Benchmark Results: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat
More so than Crysis, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a graphics beast. This is a great title for demonstrating multi-card scaling. We’re using Extreme detail settings, DirectX 11 rendering, high-quality HDAO, and tessellation. At 1680x1050, that’s enough to show off a literal doubling of performance with 4xAA turned on going from one GeForce GTX 480 to two. The third card adds performance, but it’s not as pronounced of a gain. Interestingly, while we’d otherwise assume the GTX 480 would outperform AMD’s Radeon HD 5870, single- and dual-card comparisons at this lower resolution show both architectures neck in neck.
AMD starts pulling ahead ever so slightly at 1920x1200, but the story is largely the same. There’s amazing scaling going from one of either card to two, and a third GeForce GTX 480 has an especially impressive effect on the anti-aliasing-enhanced results.
Card versus card, the Radeon HD 5870 and GeForce GTX 480 are fairly even at 2560x1600. Adding the second board lets Nvidia flex its rendering muscle, though, and the SLIed pair pulls ahead, again doubling the performance of a single GTX 480. With three cards installed, you’re looking at enough performance to play this game with AA turned on.
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Why don't you overclock that cpu higher? Only 3.3 Ghz? The 3rd GTX 480 looks like it's being bottlenecked. You can see the scaling is excellent at high resolutions with AA (from 1 to 2 to 3 cards), but at lower resolutions without AA there's no gain.
and why not check it against the 5890, the 480GTX is nvidia fastest card, put it against ATI Fastest Card
There's a good chance that more CPU would def. help at the lower resolutions--one of the reasons I chose 2560 for the comparisons at the end ;-) For one reason or another, wasn't having much luck getting the retail i7-930/Eclipse Plus combo to overclock very well.
and why not check it against the 5890, the 480GTX is nvidia fastest card, put it against ATI Fastest Card
A pair of 5870s is actually going to be faster. Should I swing a second 5970, though, I do think a pair of 5970s vs. the three GTX 480s would be a good comparison!
Crappy ATi drivers.
Did I miss something, but there is NO mention of the power consumption of the 3 x 480's??
I have no clue where you people are getting this "5890" Statement from... They have the 5870, and then the next step up is the 5970... Is that what you're trying to say?
I have no clue where you people are getting this "5890" Statement from... They have the 5870, and then the next step up is the 5970... Is that what you're trying to say?
Bleh, it's late and it has been a long weekend. Edited
Quad fire with 5850 would have been nice (thinking back to a builder marathon with quad fire) to see if ati's quad cards made any improovement over last years ones. Also i agree with lunyone, I for one would have been interested to see the numbers on load for the 3 nvidia cards with the 800W gold power supply (and maybe a comment from you cris about what power supply u think is best for the job. Either go lower wattage but a high efficiency psu or higher wattage but lower efficiency)
Anyways, it was a informative article, looking forward to a full 512 sp card from nvidia and the second revision to the fermi core.
I have no clue where you people are getting this "5890" Statement from... They have the 5870, and then the next step up is the 5970... Is that what you're trying to say?
The only place where the "5890" exists is in ATI's folder under 'What to do if Fermi is good".
And yes where is the tri-sli power consumption numbers, there's no mention of it's omittance in the analysis.
The only place where the "5890" exists is in ATI's folder under 'What to do if Fermi is good".And yes where is the tri-sli power consumption numbers, there's no mention of it's omittance in the analysis.
Actually, addressed in a couple of different places ;-) As mentioned in the test setup section, the 3-way SLI numbers crested 900W under load. But because this was above the Enermax unit's max. continuous power rating, this almost certainly isn't a very efficient measurement. Not that it matters--the noise of three cards was so loud that it's simply not a realistic combination using the Eclipse Plus board.
Who wants to pay $10 for 1 fps?
I'm going to stick with my old 9600 SLI config that I spent $100 dollars on a few years back.
and why not check it against the 5890, the 480GTX is nvidia fastest card, put it against ATI Fastest Card
dummy...the 5970 is a dual gpu card, that's why it was not compared. as far as since gpu cards go nvidia is the fastest one out ther.
i wonder if nvidia strong armed toms into agreeing not to show tri-sli power consumption in exchange for the third card (of the available "tens of thousands" /endsarcasm)
Did I miss something, but there is NO mention of the power consumption of the 3 x 480's??
He wasn't able to upload the results before the power outage caused by the setup.
i wonder if nvidia strong armed toms into agreeing not to show tri-sli power consumption in exchange for the third card (of the available "tens of thousands" /endsarcasm)
Once again, it's like, mentioned in the story :-P
What couldn't get your hands on a 3rd HD5870? Also ATI makes Crossfire bridges long enough. I got 2 with my MSI K9A2 Platinum, and another one with my MSI HD5870.
I do wonder about how the results are presented. Its obviously given in a method that favors nVidia. The only results chosen to be highlighted are the only results that show AMD in a poor position. I think to present these findings to consumers is rather misleading and more information should be furnished so consumers can make a proper decision on a product.
Right now the most common resolution is 1680x1050. 1920x1200 is becoming more popular as well. At these resolutions even considering a single GTX480 as having a performance advantage is questionable compared to an HD5870. The HD5870 also scales better in those scenario. Yet the basis of your conclusion of consistent SLI scaling comes from the least favorable scenario for the HD5870 on resolutions that are uncommon. I don't think its a mystery why a lower memory card would perform worse doing a post processing effect at a large resolution. However, there is more to a graphics card then memory and its evident the difference in architecture choices at common resolutions.
always great articles from u chris, hoping u might take on the 5970 and 2x5970 soon.
So, I'm wondering how much of overclocking potential these GTX 480 cards have. Yep, they are running hot as it is. But, what if you throw liquid cooling on that 2X SLI setup to keep the temps at 35C highest. How far would they go then?