http://www.anandtech.com/#20525

Ouch, looks like NVIDIA doesn't like its cards being shown in a poor light in DX9 tests. Thanks to GTaudiophile from our forums for originally posting the link to Gamers Depot.

EIDOS Interactive, the publisher for Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness issued a patch a couple of weeks ago for the game which happened to include a way to use the game as a DX9 benchmark. Since it shows NVIDIA hardware performing slower than ATI, EIDOS has pulled it down. Remember, this is a "Way it's meant to be played" game, which means NVIDIA has paid EIDOS marketing money.

Here's is a blurb from the press release:

It has come to the attention of Eidos that an unreleased patch for Tomb Raider: AOD has unfortunately been used as the basis for videocard benchmarking. While Eidos and Core appreciate the need for modern benchmarking software that utilizes the advanced shading capabilities of modern graphics hardware, Tomb Raider: AOD Patch 49 was never intended for public release and is not a basis for valid benchmarking comparisons. Core and Eidos believe that Tomb Raider: AOD performs exceptionally well on NVIDIA hardware.

** UPDATE 9/17**

Thanks to Adul for these quotes from Dave Baumann of Beyond3D:

That type of thing has already happened. Have you heard of the problem with the water shader in Tiger Woods 2003? It works on NVIDIA's boards, but not any others. Evidently there is a device ID detect in there - if you change another shader enabled board to an NVIDIA device id it runs the NVIDIA shader, not only that but it runs it fine - change the device ID of an NVIDIA board to a non-NVIDIA board and it breaks. Ask EA who wrote that shader code.

And the Reverend:

I am just totally amazed by the lengths NVIDIA are going through to try and limit the defiency between their hardware and ATI's. I understand it but I am amazed they are actually doing it. This TRAOD/Eidos incidence is just very probably the last straw for me when it comes to any remaining respect I may have for a company that I once admired.


Even Microsoft isn't so obviously blatant in doing dirty tactics.

According to these quotes, this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

大慨是
Tomb Raider 是 nv paid $$$ 做的game,打上"Way it's meant to be played"
但 dx9 benchmark 比 ati 仍太差,只好掩耳盜鈴,不將benchmark 開放給公眾
AOD Patch 49開放Tomb Raider 的dx9 benchmark