Test Setup
The following results were taken with stock Nvidia and ATI reference designs unless notated in the chart below where all three clock generators are pushing their components past the Nvidia reference design.
System Hardware
Processor
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Conroe
2.93 GHz, 1,066 MHz FSB, 32kB+32kB L1 , 4 MB L2
Platform
Nvidia Platform
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR, LGA 775
NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
ATI Platform
Intel D975XBX, LGA 775
Intel 975X Express Chipset
RAM
Corsair CM2X1024-9136C5D
2x 1024 MB DDR2 (CL5-5-5-15)
Hard Drive
Western Digital Raptor, WD1500ADFD
150 GB, 10,000 rpm, 16 MB cache, SATA150
Networking
nForce4 Gigabit Ethernet (Nvidia), Intel 82573E/82573L Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Intel)Graphics Cards
AMD / ATI Based Cards
ATI Radeon HD 2900XT 512 MB GDDR3
740 MHz Core
740 MHz - 320 Streaming Processors
825 MHz Memory (1.65 GHz DDR)
ATI Radeon X1950XTX 512 MB GDDR4
650 MHz Core
1,000 MHz Memory (2.00 GHz DDR)
Sapphire Radeon X1950 Pro Ultimate 256 MB GDDR3
580 MHz Core
800 MHz Memory (1.60 GHz DDR)
Nvidia Based Cards
Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX 768 MB GDDR3
575 MHz Core
1.35 GHz - 128 Streaming Processors
900 MHz Memory (1.80 GHz DDR)
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 640 MB GDDR3
500 MHz Core
1.20 GHz - 96 Streaming Processors
800 MHz Memory (1.60 GHz DDR)
Foxconn GeForce 8800GTS 320 MB GDDR3 ONOC
575 MHz Core
1.20 GHz - 96 Streaming Processors
900 MHz Memory (1.80 GHz DDR)
EVGA GeForce 8600GTS SC 256 MB GDDR3
675 MHz Core
1.45 GHz - 32 Streaming Processors
1,000 MHz Memory (2.00 GHz DDR)
Sparkle GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB GDDR3
540 MHz Core
1.19 GHz - 32 Streaming Processors
700 MHz Memory (1.40 GHz DDR)
Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX 512 MB GDDR3
650 MHz Core
800 MHz Memory (1.60 GHz DDR)
Power Supply
TopPower Powertrain 900W
CPU Cooler
Zalman CNPS9700 LEDSystem Software & Drivers
OS
Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.10.2600, Service Pack 2
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
DirectX Version
XP - DX 9.0c
Vista - DX10
Graphics Driver(s)
ATI - Catalyst 7.4 WHQL (XP)
ATI - Catalyst 7.4 WHQL (Vista)
ATI - Catalyst 8-37-4 (Vista - HD2900XT)
ATI - Catalyst 8-37-4 (XP - HD2900XT)
NVIDIA - Forceware 158.48 (Vista - 8800GTX)
NVIDIA - Forceware 158.22 (XP - 8800GTX & GTS)
NVIDIA - Forceware 158.22 (XP - 8600GTS & GT)
