PowerColor Radeon HD 5870 LCS: The GHz Limit, Broken

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Test System And Benchmarks

We're not going to waste our time benchmarking 1280x1024 or 1680x1050. If you buy this class of card, you're going to play at 1920x1200 or 2560x1600. To that end, we'll test those high resolutions with and without anti-aliasing (AA) and anisotropic filtering (AF) enabled.

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Header Cell - Column 0 Graphic Test System
CPUIntel Core i7-920 (Nehalem), 2.67 GHz, QPI-4200, 8MB CacheOverclocked to 3.06 GHz @ 153 MHz Bclk
MotherboardASRock X58 Supercomputer Intel X58, BIOS P1.90
NetworkingOnboard Realtek Gigabit LAN controller
MemoryKingston PC3-10700 3 x 1,024MB, DDR3-1225, CL 9-9-9-22-1T
GraphicsPowercolor Radeon HD 5870 LCS875 MHz Core, 1250 MHz Memory, 1GB GDDR52 x HIS Radeon HD 4890 in CrossFire850 MHz Core, 975 MHz Memory, 1GB GDDR5
Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar WD50 00AAJS-00YFA, 500GB, 7,200 RPM, 8MB cache, SATA 3.0Gb/s
PowerThermaltake Toughpower 1,200W1,200W, ATX 12V 2.2, EPS 12v 2.91
Software and Drivers
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit 6.0.6001, SP1
DirectX versionDirectX 10
Graphics DriversAMD Catalyst 9.10
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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 9, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Low Quality, Medium Textures, Shadows, Physics, Shaders, Water, and Sound, No AA
Far Cry 2Patch 1.02, in-game benchmark Medium Quality, No AA
World In Conflict: Soviet AssaultPatch 1.11, DirectX 9, timedemo Medium Details, No AA/No AF
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.Patch 1.02, DirectX 10 & 10.1, in-game benchmark Low Shadows, Sun ShaftsMedium View Distance, Environment, SSAOHigh Forest, TexturesHDR, Engine Heat, and DOE On, No AA
Left 4 DeadVersion 1.0.1.5., Custom THG Benchmark Run 1: High Settings, no AA, no AFRun 2: High Settings, Medium Shaders, 4x AA, 8x AF
Resident Evil 5Resident Evil 5 Benchmark VersionHigh Shadows and Textures, Medium Overall Detail, Motion Blur On, no AA, no AF
Fallout 3Patch 1.4.0.6., Custom THG Benchmark High Quality, No AA, No AF
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark VantageVersion: 1.02, PhysX Off, 3DMark scores
Don Woligroski
Contributor

Don Woligroski was a former senior hardware editor for Tom's Hardware. He has covered a wide range of PC hardware topics, including CPUs, GPUs, system building, and emerging technologies.