ATI Radeon HD 5870: DirectX 11, Eyefinity, And Serious Speed
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Fedy Abi-Chahla, Chris Angelini
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System Setup And Benchmarks
We tested on an LGA 1366-based machine sporting Intel's fastest Core i7 processor, the 975 Extreme, overclocked to 4 GHz. The idea here is that we wanted to eliminate CPU bottlenecks wherever possible, though you'll noticed these graphics cards are so fast that CPU-bound situations are unavoidable at times.
Also, the GeForce GTX 285s had to be run at 100% fan duty cycle in SLI mode, else they'd crash.
Finally, it's worth noting that the Radeon HD 5870 intermittently exhibited corruption in the first 3DMark Vantage test.
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| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i7-975 Extreme (Bloomfield) 3.33 GHz, 6.4 GT/s, 8 MB L3 Cache, power-saving settings disabledOverclocked to 4 GHz (25 * 160 MHz) |
| Motherboard | Asus Rampage II Extreme (LGA 1366) X58/ICH10, BIOS 1504 |
| Memory | Corsair Dominator 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 @ 1,600 MHz |
| Hard Drive | Intel SSDSA2MH160G2C1 160 GB SATA 3 Gb/s |
| Networking | Realtek RTC8111C, 1 Gbps |
| Graphics Cards | ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB |
| Row 6 - Cell 0 | ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 | ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GB |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB |
| Row 9 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 1.8GB |
| Row 10 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 1GB |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master UCP 1100 W |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 x64 |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Platform Driver | Intel INF Chipset Update Utility 9.1.1.1019 |
| Graphics Driver | AMD Catalyst 8.66 RC6 |
| Row 18 - Cell 0 | AMD Catalyst 9.9 |
| Row 19 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce 190.62 |
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| Benchmark | Configuration |
|---|---|
| World in Conflict | Very High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Patch 1009, DirectX 10 |
| Row 1 - Cell 0 | Very High Quality Settings, 4x AA / 16x AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Patch 1009, DirectX 10 |
| Far Cry 2 | Ultra High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Steam Version |
| Row 3 - Cell 0 | Ultra High Quality Settings, 8x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Steam Version |
| Crysis | Very High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1900x1200, 2560x1600, Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit Executable |
| Row 5 - Cell 0 | Very High Quality Settings, 8x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1900x1200, 2560x1600 Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit Executable |
| Left 4 Dead | Highest Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Steam Version |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 | Highest Quality Settings, 8x AA / 16x AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Steam Version |
| Grand Theft Auto IV | Highest Quality Settings, No AA / "High" AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Patch #3 |
| Stalker: Clear Sky | Extreme Quality Setting, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, DirectX 10 lighting |
| Row 10 - Cell 0 | Extreme Quality Setting, 4x MSAA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, DirectX 10 lighting |
| H.A.W.X. | Highest Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, AO enabled, DirectX 10/10.1 |
| Row 12 - Cell 0 | Highest Quality Settings, 8x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, AO enabled, DirectX 10/10.1 |
| Resident Evil 5 | High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, DirectX 10, Fixed Benchmark |
| Row 14 - Cell 0 | High Quality Settings, 8x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, DirectX 10, Fixed Benchmark |
| 3DMark Vantage | Performance Default, High Quality, Extreme Quality |
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Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
214 Comments
Comment from the forums
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crosko42 So it looks like 1 is enough for me.. Dont plan on getting a 30 inch monitor any time soon.Reply -
jezza333 Looks like the NDA lifted at 11:00PM, as there's a load of reviews now just out. Once again it shows that AMD can produce a seriously killer card...Reply
Crysis 2 on an x2 of this is exactly what I'm waiting for. -
LORD_ORION Err... I thought I was going to see more for the price. Regardless, I think ATI missed the mark here. I am interested in playing games on my HDTV since me and my monitor don't care about these higher resolutions. Fail cakes... Nivida is undoubtedly going to rape ATI in performance with the 300 series. This is good news for mainstream prices however.... you can ptobably upgrade to a current DX10 board soon for a very good price, and then buy a 5850 for $100 in a year from now. Result? Don't but a 5000 series card yet until the price comes down? Heh, I bet the cards will be $100 less in December if the 300 series launches.Reply
This is not to say I am an Nvidia fan, just undoubtedly you would do well for yourself to hold off for a bit if you want to buy a 5000 series... as the price will come down for a good price/performance ratio soon enough. -
cangelini viper666why didn't they thest it against a GTX 295 rather than 280??? its far superior...Reply
Ran it against a GTX 295 and a 285 and 285s in SLI :) -
Annisman I refuse to buy until the 2GB versions come out, not to mention newegg letting you buy more than 1 at a time, paper launch ftl.Reply