by a chain of common video cards
or the same testing platform.
Video card Rating
1. Hercules Stingray DRAM 1161
2. Hercules Stingray64/V 1086
3. Diamond Stealth32-VRAM 1025
4. Diamond Stealth64-Video64 1025
5. Diamond Stealth64-DRAM 1025
6. Hercules Graphite Terminator 1018
7. Genoa8500VL-2meg DRAM 1016
8. Spea V7 P32-DRAM 1010
9. Hercules Dynamite Power 1009
10. Hercules Graphite Terminator-VRAM 999
11. Diamond Stealth64-VRAM 994
12. ET4000/W32 993
13. ATI Mach32 VRAM 984
14. Matrox Millenium 975
15. Number-9 Motion-771 974
16. Spea V7 P64-DRAM 974
17. ATI Mach64 DRAM 961
18. STB Lightspeed(ET4) 952
19. ATI Mach64 VRAM 933
20. Trident-9440 926
21. Diamond Stealth Viper 593
---------------------- File used as input to RATING ----------------------
This is provided with this release as DOOMBENC.RAT. The RATING program and
instuctions can be downloaded as RATING.ZIP.