The Fastest 3D Cards Go Head-To-Head

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Comparing The GPUs And Test Setup

The test includes the 3800- and 4800-series models from AMD, as well as the GeForce 8-, 9-, and GTX 200-series boards from Nvidia. The lower limits are bound by the Radeon HD 3650 and GeForce 8600 GT.

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Chip	Code name	Memory	GPU rate	Shader	Memory rate	SPs
GeForce GTX 280 SLI	GT200	1024 GDDR3	602 MHz	4.0, 1296 MHz	2214 MHz	240
GeForce GTX 280	GT200	1024 GDDR3	602 MHz	4.0, 1296 MHz	2214 MHz	240
GeForce GTX 260 SLI	GT200	896 GDDR3	576 MHz	4.0, 1242 MHz	1998 MHz	192
GeForce GTX 260	GT200	896 GDDR3	576 MHz	4.0, 1242 MHz	1998 MHz	192
GeForce 9800 GX2	2xG92	2x512 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	2000 MHz	2x128
GeForce 9800 GTX SLI	G92	512 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1688 MHz	2200 MHz	128
GeForce 9800 GTX	G92	512 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1688 MHz	2200 MHz	128
GeForce 9600 GT SLI	G94	1024 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	4.0, 1625 MHz	1800 MHz	64
GeForce 9600 GT	G94	1024 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	4.0, 1625 MHz	1800 MHz	64
GeForce 8800 GTS OC	G92	512 MB GDDR3	730 MHz	4.0, 1825 MHz	1944 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI	G92	512 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	4.0, 1625 MHz	1944 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GTS	G92	512 MB GDDR3	650 MHz	4.0, 1625 MHz	1944 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GT SLI	G92	1024 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	1800 MHz	112
GeForce 8800 GT	G92	1024 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	1800 MHz	112
GeForce 8800 GT SLI	G92	512 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	1800 MHz	112
GeForce 8800 GT	G92	512 MB GDDR3	600 MHz	4.0, 1500 MHz	1800 MHz	112
GeForce 8800 Ultra SLI	G80	768 MB GDDR3	612 MHz	4.0, 1512 MHz	2160 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 Ultra	G80	768 MB GDDR3	612 MHz	4.0, 1512 MHz	2160 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GTX	G80	768 MB GDDR3	576 MHz	4.0, 1350 MHz	1800 MHz	128
GeForce 8800 GTS	G80	640 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	4.0, 1188 MHz	1600 MHz	96
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI	G80	320 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	4.0, 1188 MHz	1600 MHz	96
GeForce 8800 GTS	G80	320 MB GDDR3	500 MHz	4.0, 1188 MHz	1600 MHz	96
GeForce 8600 GTS	G84	512 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1450 MHz	2016 MHz	32
GeForce 8600 GTS SLI	G84	256 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1450 MHz	2016 MHz	32
GeForce 8600 GTS	G84	256 MB GDDR3	675 MHz	4.0, 1450 MHz	2016 MHz	32
GeForce 8600 GT SLI	G84	256 MB GDDR3	540 MHz	4.0, 1180 MHz	1400 MHz	32
GeForce 8600 GT	G84	256 MB GDDR3	540 MHz	4.0, 1180 MHz	1400 MHz	32

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Chip	Memory bus	Manufacturing process	Transistors	Interface
GeForce GTX 280 SLI	512 Bit	65 nm	1400 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce GTX 280	512 Bit	65 nm	1400 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce GTX 260 SLI	448 Bit	65 nm	1400 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce GTX 260	448 Bit	65 nm	1400 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9800 GX2	2x256 Bit	65 nm	2x754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9800 GTX SLI	256 Bit	65 nm	754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9800 GTX	256 Bit	65 nm	754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9600 GT SLI	256 Bit	65 nm	505 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 9600 GT	256 Bit	65 nm	505 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GTS OC	256 Bit	65 nm	754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI	256 Bit	65 nm	754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GTS	256 Bit	65 nm	754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GT SLI	256 Bit	65 nm	754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GT	256 Bit	65 nm	754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GT SLI	256 Bit	65 nm	754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 GT	256 Bit	65 nm	754 MB	PCIe 2.0
GeForce 8800 Ultra SLI	384 Bit	90 nm	681 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 Ultra	384 Bit	90 nm	681 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 GTX	384 Bit	90 nm	681 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 GTS	320 Bit	90 nm	681 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 GTS SLI	320 Bit	90 nm	681 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8800 GTS	320 Bit	90 nm	681 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GTS	128 Bit	80 nm	289 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GTS SLI	128 Bit	80 nm	289 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GTS	128 Bit	80 nm	289 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GT SLI	128 Bit	80 nm	289 MB	PCIe 1
GeForce 8600 GT	128 Bit	80 nm	289 MB	PCIe 1

