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TOM'S HARDWARE GUIDE > Articles > Components > Graphics Cards > ATI Graphics Card Buyer's Guide 2006, Part II

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11:07 PM - 05/11/2006 by Tino Kreiss

Single Nvidia and ATI Graphics Cards
CPU	Intel Dual Core 3.2 GHz
FSB	200 MHz
Motherboard	Intel D975XBX
Chipset	Intel 975 BX, driver 7.2.2.1006
Memory	2x OCZ 512 MB, DDR2, PC2 8000 Platinum Edition 5-5-5-15, Dual Channel
Hard Drive	Hitachi 2 x 120 GB SATA (8 MB)
DVD	Gigabyte GO-D1600C
LAN	Intel Pro/1000
Audio	Sigmatel
Power Supply	Silverstone SST-ST56ZF 560 W
Nvidia SLI Graphics Cards
CPU	Intel Dual Core 3.2 GHz
FSB	200 MHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-8N-SLI Royal
Chipset	nForce4 Intel SLI, driver nForce4 Intel 7.15 SLI
Memory	2x DDR2, Kingston KVR667D2N5K2/1G, Dual Channel
LAN	Marvell
Audio	Realtek
AGP Graphics Cards
CPU	Intel 3.06 GHz
FSB	133 MHz
Motherboard	Asus P4P800 Deluxe
Chipset	i865, driver 7.2.2.1006
Memory	2 x 512 MB, DDR 266 MHz, Dual Channel
Audio	Creative SB Live
Driver & Configuration
Graphics Drivers	ATI Catalyst 6.3, X1800 GTO Gecube-driver 8.223 Nvidia 81.98, AGP 7800 GS EVGA-driver 81.98
Operating System	Windows XP Pro SP1a
DirectX	Version 9.0c

Test Matrix
Application	Benchmark	Anti Aliasing (AA)	Anisotropic Filtering (AF)	Possible Problems and Settings	Nvidia SLI Settings
Age of Empires 3 (v1.04)	Fraps 60 sec / custom-recorded THG game, Max Details/Quality	Set through application, Low and High	Set through driver	AA rendered incorrectly when set through driver; AF not available in the game. Shader settings: Pixel Shader 2.0 = High, Pixel Shader 3.0 = Very High (speed not directly comparable)	Single GPU Rendering
Black & White 2 (v1.1)	Fraps 60 sec / Intro Island Flyby, Max Details/Quality	Set through application, Low and High	Set through driver	AA rendered incorrectly if set through driver; AF not available in the game	Multi GPU Rendering
Call of Duty 2 (v1.01 Intel)	Custom THG-Timedemo, Max Details/Quality	Set through driver	Set through driver	AF not available in the game	Activate multi-GPU rendering and SLI optimizations in the game
F.E.A.R. (v1.02)	F.E.A.R. Benchmark, Max Details/Quality	Set through driver; deactivate soft shadows in combination with AA	Set through driver	Soft shadows render incorrectly with AA, higher fps for AA without soft shadows	Multi GPU Rendering
Quake 4 (v1.04)	Custom THG-Timedemo, Ultra Quality	Set through driver	Set through driver, AF set to zero through Quake 4 with command: image_anisotropy 0	AF not available in the game menu	Multi GPU rendering
Serious Sam 2 (v2.066a)	Timedemo Shield Generator28, Max Details/Quality/32-Bit	Set through application, set AA to none on Nvidia cards with HDR-R	Set through driver	HDR-R + AA not possible on Nvidia cards, only AF is calculated; ATI's Pixel Shader 2.0 cards don't support HDR rendering	Single GPU rendering
3DMark06 (v1.0.2)	Default Benchmark	Set through application	Set through application	HDR-R + AA not possible on Nvidia cards, only AF is calculated	Multi GPU-Rendering

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