Damage heeft een paar Quake3 SMP benchmarks op de frontpage van HardOCP geplakt. We hebben ze al vaker gezien en ook nu is de uitkomst naar verwachting (SMP alleen nuttig op lage resoluties), maar de opmerkingen van Damage vond ik wel interessant:
As you can see, SMP helps a lot more in low-res, low-color depth modes, where the TNT2 card isn't hitting its limits, especially in terms of fill rate. Check out that 82.4 fps score at 640x480x16. Who needs a GeForce when you've got a second CPU to handle the load?
As always, folks, remember that frame rate averages aren't everything. The important thing about Q3's SMP implementation is that SMP should, theoretically, help most in worst-case scenarios, when a zillion polygons are flying around in the middle of a heated deathmatch and a single CPU's processing power just wouldn't be enough. Subjectively, that kind of thing can make a huge difference. I can't wait to get my hands on a phat fill rate card like whatever 3dfx has up its sweaty corporate sleeve and really test that theory.
To some degree, at least, it's also possible we could enjoy the benefits of SMP by running high-poly-count settings in Q3, much like GeForce owners are supposedly going to be able to do. I have tried cranking up the LOD (level o' detail) settings for curves, etc. in Q3Test, and it does benchmark out pretty well in SMP. Of course, most of this stuff is speculation until we have a final version of Q3 in our hands. Time will tell.