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Chip	Code name	Memory	GPU rate	Shader	Memory rate	SPs
Radeon HD 4870 CF	RV770	512 MB GDDR5	750 MHz	4.1	3600 MHz	800
Radeon HD 4870	RV770	512 MB GDDR5	750 MHz	4.1	3600 MHz	800
Radeon HD 4850 CF	RV770	512 MB GDDR3	625 MHz	4.1	1986 MHz	800
Radeon HD 4850	RV770	512 MB GDDR3	625 MHz	4.1	1986 MHz	800
Radeon HD 3870 X2	R680	2x512 MB GDDR3	825 MHz	4.1	1802 MHz	2x320
Radeon HD 3870 CF	RV670	512 MB GDDR4	775 MHz	4.1	2252 MHz	320
Radeon HD 3870	RV670	512 MB GDDR4	775 MHz	4.1	2252 MHz	320
Radeon HD 3850 CF	RV670	256 MB GDDR3	670 MHz	4.1	1658 MHz	320
Radeon HD 3850	RV670	256 MB GDDR3	670 MHz	4.1	1658 MHz	320
Radeon HD 3650 CF	RV635	512 MB GDDR3	725 MHz	4.1	1602 MHz	120
Radeon HD 3650	RV635	512 MB GDDR3	725 MHz	4.1	1602 MHz	120

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Chip	Memory bus	Manufacturing process	Transistors	Interface
Radeon HD 4870 CF	256 Bit	55 nm	965 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 4870	256 Bit	55 nm	965 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 4850 CF	256 Bit	55 nm	965 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 4850	256 Bit	55 nm	965 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3870 X2	2x256 Bit	55 nm	2x666 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3870 CF	256 Bit	55 nm	666 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3870	256 Bit	55 nm	666 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3850 CF	256 Bit	55 nm	666 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3850	256 Bit	55 nm	666 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3650 CF	128 Bit	55 nm	378 MB	PCIe 2.0
Radeon HD 3650	128 Bit	55 nm	378 MB	PCIe 2.0

^{Memory rate = DDR clock rate doubled; physical rate is half
DDR5 clock rate quadrupled, physical rate is one quarter
SPs = stream processors; P and V = Pixel shader and Vertex shader
TC = Turbo Cache
HM = Hyper Memory
OC = Overclocked (clock rate higher than default)
SLI = Parallel operation with 2 Nvidia cards
3 SLI = Parallel operation with 3 Nvidia graphics chips
4 SLI = Parallel operation with 4 Nvidia graphics chips
CF = CrossFire parallel operation with 2 AMD cards
3 CF = CrossFire parallel operation with 3 ATI graphics chips
4 CF = CrossFire parallel operation with 4 ATI graphics chips
R680 = 2x RV670
Shader 2.0 = DirectX 9.0; 3.0 = DirectX 9.0c; 4.0 = DirectX 10; Shader 4.1 = DirectX 10.1}

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CPU	Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 @ 2.93 GHz (11x 266 MHz),Socket 775, 1.28 V, 65 nm, L2 cache 4096 KB
FSB	1066 MHz (4x 266 MHz)
Motherboard	Asus P5E3 Deluxe, PCIe 2.0 2x16, ICH9R
Chipset	Intel X38
Memory	2x 1 GB, Ballistix (Crucial Technology) 1.5 V,DDR3 1066 7-7-7-20 (2x 533 MHz)
Audio	Intel High Definition Audio
LAN	Intel 1000 Pro
Drives	Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500 GB, SATA, 16 MB Cache,Hitachi 120 GB, SATA, 8 MB Cache
DVD	Gigabyte GO-D1600C
Power Supply	CoolerMaster RS-850-EMBA 850 W

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Motherboard	Asus P5N-T Deluxe, PCIe 2.0 2x16
Chip set	Nvidia nForce 780i SLI
Memory	2x 1 GB, A-Data Technology 1.8 V, DDR2 800 5-5-5-18 (2x 400 MHz)
Audio	ADI 1988B SoundMax
LAN	Marvell 88E1116 Gigabit

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Graphics	AMD Catalyst 8.6Nvidia ForceWare 175.16, GTX 260 and GTX 280 Forceware 177.39
Operating system	Windows Vista Enterprise SP1
DirectX	10 and 10.1
Chipset driver	X38 Intel 8.3.1.1009780i Nvidia nForce 9.64

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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

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Comparing The GPUs And Test Setup

Comparing The GPUs And Test Setup

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