SPECviewperf 10 – Multisample Testing
SPECviewperf 10

SPECviewperf tests FSAA performance by running its standard test suite several times, setting the FSAA feature of the graphics card being tested to all possible FSAA sample values. If a graphics card supports up to 16 samples – supporting 16, 8, 4, and 2 samples – the test would run five times, running tests for 16, 8, 4, 2, and no samples.

The test is run with no FSAA enabled so that a baseline test result can be produced. The goal of the test is to determine what performance penalty, if any, enabling FSAA with a given sample rate incurs. During the individual tests, screen shots are captured. This allows the tester to review the effects that FSAA is having on the rendered image. It is important to note that as FSAA is altering the image, there is no way to automatically validate pixel accuracy of the images rendered. It is up to the tester to evaluate the individual image captures to determine if the FSAA-produced images for a given sample size are visually pleasing to the user. As mentioned earlier, a subjective evaluation is necessary as individual preference for the FSAA results plays a part with respect to the aesthetic quality of the images produced.

If the FSAA test produces a score that is within 10 percent of the non-FSAA score, under SPECviewperf 10 rules that score will be considered valid for the specific sample rate. If a SPECviewperf test score for a particular test is 20.0, for example, and the same test score with FSAA enabled with a sample of 8 produces 19.5, the official results will be listed as 20.0 with FSAA up to a sample of 8 enabled. Sample rates may affect individual tests differently with respect to performance, so each test will include the best FSAA sample rate score within the 10-percent threshold. If no sample rate falls within the 10-percent threshold, the test score will indicate that no FSAA sample rate achieved the performance threshold for this test.


AMD FirePro V5800 and V3800 Review - Evergreen completes the sweep - Graphics Cards 43

AMD FirePro V5800 and V3800 Review - Evergreen completes the sweep - Graphics Cards 44

AMD FirePro V5800 and V3800 Review - Evergreen completes the sweep - Graphics Cards 45

AMD FirePro V5800 and V3800 Review - Evergreen completes the sweep - Graphics Cards 46

AMD FirePro V5800 and V3800 Review - Evergreen completes the sweep - Graphics Cards 47

AMD FirePro V5800 and V3800 Review - Evergreen completes the sweep - Graphics Cards 48

AMD FirePro V5800 and V3800 Review - Evergreen completes the sweep - Graphics Cards 49

AMD FirePro V5800 and V3800 Review - Evergreen completes the sweep - Graphics Cards 50

There are definitely a couple of different things at work here.  First, in several tests, we see the V5800 and V8800 FirePro cards are very competitive in performance and also scale nearly in line as we increased the FSAA sample rate to as high as 8x.  However, in those same tests (3dsmax-04 and catia-02 for example) the V3800 score drops sharply as we see the cut in memory size and memory speed take effect.  The Quadro FX 3800 still has the advantage of supporting 16x and 32x FSAA modes if you need that.

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