- Email |
- Print |
- Comments (113) |
- Share
To see all pictures, please click on the photo of the test card below to access our photo gallery.
The fastest GeForce GTX 285 in our test field comes from Zotac. Its AMP edition only has two current competitors in its league: the GeForce GTX 295 and the Radeon HD 4870 X2. Because both of these cards are dual-GPU models, we can observe without question or controversy that the Zotax 285 AMP Edition is the fastest single-chip graphics card available on the market today.
The Zotac model earns its position through overclocking (the abbreviation AMP indicates "amplified clock speeds"). Standard frequencies come in at 648 MHz for the GPU, 1,476 MHz for the shaders, and 2 x 1,242 MHz for the graphics RAM. Zotac raises these rates to 702 MHz (GPU), 1,512 MHz (shaders), and 2 x 1,296 MHz (memory). Overall performance considered, this catapults the AMP card past the MSI GeForce GTX 285 SuperPipe by about 2.6%. In comparison to the reference GeForce GTX 285, this is a performance boost of 4.8% due to aggressive clocks.
Of course, the gains aren't free; rather, they result in higher noise levels. In 2D mode, the Nvidia reference design remains quiet at 37.9 dB(A), but under heavy load, noise levels climb to a noticeably audible 51.4 dB(A). This is a pity, because the 55 nm GeForce GTX 260 runs at 41.2 dB(A) and the old 65 nm GeForce GTX 280 is measured at 45.4 dB(A). The reference fans for the GeForce GTX 285 are more like those for the original GeForce GTX 260, at 53.8 dB(A). It goes without saying, then, that the fans on MSI's SuperPipe were much quieter.
The graphics chip supports DirectX 10, PhysX, and CUDA. The card's PCB is 10.6" (27 cm) long, and it runs at 300 MHz/100 MHz (GPU/graphics RAM) in desktop mode. The board requires two six-pin PCIe power connectors, both of which are mounted on the rear edge. This design covers two motherboard slots, just like most of the other high-end offerings in our roundup. The retail package includes Racedriver GRID, two power-splitter cables, an HDMI adapter, an S/PDIF cable, and a copy of 3DMark Vantage Advanced. Finally, you'll find two dual-link DVI ports and a video output on the I/O bracket.
- Avivo vs. Purevideo, Round 1: The Radeon X1000 vs. Geforce 7000 Generation [Graphic & Displays]
- New card or new system? [Graphic & Displays]
- AMD Radeon HD 3800: The Empire Strikes Back [Graphic & Displays]
- AGP Platform Analysis, Part 1: New Cards, Old System [Graphic & Displays]
- Hardware Questions for a gaming pc. [CPU & Components]
Questions? Ask Tom's community!
- 1 / 6
- Next
-
Sponsored links
Related forums topics
Related articles
-
Best Of The Best: High-End Graphics Card Roundup
Performance on its own is not enough to earn a recommendation here. The very best graphics cards also employ innovative cooling to help muscle their way into our hearts. Today, we look at high-end offerings from BFG, EVGA, MSI, Palit, and Zotac
-
Radeon HD 4850 Vs. GeForce GTS 250: Non-Reference Battle
Tired of bog-standard reference graphics cards differentiated by nothing but a box? We pit Gigabyte's GV-N250ZL-1GI with Zalman cooling and Asus' EAH4850 MT with adjustable voltages against each other to see if either board stands out.
-
GeForce And Radeon Take On Linux
Graphics technology makes quantum leaps on a regular basis, but Windows isn't necessarily everyone's darling. We tried Fedora Core 5 to check the "state of the Linux union".
Partners
The Games selection
crazy :
Interactive Boogy
Pick one of the 3 songs, hit on the correct keys matching this boy's dance moves.
|
action :
Yoyo the Star
Yoyo is a young girl who recently graduated and dreams to become a movie star (don't we all). You'll have to guide her on the path to stardom,...
|
Only one ATi card? What happened to all those OC'd 4890s?
And those HAWX benchmarks look ridiculous. ATi should wipe floor with nvidia with that. Of course you didn't put dx10.1 support on. Bastard...
Only one ATi card? What happened to all those OC'd 4890s?
These are the same boards that were included in the recent charts update, and are largely contingent on what vendors submit for evaluation. We have a review upcoming comparing Sapphire's new 1 GHz Radeon HD 4890 versus the stock 4890. It'll be up in the next couple of weeks, though.
