tl; dr: 15 years ago, not a PC game was expected so eagerly like Unreal Tournament 2003. As Epic Games on September 14 at 4:00 am, the demo released for download, called Computer Base on the collective “benchmarking”. The results of 60 systems gave detailed conclusions on the system requirements.
Unreal Tournament 2003 as a demo
Exactly 15 years ago, PC gamers were waiting for a particular title: Unreal Tournament 2003. The game was only on 27 September 2002 to come into the trade. But on September 14th at 4:00 am German time, Epic Games of the fan community threw a 100 MB Appetithappen: a free demo with four cards, all weapons and all game modes – today rather unusual.
- Download: Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo
But quickly it was clear: ” In the face of the hardware requirements, many users seem to be the joy of shooting is not possible without restriction. “The discussion, which had already begun while waiting for the demo, continued to boil.
I think CB has never had so many comments in so few minutes (hours) … LOL … I’m going to play jez ne round Q3 …..
In order to get to the bottom of the requirements, ComputerBase was not yet able to access a wide range of processors and graphics cards in the interior of the magazine “Asservatenkammer” three years after its founding. So the community ran. The first time in this form.
Swarm test with the integrated benchmark
In order to release the demo, the editorial team therefore called on all readers to go through the test with and without bots using the integrated benchmark and to transmit the results by specifying CPU, graphics card and memory, as well as possible clock rates that deviate from the standard. Be tested in the demanding resolution with 1,024 × 768 pixels. The details were fixed by the benchmark.exe integrated in the demo. The test went through two of the four cards without opponents as well as the two other cards with a duel between bots.
Already on the Sunday evening, one day after the publication, the article “Unreal Tournament 2003: 60 Calculator in benchmark comparison” was able to present comprehensive insights into the performance requirements. For users with older or less powerful hardware, however, the result was sobering. Unreal Tournament required for over 40 FPS after a very fast GPU and with the still often used bots the performance even on the fastest CPUs to the knees.
GeForce4 and Radeon 9700 Pro clear in front
Without Bot opponents the top-of-the-range Nvidia GeForce4 Ti 4600, 4400 or GeForce4 Ti 4200 with NV25 and the ATi Radeon 9700 Pro were at the top. With the widespread because relatively cheap GeForce3 Ti 200, the performance was already significantly lower and the GeForce 2 MX had no chance at all. With Kyro II from PowerVR it looked a bit better.
- More about: Introducing the GeForce4: nVidia strikes back
With bots the performance fell clearly
If, however, the computer-controlled bots came into the game, the average FPS on all systems would break down significantly. Instead of the top 200, the figure was only 70 FPS. Some places in the ranking could make the systems with the fastest CPUs (and RDRAM), while computers with fast graphics card but slower CPU fell back. Overall, however, the performance level was significantly lower. Over 40 FPS, there was reliably only with fast CPU and faster GPU.
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Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo – FlyByData in frames per second (FPS)
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CB P4 2.8GHz, 512MB Rimm4200, Radeon 9700
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P4 2.73GHz, 256MB DDR266, R9700pro (351/666)
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P4 2.66GHz (140MhzFSB), 512MB Rimm1066, Ti4600 (316/710)
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P4 2.53GHz, 512MB Rimm1066, Ti4600 (312/712)
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P4 2.53GHz, 256MB DDR266, Radeon9700pro
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XP 1800+ (@ 1729.35 MHz), 512MB DDR300, Ti4200 (310/550)
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P4 2.53GHz, 512MB DDR333 @ 350, Ti4200 64MB (290/600)
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XP 2000+ (@ 1825MHz), 512MB DDR266 (@ 146MHz), Ti4600 (318/700)
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XP 2600+, 512MB DDR333, Ti4600
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XP 1800+ (@ 1702MHz), 768MB DDR266, Ti4600 (330/720)
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XP 2100+, 256MB DDR333, Ti4600
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P4 2.6 (FSB 153MHz), 512 MB DDR266, Ti4200 (305/560)
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XP 2000+, 512MB DDR266, Ti4600 (300/650)
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XP 1800+, 256MB DDR266, Radeon 9700 Pro
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P4 2.4GHz, 512MB DDR300, Ti4200 (260/550)
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P4 2.2GHz, 512MB DDR266, Ti4400
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XP 1800+ (@ 1633MHz), 256MB DDR333, Ti4200 (280/585)
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XP1800 +, 512MB DDR266, GF4 Ti4600
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XP 1800+ (1705MHz), 512MB DDR333, Ti 4200 (301/595)
