The Fastest 3D Cards Go Head-To-Head

Features
By Tino Kreiss
published

All Cards Compared At 1280x1024

Here are the frame rates and the percentage evaluation results at 1280x1024, split by anti-aliasing setting. This makes comparison easier if you are looking for a graphics card for a particular screen size or resolution.

Remember that the image quality of an LCD monitor looks best in its native resolution (such as 1680x1050 for a 22 inch unit).

Swipe to scroll horizontally
1280x1024 without AAfpsPercent
GeForce GTX 280 (1024 MB)662.3281.2
Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB)633.9269.2
GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB)625.8265.7
GeForce 9800 GTX SLI (512 MB)610.2259.1
GeForce 8800 Ultra SLI (768 MB)607.0257.7
GeForce 8800 GTS OC (512 MB)606.6257.6
GeForce 8800 GT SLI (512 MB)605.2257.0
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI (512 MB)605.2257.0
GeForce 9800 GX2 (2x512 MB)602.9256.0
GeForce 8800 GT SLI (1024 MB)602.4255.8
GeForce 8800 GTS (512 MB)600.3254.9
GeForce 9800 GTX (512 MB)596.8253.4
Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB)595.1252.7
GeForce 9600 GT SLI (1024 MB)590.3250.7
GeForce 8800 Ultra (768 MB)588.2249.8
Radeon HD 4870 CF (512 MB)584.4248.2
GeForce GTX 280 SLI (1024 MB)570.9242.4
GeForce GTX 260 SLI (896 MB)570.7242.3
GeForce 8800 GTX (768 MB)565.6240.2
GeForce 8800 GT (1024 MB)564.3239.6
GeForce 8800 GT (512 MB)564.2239.6
Radeon HD 4850 CF (512 MB)564.2239.6
Radeon HD 3870 (512 MB)539.5229.1
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI (320 MB)536.7227.9
Radeon HD 3870 CF (512 MB)536.3227.7
Radeon HD 3850 CF (256 MB)524.4222.7
Radeon HD 3870 X2 (2x512 MB)522.2221.7
GeForce 9600 GT (1024 MB)500.2212.4
GeForce 8800 GTS (640 MB)486.4206.5
Radeon HD 3850 (256 MB)475.3201.8
GeForce 8800 GTS (320 MB)466.2198.0
GeForce 8600 GTS SLI (256 MB)420.0178.3
Radeon HD 3650 CF (512 MB)398.6169.3
GeForce 8600 GT SLI (256 MB)359.0152.4
GeForce 8600 GTS (512 MB)291.6123.8
GeForce 8600 GTS (256 MB)283.9120.6
Radeon HD 3650 (512 MB)261.7111.1
GeForce 8600 GT (256 MB)235.5100.0

Swipe to scroll horizontally
1280x1024 with AAfpsPercent
GeForce GTX 280 (1024 MB)687.2446.2
GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB)645.1418.9
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI (512 MB)637.7414.1
GeForce 8800 GT SLI (512 MB)636.0413.0
GeForce 8800 GT SLI (1024 MB)634.7412.1
Radeon HD 4870 CF (512 MB)632.5410.7
GeForce 9800 GTX SLI (512 MB)630.6409.5
GeForce 9800 GX2 (2x512 MB)626.8407.0
GeForce 8800 Ultra SLI (768 MB)624.9405.8
GeForce GTX 260 SLI (896 MB)622.4404.2
GeForce GTX 280 SLI (1024 MB)622.3404.1
GeForce 9600 GT SLI (1024 MB)612.6397.8
Radeon HD 4850 CF (512 MB)596.5387.3
Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB)595.1386.4
GeForce 8800 Ultra (768 MB)588.7382.3
GeForce 8800 GTS OC (512 MB)551.4358.1
GeForce 8800 GTX (768 MB)541.7351.8
GeForce 9800 GTX (512 MB)537.9349.3
GeForce 8800 GTS (512 MB)536.0348.1
Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB)513.2333.2
Radeon HD 3870 CF (512 MB)513.2333.2
GeForce 8800 GT (1024 MB)511.2331.9
GeForce 8800 GT (512 MB)505.7328.4
Radeon HD 3870 X2 (2x512 MB)488.7317.3
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI (320 MB)468.2304.0
GeForce 9600 GT (1024 MB)463.1300.7
Radeon HD 3850 CF (256 MB)452.5293.8
GeForce 8800 GTS (640 MB)447.4290.5
GeForce 8800 GTS (320 MB)409.6266.0
Radeon HD 3870 (512 MB)394.9256.4
GeForce 8600 GTS SLI (256 MB)335.2217.7
Radeon HD 3850 (256 MB)331.7215.4
GeForce 8600 GT SLI (256 MB)295.2191.7
Radeon HD 3650 CF (512 MB)265.0172.1
GeForce 8600 GTS (512 MB)232.9151.2
GeForce 8600 GTS (256 MB)214.1139.0
GeForce 8600 GT (256 MB)176.9114.9
Radeon HD 3650 (512 MB)154.0100.0

Tino Kreiss
146 Comments Comment from the forums
  • San Pedro
    Looks like the results for SLI and Crossfire were switched with the single card results. . .
    Reply
  • Duncan NZ
    Not a bad article, really comprehensive.
    My one complaint? Why use that CPU when you know that the test cards are going to max it out? Why not a quad core OC'ed to 4GHz? It'd give far more meaning to the SLI results. We don't want results that we can duplicate at home, we want results that show what these cards can do. Its a GPU card comparason, not a complain about not having a powerful enough CPU story.

    Oh? And please get a native english speaker to give it the once over for spelling and grammar errors, although this one had far less then many articles posted lately.
    Reply
  • elbert
    No 4870x2 in CF so its the worlds top end Nvidia vs ATI mid to low end.
    Reply
  • Lightnix
    It'd be a good article if you'd used a powerful enough CPU and up to date Radeon drivers (considering we're now up to 8.8 now), I mean are those even the 'hotfix' 8.6's or just the vanilla drivers?
    Reply
  • elbert
    Version AMD Catalyst 8.6? Why not just say i'm using ATI drivers with little to no optimizations for the 4800's. This is why the CF benchmarks tanked.
    Reply
  • at 1280, all of the highend cards were CPU limited. at that resolution, you need a 3.2-3.4 c2d to feed a 3870... this article had so much potential, and yet... so much work, so much testing, fast for nothing, because most of the results are very cpu limited (except 1920@AA).
    Reply
  • wahdangun
    WTF, hd4850 SHOULD be a lot faster than 9600 GT and 8800 GT even tough they have 1Gig of ram
    Reply
  • mjam
    No 4870X2 and 1920 X 1200 max resolution tested. How about finishing the good start of an article with the rest of it...
    Reply
  • I agree, the 4870 X2 should have been in there and should have used the updated drivers. Good article but I think you fell short on finishing it.
    Reply
  • @pulasky - Rage much? It's called driver issues you dumbass. Some games are more optimised for multicard setups than others, and even then some favour SLi to Crossfire. And if you actually READ the article rather than let your shrinken libido get the better of you, you'll find that Crossfire does indeed work in CoD4.

    Remember, the more you know.
    Reply