Test Setup And Benchmarks
We’ve included all of the relevant cards in the price range: the GeForce GTX 550 Ti, Radeon HD 5770, and GeForce GTX 460 768 MB. Also present is the GeForce GTS 450, so we can see how far the wider memory interface and higher clocks will take the new model in comparison.
Note that Nvidia didn't seed us with a reference sample for testing, so we’ve lowered the clocks on a factory-overclocked card to represent baseline performance.
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| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2500K (Sandy Bridge)Overclocked to 4.0 GHz, 6 MB L3 Cache, power-saving settings enabled, Turbo Boost disabled. |
| Motherboard | Asus P8P67 Pro, Intel P67 Chipset |
| Memory | OCZ PC3-16000, 2 x 2 GB, 1338 MT/s, CL 9-9-9-20-1T |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB, 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s |
| Graphics Cards | Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 1 GB783/1566 MHz Core/Shaders, 902 MHz Memory (3608 MHz effective) |
| Row 5 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce GTS 550 Ti 1 GB Reference (simulated)900/1800 MHz Core/Shaders, 1025 MHz Memory (4200 MHz effective) |
| Row 6 - Cell 0 | MSI N550GTX-Ti Cyclone II950/1900 MHz Core/Shaders, 1075 MHz Memory (4300 MHz effective) |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 | Zotac GeForce GTX 550 Ti AMP! Edition1000/2000 MHz Core/Shaders, 1100 MHz Memory (4400 MHz effective) |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 768 MB675/1350 MHz Core/Shaders, 900 MHz Memory (3600 MHz effective) |
| Row 9 - Cell 0 | AMD Radeon HD 5770 1 GB850 MHz Core, 1200 MHz Memory (4600 MHz effective) |
| Power Supply | ePOWER EP-1200E10-T2 1200W, ATX12V, EPS12V |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper TX 2 |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Graphics Driver | GeForce GTX 550 Ti: 267.59GeForce GTS 450 and GeForce GTX 460: 266.58 WHQL |
| Row 16 - Cell 0 | AMD Catalyst 11.2 WHQL |
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| Games | |
|---|---|
| Crysis 2 | Multi-player Demo, Gamer Quality setting, No AA, 160 second gameplay, FRAPS |
| Just Cause 2 | Medium Quality Settings, Textures High, all options enabled except vsync, No AA / 16xAF, Bokeh filter and GPU water disabled (for Nvidia cards), Concrete Jungle Benchmark |
| Bulletstorm | Highest Settings, No AA, 60 second sequence, FRAPS |
| F1 2010 | Ultra High Settings, No AA, Steam version, in-game benchmark, DX11 Rendering |
| Aliens Vs. Predator Benchmark | Texture and Shadow quality set to medium, 8x AF, SSAO off, Dx11 tessellation off, Dx11 advanced shadows off, 0x AA |
| Metro 2033 | DiectX 11, Medium Detail, 4x AF, tessellation enabled, advanced PhysX disabled. |
| Lost Planet 2 | Medium settings, motion blur enabled, built-in benchmark test A |
| H.A.W.X. 2 | Highest settings, DirectX 11 tessellation enabled, built-in benchmark |
| 3DMark Vantage | Performance Preset, 1680x1050 |
| Unigine Heaven | Highest settings, no AA, 16x AF, 1680x1050 |
