I would like to make a few brief comments on the particular benchmark setup I use and why some people are upset that I don't use a much faster CPU. The idea behind the "realistic" benchmark setup I use is that I am trying to show the graphic card performance of our average user. After attending LAN parties and talking with people about their systems over the net, I found out quickly that not everyone has the best gaming rig. Only small portions of us are able to afford the best CPU every few months or the newest platform to come out. These types of upgrades are costly and are much harder to do than simply replacing a graphics card. This is why I try to keep a happy medium when it comes to a benchmark setup. I do however realize that this may cause problems in situations like the ATI Rage Fury MAXX and S3's Diamond Viper II. Due to the fact that their drivers are still not mature yet, they benefit from having a faster CPU. This will give them a slight boost under a few benchmarks and I realize this. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I am unable to test every platform and CPU speed with each card but I always try to mention when drivers aren't very efficient in my reviews. Keep in mind that when this is the case, a faster CPU will bring up the performance a tad when you compare it with another card that has a mature driver. With that said, let's take a look at our platform setup and then our benchmark results.