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Athlon XP 1800+ (@ 1705), 512MB DDR333, GeForce 4 Ti 4200 (301/595)
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XP 2000+ (FSB 150), 512MB DDR266, Ti4200 (285/485)
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XP 2000+ (@ 1730MHz), 512MB DDR333, Radeon 8500 (285/285)
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XP 1800+, 256MB DDR266, Ti4200 (275/550)
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, Ti4600
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P4 2.8GHz, 512MB DDR266, Ti4200
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XP 2000+, 512MB DDR266, Radeon 8500 64MB
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, Ti4200 (250/513)
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, Ti4200 64MB
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XP 2000+, 512MB DDR266, Radeon 8500
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Athlon 1400MHz, 512MB DDR266, Ti4600
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Athlon 1200MHz, 512MB PC133, Ti4200
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P4 2.4GHz, 512MB DDR333 (@ 178MHz), GF3 (220/520)
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XP 1700+, 256MB DDR266, Radeon 8500 64MB
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P4 2.4GHz, 512MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200 (200/500)
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Athlon 1400MHz, 768MB PC133, GF3 (225/520)
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XP 2000+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200 (220/480)
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XP 1900+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200 (220/480)
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XP 1800+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200 (220/480)
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XP 1800+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200
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P4 2.53GHz, 256MB DDR266, Radeon9700pro (4xFSAA & 16xAF)
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P4 2.4GHz (100FSB), 512MB PC-800 Rambus, GF3
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Athlon 1400MHz, 512MB PC133, GF3 Ti200
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2x XP 1800+ (MP), 512MB PC266, Ti4400 (310/650)
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XP 1700+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200
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Celeron-T 1.33GHz, 512MB PC133, Radeon9000pro
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Athlon 700MHz, 256MB SD-RAM, Ti4200
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, Radeon7500 (BBA)
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XP 1800, 512MB DDR266, GF4 MX440
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XP 2000+, 256MB DDR333, Geforce 2 Ti (250/450)
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Pentium3 850, 384MB PC133, GF4 MX440
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Athlon 1GHz, GF2 Ti
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Athlon 1400, 512MB DDR266, Geforce4 MX-440
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Athlon 1400MHz, 256MB DDR266, Kyro2
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Duron 800 MHz, 256MB SRDAM, GF2 MX
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Pentium3 450 (@ 503MHz), 256MB PC100 (@ 112MHz), GF2 MX
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Athlon 900MHz, 256MB DDR266, GeFeforce 2 MX 32MB
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Athlon 600MHz, 384MB PC133, GeForce256
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, GF2 MX200
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Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo – BotmatchAngaben in Bilder pro Sekunde (FPS)
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CB P4 2,8GHz, 512MB Rimm4200, Radeon 9700
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P4 2.66GHz (140MhzFSB), 512MB Rimm1066, Ti4600 (316/710)
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P4 2,53GHz, 512MB Rimm1066, Ti4600 (312/712)
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P4 2,73GHz, 256MB DDR266, R9700pro (351/666)
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XP 2600+, 512MB DDR333, Ti4600
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P4 2,8GHz, 512MB DDR266, Ti4200
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P4 2,6 (FSB 153MHz), 512 MB DDR266, Ti4200 (305/560)
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P4 2,4GHz, 512MB DDR300, Ti4200 (260/550)
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P4 2,4GHz, 512MB DDR333 (@178MHz), GF3 (220/520)
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P4 2,53GHz, 512MB DDR333@350, Ti4200 64MB (290/600)
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P4 2,53GHz, 256MB DDR266, Radeon9700pro
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XP 1800+ (@1633MHz), 256MB DDR333, Ti4200 (280/585)
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XP 2000+ (@1825MHz), 512MB DDR266 (@146MHz), Ti4600 (318/700)
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XP 1800+ (@1702MHz), 768MB DDR266, Ti4600 (330/720)
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XP 2100+, 256MB DDR333, Ti4600
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XP 1800+ (1705MHz), 512MB DDR333, Ti 4200 (301/595)
