High-End Graphics Card Roundup
Features
By
Tino Kreiss
Published
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Power Consumption, Noise Levels, And Temperature Readings
Power consumption is measured in watts for the complete test platform. The 2D value comes from a normal Windows user interface at idle (Aero is also turned off to establish a truly minimal value). The 3D value is measured when both CPU and graphics card are running under heavy load (to establish a peak value). The measurement comes from the wall socket, and the efficiency rating for the power supply we used averages around 82.4% (according to its vendor).
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| Temperatures and Motherboard Slots | 2D Temp | 3D Temp | Slots |
|---|---|---|---|
| EVGA GTX 295 Hydro Copper (GTX 295 2x896 MB) | 39 | 68 | Double |
| GeForce GTX 295 (2x896 MB) | 39 | 66 | Double |
| Zotac GTX285 AMP Edition (GeForce GTX 285 1024 MB) | 45 | 85 | Double |
| MSI N285GTX SuperPipe OC (GeForce GTX 285 1024 MB) | 42 | 87 | Double |
| GeForce GTX 285 (1,024 MB) | 45 | 85 | Double |
| MSI N280GTX OC HydroGen (GeForce GTX 280 1024 MB) | 34 | 51 | Single |
| GeForce GTX 280 (1,024 MB) | 45 | 86 | Double |
| BFG GeForce GTX 275 (GeForce GTX 275 896 MB) | 47 | 92 | Double |
| GeForce GTX 275 (896 MB) | 47 | 92 | Double |
| GeForce GTX 260 216SPs (896 MB) | 45 | 81 | Double |
| GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB) | 48 | 90 | Double |
| GeForce 9800 GTX+ (512 MB) | 48 | 81 | Double |
| GeForce 9800 GTX (512 MB) | 55 | 74 | Double |
| Radeon HD 4890 (1,024 MB) 9.4 | 60 | 80 | Double |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1,024 MB) | 49 | 79 | Double |
| Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB) | 60 | 74 | Double |
| Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB) | 79 | 94 | Single |
| Radeon HD 4770 (512 MB) | 52 | 72 | Double |
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| Power Consumption | 2D Watts | 3D Watts | TDP Watts | Power Connectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVGA GeForce GTX 295 Hydro Copper (GTX 295 2x896 MB) | 188 | 532 | 289 | 1 x 6 + 1 x 8 pin PCIe |
| GeForce GTX 295 (2x896 MB) | 188 | 468 | 289 | 1 x 6 + 1 x 8 pin PCIe |
| Zotac GTX285 AMP Edition (GeForce GTX 285 1,024 MB) | 150 | 356 | 183 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| MSI N285GTX SuperPipe OC (GeForce GTX 285 1,024 MB) | 156 | 348 | 183 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| GeForce GTX 285 (1,024 MB) | 150 | 348 | 183 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| MSI N280GTX OC HydroGen (GeForce GTX 280 1,024 MB) | 163 | 358 | 236 | 1 x 6 + 1 x 8 pin PCIe |
| GeForce GTX 280 (1,024 MB) | 155 | 347 | 236 | 1 x 6 + 1 x 8 pin PCIe |
| BFG GeForce GTX 275 (GeForce GTX 275 896 MB) | 156 | 355 | 219 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| GeForce GTX 275 (896 MB) | 156 | 351 | 219 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| GeForce GTX 260 216SPs (896 MB) | 150 | 295 | 182 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB) | 154 | 330 | 182 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| GeForce 9800 GTX+ (512 MB) | 165 | 277 | 141 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| GeForce 9800 GTX (512 MB) | 170 | 278 | 156 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| Radeon HD 4890 (1,024 MB) | 182 | 312 | 190 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1,024 MB) | 234 | 465 | 286 | 1 x 6 + 1 x 8 pin PCIe |
| Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB) | 191 | 288 | 157 | 2 x 6 pin PCIe |
| Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB) | 166 | 270 | 114 | 1 x 6 pin PCIe |
| Radeon HD 4770 (512 MB) | 152 | 199 | 80 | 1 x 6 pin PCIe |
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| Noise Levels Measured | 2D dB(A) | 3D dB(A) | Fan slots | Fan diameter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVGA GeForce GTX 295 Hydro Copper (GeForce GTX 295 2x896 MB) | Water cooler | Water cooler | Double | Water cooler |