Am i the only one that find this article akward since looking at the tests done on Ati cards on The Last Remnant game makes me wonder what went wrong ... i mean it`s UT3 engine ... why so low performance ?
Ugh, please tell me that The Last Remnant hasnt been added to the benchmark suite.
And I'm not exactly sure why the writer decided to bench on Endwar instead of World In Conflict. Why is that exactly?
And despite Quarz2's apparent fanboism, I think HAWX would have been better benched under 10.1 for the ATI cards, and used the highest stable settings instead of dropping off to DX9.
The EVGA 295 is the stuff gods game with.
I would love that card. I would have to replace my whole system to work it properly however.
I want $1500 now... i7 920 (why get better? They all seem to be godly overclockers) and EVGA 295.
How about a test suit of the EVGA GTX 295 in crossfire for a quad-gpu configuration? I know there's driver issues, but it would be fun to see what it could do regardless. Along with seeing how far Toms can OC the EVGA GTX 295.
Actually... Toms just needs to do a new system building recommendation roundup. I find them useful personally, and would have used it myself had my cash source had not lost his job...
Weird test:
1) Where are the overclocking results?
2) Bad choice for benchmarks: Too many old DX9 based graphic engines (FEAR 2, Fallout 3, Left4Dead with >100FPS) or Endwar which is limited to 30FPS. Where is Crysis?
3) 1900x1200 as highest resolution for high-end cards?
Seems that the cumulative benchmark graphs are going to be a bit skewed if The Last Remnant results are included in there... it's fairly obvious something odd is going on looking at the numbers for that game.
Worst article in a long time. Why compare how old games perform on NVIDIA's high end graphic cards? Don't get me wrong i like them but where's all the Atomic stuff from Saphire, Asus and XFX had some good stuff from ATI too. So what.. you just took the reference cards from ATI and tested them? :| That is just wrong.
WOW what a piece of s********** is this """"""review"""""" Noobidia pay good in this days.
ok i tried playing The Last Remnant on my comp with my 4870x2 and it failed hardcore >.< the game itself is ridiculously boring too. sooo why is it added to the benching list?? *shakes head* makes me sad...
I find it a lack this tests do not include the 3DMark Vantage suite.
Ok, there aren't many games using DX10, but some very good ones do !.
Thats the reason i've switched to vista.
And with me enough people to justify a proper DX10 benchmark.
No mention of the GTX 285 2GB version? I'm planning on picking up three of these for a tri-SLI Core i7 build, all water-cooled and overclocked.
well i'm running an factory overclocked gtx285. only because i like solid drivers and DAAMIT doesn't seem to be able to provide these consistently. thats been my biggest problem in picking up an ATI card.
This review however is terrible. the benchmark selection is dated if nothing else. even toms other reviews of recent have used better benchmarks than this.
This benchmark is not fair for Ati !!!
Lets see some 3dmarkVantage pls
Like car review magazine (like the one my friend is working for), I THINK they only have cards that were submitted to them and (not sure if this is the case with Tom's) they're only lended for a limited amount of days.
Although I'm not very satisfied (coz lack of ATI card in your possession), I thank you for the review with Fallout, Left 4 Dead and Last Remnant with DX9. Yup I'm still using XP coz the bog-down symptom with Vista is too noticeable for my rig.
1920x1200 as minimum threshold? Cool, as my 23" is limted to 1920x1080 anyway
I think you guys should cut Tino Kreiss some slack this I believe his first publication? Saying things like "this is the worst article I've read in a long time" doesn't actually help. You can blame the choice of benchmarks suites on sites manager/editor not the author as he only does what he is told to write. So with that in mind............Cangelini your fired.
I am curious though, HAWX is a game sponsored by ATI so why is the HD4890 getting it's backside tanned by the GTX275? It's not just a few FPS behind either the difference is quite remarkable and yes I do realise the BFG GTX275 is overclocked but it's not overclocked by a lot.
Cangelini your fired.
Perhaps you'll hire me as a copy editor for your posts instead? ;-)
In all seriousness, Tino has been with Tom's German office for a long time. I've asked the staff responsible for testing there to drop in and provide some feedback on the products and benchmarks used here.
Best,
Chris
How lame this article is... i was always wondering why they don't use full potential of gpu, if ATI is capable of using DX10.1 (and game uses that technology), why not use it. it might not be fair for nvidia but ffs, i believe that this kind of review should show all potential of products.
Shame for TH!