Test System And Performance Comparison

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2:30 AM - 09/30/2008 by Tino Kreiss

The CPU on our test bed was overclocked to 3.47 GHz. We used the current Catalyst 8.8 drivers from AMD and GeForce 177.92 (Beta) from Nvidia. The graphics cards in the test were the Radeon HD 3870, HD 4850, HD 4870, GeForce 8800 GTS 512, 9600 GT 1024, 9800 GTX, GTX 260, and GTX 280. You shouldn’t take the following charts and test numbers too seriously, though, because AMD and Nvidia are inevitably going to optimize the graphics drivers anyway.

Nvidia and AMD Graphics Cards
CPU Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 @ 3.47 GHz (13x266 MHz),
Socket 775, 1.32 V, 65 nm, 4 MB L2 Cache, FSB 1066 MHz (4x266 MHz)
Motherboard Asus P5E3 Deluxe, Intel X38, PCIe 2.0 2x16, ICH9R
Memory 2x 1 GB Ballistix (Crucial Technology) 1.5 V
DDR3 1066 7-7-7-20 (2x533 MHz)
Audio Intel High Definition Audio
Hard Drives Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500 GB, S-ATA, 16 MB Cache,
Hitachi 120 GB, S-ATA, 8 MB Cache
Power Supply CoolerMaster RS-850-EMBA 850 W

Drivers & Configuration
Graphic AMD Catalyst 8.8
Nvidia ForceWare 177.92
Operating System Windows Vista Enterprise SP1
DirectX 10 und 10.1
Chipset Driver X38 Intel 8.3.1.1009
780i Nvidia nForce 9.64

Talkback
V3ctor 09/30/2008 9:32 AM
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Page 7 is not available... It gives an error, as if the page doesn't exist.

magicandy 09/30/2008 9:35 AM
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pogsnet 09/30/2008 9:38 AM
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Now crysis is obsolete =p

haplo602 09/30/2008 9:43 AM
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hmm ... I loled when I saw the graphics error in the water tests. the camo-net disappeared everywhere it obscured water in all modes other than static. but you get a nice looking water effect :-)

I was wondering if I can get this game to run on reasonable terms on a HD4670 or HD3850. Based on the HD3870 results, it looks like it would be playable ...

cangelini 09/30/2008 9:53 AM
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V3ctor :
Page 7 is not available... It gives an error, as if the page doesn't exist.



Not sure what you're seeing (or not, in this case), but everything is working over here. Any more detail?

randomizer 09/30/2008 9:57 AM
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magicandy :
Sigh anything to please devs and grab ad dollars -_-

Dude, the GSC can't even afford to hire a dozen half-decent developers, let alone pay for ads.

blackwidow_rsa 09/30/2008 10:02 AM
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I had 'page not found' errors too, but they seem fixed now

randomizer 09/30/2008 10:03 AM
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No page errors here.

ravenware 09/30/2008 10:06 AM
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Nice article, I liked the quality comparisons a lot

xx12amanxx 09/30/2008 10:07 AM
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I like the article ive been playing this on a 4870 for about a week now and absolutly love it!

dimaf1985 09/30/2008 10:21 AM
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magicandy :
Aside from the numerous pages that don't work, was a 24-page analysis of STALKER, a fairly mediocre shooter, really necessary? Is a 24-page analysis of any game necessary? Sigh anything to please devs and grab ad dollars -_-



A fairly mediocre shooter? Youre obviously an idiot.

The real question here is what was the point of the first 9 pages? Is this a review on a graphics analysis article? C'mon on, Tom's, get it together.

Other than the first 9 pages, nice article. Very in-depth.

Luscious 09/30/2008 11:27 AM
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No 4870x2 in that roundup? What about some CF/SLI numbers?

radnor 09/30/2008 1:10 PM
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Well, i found it a decent review. I liked how they categorized the cards and presented the game. This review might not ring you bells but it is not too bad.

Not that I'm going to buy this game atm. Its too hilarious to see the stock market now. Oh, well :)

V3ctor 09/30/2008 1:49 PM
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cangelini :



It posted as a bad link... as if i got a link (for example 1 year ago, and now doesn't work)... But it's fine now... never mind :)

Good review... 24 pages is a lot, u covered a lot of angles... including the graphics cards.

Anonymous 09/30/2008 1:50 PM
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The game is definitely an improvement on the first one - on paper at least.
The problem is the huge amount of game crashes. I played the game for about 8 hours, progressing all the way to The Garbage level when my crashes started. I was forced to install the latest patch, but that meant I had to start all over again. Although I this time got twice as far, the game still crashes - although now instead of rebooting the PC, it is caught by a built-in bug tracker.
I am really dissapointed now, cause after one of these crashes, my game is now stuck at the Yantar level - where I'm supposed to meet up with a character, but when you get to the character, he is completely inactive. I've moved backwards and forwards in levels, but I cannot get this dude to react to my presence.

I suspect I will probably have to restart the game, but I think I am going to abandon - at least untill a newer patch, and then hope the new patch will recognize my current saves.

Advice: Make regular custom saves - not just quicksaves...

mr roboto 09/30/2008 3:44 PM
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More like is STALKER ready? From what I've heard it's not. Numerous bugs and crashes, but then again the first game was like that so would you expect anything less?

modtech 09/30/2008 3:55 PM
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Patch 1.5.05 is out. The game never crashed or glitched for me and I've gone from start to finish, joined in on 3 different faction wars and explored the crap out of every area. I also finished crysis warhead and that CTDed twice from the start to the end.

Ahslan 09/30/2008 4:00 PM
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I dont know if Im convinced on getting this STALKER...I was hugely disappointed with the first one (especially since sooo many people said it was a great game)...
For me, its the exact opposite of crysis...I didnt get crysis for the longest time because soo many people said it wasnt worth it, but once I took a chance on it, I loved it...now I got warhead which so far has be amazing...

modtech 09/30/2008 4:20 PM
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Warhead is short and shallow. Not a bad game but anyway. If you're talking about Stalker:SOC then you would do well to look at the modding community which really made the game the memorable experience it is to many. (Notably the oblivion lost mod)

I've played and finished both crysis games. They are in no way comparable to the atmospheric freedom that the stalker games have. You just can't compare them. Change the point of view to multiplayer and things might be different. Otherwise I you comment comes across as poorly thought out and shallow.

Yuka 09/30/2008 4:36 PM
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Very nice review indeed. I missed the 4870X2 and 9800GX2 though, but it was a nice review indeed.

I liked the "Performance Comparison" at the end the most. That's the most usefull piece of info you guys can give the reader: easy to digest pointers and info for overall game experience. Two thumbs up for that =)

Esop!


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