Test Drive Unlimited

With Test Drive Unlimited, the Radeon HD 3870 manages to follow closely the GeForce 8800 GT: without filters, it’s 10% less efficient, this gap increasing however to 16 % once filters are enabled. AMD has clearly not been able to correct its bugged ROP at this level and must still resort to shaders, the Radeon HD 2900 XT displaying an identical profile. Only exception: 1920 x 1440 + filters where the 3870 goes before the 8800 GT, but with an insufficient frame rate for TDU.

The Radeon HD 3850 places itself one step behind the GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB with a gap going from 7 to 23%, here again except in 1600 x 1200 + filters, despite the 64 MB of added memory on the 8800 GTS. It stays, however, largely in front of the GeForce 8600 GTS.