Does Chipset-to-GPU Matching Matter?

Benchmark Results

Many reviews have shown 8800GTX beating up the X1950XTX in the majority of games, but there are a few that still favor the older ATI card. Let's see what effect chipset selection.

3D Games

Starting off with one game test, the X1950XTX can win, while the 680i SLI leads both Intel and ATI chipsets using the competitor's card. So much for ATI chipset to VPU optimizations.

F.E.A.R. put Intel's P965 in the lead using the 8800GTX, flying in the face of any perceived "chipset-to-GPU" optimizations on Nvidia's behalf.

Once again Intel's chipset gives Nvidia's graphics card more performance than Nvidia's chipset. Perhaps the credit should instead go to MSI, the maker of this P965 Express motherboard.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.