Overall Performance
The first percent value (percent fps) is the ratio between the cards, when you base the overall result on the frame rates of all tested games. This is intended to be give you a feeling for the crude power of the cards—a value that makes sense if you don’t know yet at which resolution you’re going to play. The second reason for the table is that the slowest graphics card is always set to 100%, even if the frame rates are very different.
Since AMD has raised the frame rates in Call of Duty 4 by up to 70%, you’ll have to take the normalized percentage in the second table more seriously.
| Overall Performance | fps | Percent fps |
|---|---|---|
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 4CF (4x1024 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 5033.3 | 239.3 |
| HIS HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) OC 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4828.8 | 229.6 |
| Radeon HD 4870 CF (512 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4825.7 | 229.5 |
| Asus HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) Top OC 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4823.8 | 229.4 |
| MSI HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) OC 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4814.5 | 228.9 |
| HIS HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4783.4 | 227.5 |
| Sapphire HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) OC 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4752.1 | 226.0 |
| GeForce GTX 280 SLI (1024 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 4632.0 | 220.3 |
| GeForce 9800 GX2 (2x512 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 4616.1 | 219.5 |
| GeForce GTX 260 SLI (896 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 4569.0 | 217.3 |
| Radeon HD 4850 CF (512 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4433.0 | 210.8 |
| GeForce GTX 280 (1024 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 4367.3 | 207.7 |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.9 QX@3.67 | 4246.3 | 201.9 |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.9 E85@3.8 | 4101.9 | 195.0 |
| GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 3967.0 | 188.6 |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.9 X68@3.47 | 3798.1 | 180.6 |
| Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 3779.7 | 179.7 |
| GeForce GTX 280 (1024 MB) 177.39 X68@2.93 | 3765.6 | 179.1 |
| GeForce 9800 GTX+ (512 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 3578.6 | 170.2 |
| GeForce GTX 280 SLI (1024 MB) 177.39 X68@2.93 | 3522.0 | 167.5 |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.9 X68@2.93 | 3503.3 | 166.6 |
| Radeon HD 4870 CF (512 MB) 8.6 X68@2.93 | 3482.9 | 165.6 |
| GeForce GTX 260 SLI (896 MB) 177.39 X68@2.93 | 3481.1 | 165.5 |
| GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB) 177.39 X68@2.93 | 3464.8 | 164.8 |
| Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB) 8.6 X68@2.93 | 3355.7 | 159.6 |
| GeForce 9800 GX2 (2x512 MB) 175.16 X68@2.93 | 3351.4 | 159.4 |
| GeForce 9800 GTX+ (512 MB) 180.42 X68@2.93 | 3246.6 | 154.4 |
| Radeon HD 4850 CF (512 MB) 8.6 X68@2.93 | 3241.4 | 154.1 |
| Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 3240.2 | 154.1 |
| Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB) 8.6 X68@2.93 | 2965.6 | 141.0 |
| Radeon HD 4670 (512 MB) 8.10 X68@2.93 | 2102.7 | 100.0 |
The order of the cards in this table can vary compared to overall results. We now compensate for the different frame rates in the benchmarks, and you see the true performance increase in percentage terms.
For the second percentage (percent norm.) the results of each game are considered separately. By normalizing the values we take into account the varying frame rates in the benchmarks. Otherwise, Call of Duty 4 with its 240 fps would be weighted eight times as high as Crysis with its 30 fps. Also, fast cards with extremely high frame rates don’t have that much of an impact on the overall results any more.
| Overall Result | fps | Percent norm. |
|---|---|---|
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 4CF (4x1024 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 5033.3 | 241.2 |
| GeForce GTX 280 SLI (1024 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 4632.0 | 233.4 |
| HIS HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) OC 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4828.8 | 232.5 |
| GeForce 9800 GX2 (2x512 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 4616.1 | 231.7 |
| Radeon HD 4870 CF (512 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4825.7 | 231.6 |
| Asus HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) Top OC 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4823.8 | 231.4 |
| MSI HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) OC 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4814.5 | 231.0 |
| GeForce GTX 260 SLI (896 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 4569.0 | 230.7 |
| HIS HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4783.4 | 229.6 |
| Sapphire HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) OC 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4752.1 | 228.7 |
| GeForce GTX 280 (1024 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 4367.3 | 221.5 |
| Radeon HD 4850 CF (512 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 4433.0 | 214.5 |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.9 QX@3.67 | 4246.3 | 213.3 |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.9 E85@3.8 | 4101.9 | 206.6 |
| GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 3967.0 | 199.2 |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.9 X68@3.47 | 3798.1 | 191.7 |
| Geforce GTX 280 (1024 MB) 177.39 X68@2.93 | 3765.6 | 189.1 |
| Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 3779.7 | 187.5 |
| GeForce 9800 GTX+ (512 MB) 180.42 QX@3.67 | 3578.6 | 178.8 |
| GeForce GTX 280 SLI (1024 MB) 177.39 X68@2.93 | 3522.0 | 178.4 |
| GeForce GTX 260 SLI (896 MB) 177.39 X68@2.93 | 3481.1 | 176.8 |
| Radeon HD 4870 CF (512 MB) 8.6 X68@2.93 | 3482.9 | 175.7 |
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2x1024 MB) 8.9 X68@2.93 | 3503.3 | 175.4 |
| GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB) 177.39 X68@2.93 | 3464.8 | 173.7 |
| GeForce 9800 GX2 (2x512 MB) 175.16 X68@2.93 | 3351.4 | 170.8 |
| Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB) 8.6 X68@2.93 | 3355.7 | 166.0 |
| Radeon HD 4850 CF (512 MB) 8.6 X68@2.93 | 3241.4 | 164.7 |
| GeForce 9800 GTX+ (512 MB) 180.42 X68@2.93 | 3246.6 | 162.0 |
| Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB) 8.10 QX@3.67 | 3240.2 | 159.5 |
| Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB) 8.6 X68@2.93 | 2965.6 | 145.9 |
| Radeon HD 4670 (512 MB) 8.10 X68@2.93 | 2102.7 | 102.2 |
Because the percentage is based on the minimum value, it is possible that no graphics card drops down to 100% in all games. Baseline for the 100% is then the minimum value among all test candidates.
