Hardware Test Setup And Benchmarks
| 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 5970 2GB |
| Row 6 - Cell 0 | ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 | ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB |
| Row 9 - Cell 0 | ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GB |
| Row 10 - Cell 0 | ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB |
| Row 11 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 1.8GB |
| Row 12 - 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 Ultimate x64 |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Platform Driver | Intel INF Chipset Update Utility 9.1.1.1019 |
| Graphics Driver | AMD Catalyst 8.663.1 |
| Row 20 - Cell 0 | AMD Catalyst 9.9 |
| Row 21 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce 190.62 |
| 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 |
Drivers For Days
During the course of the past two months, I’ve literally tested thousands of combinations of platforms, graphics cards, games, and resolutions. Along the way, ATI and Nvidia have revised their supporting software, fine-tuning for bugs, enhancing performance, and adding functionality (like support for Drag and Drop transcoding in Windows 7).
In order to get this story finished in time for ATI’s launch, we’re using the results from our Radeon HD 5870 and 5850 launches for comparison. But before we “went there,” we wanted to test cards from both vendors to demonstrate comparability. On the ATI side, it’s beta 8.66 R6 driver versus 8.663.1 (the Hemlock-supplied driver). On the Nvidia side, it’s GeForce 190.62 versus GeForce 191.07.
The only title that demonstrates any notable difference in either one of our comparisons is H.A.W.X. on the ATI cards. Everything else looks to be very comparable, making our typically-uncommon benchmark recycling a sound exercise.