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Athlon XP 1800+ (@1705), 512MB DDR333, GeForce 4 Ti 4200 (301/595)
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XP 1800+ (@1729,35 MHz), 512MB DDR300, Ti4200 (310/550)
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P4 2,53GHz, 256MB DDR266, Radeon9700pro (4xFSAA & 16xAF)
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P4 2,4GHz, 512MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200 (200/500)
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XP 2000+ (FSB 150), 512MB DDR266, Ti4200 (285/485)
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P4 2,2GHz, 512MB DDR266, Ti4400
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P4 2,4GHz (100FSB), 512MB PC-800 Rambus, GF3
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XP 2000+, 512MB DDR266, Ti4600 (300/650)
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XP 2000+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200 (220/480)
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XP 1900+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200 (220/480)
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, Ti4200 (250/513)
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XP 1800+, 256MB DDR266, Ti4200 (275/550)
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XP 2000+ (@1730MHz), 512MB DDR333, Radeon 8500 (285/285)
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XP 1800+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200 (220/480)
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, Ti4600
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XP 1800+, 256MB DDR266, Radeon 9700 Pro
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, Ti4200 64MB
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XP1800+, 512MB DDR266, GF4 Ti4600
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XP 1800+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200
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XP 2000+, 512MB DDR266, Radeon 8500
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XP 2000+, 512MB DDR266, Radeon 8500 64MB
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XP 1800, 512MB DDR266, GF4 MX440
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XP 1700+, 256MB DDR266, GF3 Ti200
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2x XP 1800+ (MP), 512MB PC266, Ti4400 (310/650)
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, Radeon7500(BBA)
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Athlon 1400MHz, 768MB PC133, GF3 (225/520)
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XP 2000+, 256MB DDR333, Geforce 2 Ti (250/450)
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XP 1700+, 256MB DDR266, Radeon 8500 64MB
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Athlon 1400MHz, 512MB PC133, GF3 Ti200
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Celeron-T 1,33GHz, 512MB PC133, Radeon9000pro
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Athlon 1400, 512MB DDR266, Geforce4 MX-440
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Athlon 1400MHz, 512MB DDR266, Ti4600
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Athlon 1200MHz, 512MB PC133, Ti4200
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Pentium3 850, 384MB PC133, GF4 MX440
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Athlon 1GHz, GF2 Ti
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Athlon 700MHz, 256MB SD-RAM, Ti4200
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Duron 800 MHz, 256MB SRDAM, GF2 MX
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Athlon 900MHz, 256MB DDR266,GeFeforce 2 MX 32MB
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Athlon 1400MHz, 256MB DDR266, Kyro2
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Pentium3 450 (@503MHz), 256MB PC100 (@112MHz), GF2 MX
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Athlon 600MHz, 384MB PC133, GeForce256
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XP 1800+, 512MB DDR266, GF2 MX200
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The statement ” The game depends very much on CPU speed, memory bandwidth and cache performance ” from the readme could be underpinned by the community and extended to the aspect ” and in high resolutions a very fast GPU “.
A successful experiment
” Readers benchmark a game in the swarm, ” is that? The answer was 15 years ago only ” Yes! “Are. Of course, the reported results were each to be enjoyed with caution. Did the information on the system agree? Was the resolution set correctly in the game? Did another application stop the computer? Looking at the results, there is still room for doubt in many places. The mass of results gave a clear picture in the end.
Further tests from 15 years ago
In the category “In the test 15 years ago”, since July 2017 the editors have looked into the test archive every Saturday. So far in this series have appeared:
- As Bluetooth on the PC was usable
- CD burner with 48x on the last groove
- Intel’s Pentium 4 scratches at the 3.0 GHz
- EPoX puts Rambus under pressure with DDR333
- As fast RAM DDR333 or DDR400 was called
- The cradle of Shuttle’s barebone
- A GeForce4 Ti 4600 with 3D shutter glasses and powerful cooling
- Dual-socket motherboards for AMD Athlon MP
- External HDD with 20 GB and 16 MB / s for 249 Euro
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