| Zotac GTX285 AMP Edition (GeForce GTX 285 1,024 MB) | 37.9 | 51.4 | Double | 75 mm |
| MSI N285GTX SuperPipe OC (GeForce GTX 285 1,024 MB) | 36.1 | 38.7 | Double | 2 x 65 mm |
| GeForce GTX 285 (1,024 MB) | 37.9 | 51.4 | Double | 75 mm |
| MSI N280GTX OC HydroGen (GeForce GTX 280 1,024 MB) | Water cooler | Water cooler | Single | Water cooler |
| GeForce GTX 280 (1,024 MB) | 38.0 | 45.4 | Double | 75 mm |
| BFG GTX 275 (GTX 275 896 MB) | 36.8 | 44.2 | Double | 75 mm |
| GeForce GTX 275 (896 MB) | 36.8 | 44.2 | Double | 75 mm |
| GeForce GTX 260 216SPs (896 MB) | 37.5 | 41.2 | Double | 75 mm |
| GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB) | 37.8 | 53.8 | Double | 75 mm |
| GeForce 9800 GTX+ (512 MB) | 36.6 | 41.4 | Double | 73 mm |
| GeForce 9800 GTX (512 MB) | 37.2 | 44.8 | Double | 70 mm |
| Radeon HD 4890 (1,024 MB) | 36.7 | 48.4 | Double | 73 mm |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1,024 MB) | 51.2 | 60.4 | Double | 73 mm |
| Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB) | 38.0 | 49.4 | Double | 73 mm |
| Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB) | 36.2 | 47.9 | Single | 60 mm |
| Radeon HD 4770 (512 MB) | 36.3 | 38.5 | Double | 70 mm |
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111 Comments
Comment from the forums
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And those HAWX benchmarks look ridiculous. ATi should wipe floor with nvidia with that. Of course you didn't put dx10.1 support on. Bastard...Reply
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cangelini quarzOnly one ATi card? What happened to all those OC'd 4890s?Reply
These are the same boards that were included in the recent charts update, and are largely contingent on what vendors submit for evaluation. We have a review upcoming comparing Sapphire's new 1 GHz Radeon HD 4890 versus the stock 4890. It'll be up in the next couple of weeks, though. -
ohim Am i the only one that find this article akward since looking at the tests done on Ati cards on The Last Remnant game makes me wonder what went wrong ... i mean it`s UT3 engine ... why so low performance ?Reply -
curnel_D Ugh, please tell me that The Last Remnant hasnt been added to the benchmark suite.Reply
And I'm not exactly sure why the writer decided to bench on Endwar instead of World In Conflict. Why is that exactly?
And despite Quarz2's apparent fanboism, I think HAWX would have been better benched under 10.1 for the ATI cards, and used the highest stable settings instead of dropping off to DX9. -
anamaniac The EVGA 295 is the stuff gods game with.Reply
I would love that card. I would have to replace my whole system to work it properly however.
I want $1500 now... i7 920 (why get better? They all seem to be godly overclockers) and EVGA 295.
How about a test suit of the EVGA GTX 295 in crossfire for a quad-gpu configuration? I know there's driver issues, but it would be fun to see what it could do regardless. Along with seeing how far Toms can OC the EVGA GTX 295.
Actually... Toms just needs to do a new system building recommendation roundup. I find them useful personally, and would have used it myself had my cash source had not lost his job... -
Weird test:Reply
1) Where are the overclocking results?
2) Bad choice for benchmarks: Too many old DX9 based graphic engines (FEAR 2, Fallout 3, Left4Dead with >100FPS) or Endwar which is limited to 30FPS. Where is Crysis?
3) 1900x1200 as highest resolution for high-end cards? -
EQPlayer Seems that the cumulative benchmark graphs are going to be a bit skewed if The Last Remnant results are included in there... it's fairly obvious something odd is going on looking at the numbers for that game.Reply -
armistitiu Worst article in a long time. Why compare how old games perform on NVIDIA's high end graphic cards? Don't get me wrong i like them but where's all the Atomic stuff from Saphire, Asus and XFX had some good stuff from ATI too. So what.. you just took the reference cards from ATI and tested them? :| That is just wrong.Reply -
pulasky WOW what a piece of s********** is this """"""review"""""" Noobidia pay good in this days.Reply