Testing methodology
GPU comparisons |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics card | GPU clock (MHz) |
Stream processors |
Shader clock (MHz) |
Memory clock (MHz) |
Memory bus (bits) |
Graphics driver | |
| MSI Radeon HD 7950 TF3 (3,072MB) | 880 | 1,792 | 880 | 5,000 | 384 | Catalyst 12.4 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 7950 (3,072MB) | 800 | 1,792 | 800 | 5,000 | 384 | Catalyst 12.4 | KFA² GeForce GTX 670 EX OC (2,048MB) | 1,006+ | 1,344 | 1,006+ | 6,008 | 256 | ForceWare 301.33 |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 (2,048MB) | 915+ | 1,344 | 915+ | 6,008 | 256 | ForceWare 301.33 | |
HEXUS high-end test bench |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2500K (3.30GHz, 6MB smart cache, quad-core, LGA1155) | |||||||||||
| Motherboard | Intel Desktop Board DP67BG | |||||||||||
| Memory | 8GB Corsair Vengeance (9-9-9-24 @ 1,600MHz) | |||||||||||
| Power Supply | Corsair AX750W | |||||||||||
| Monitor | Dell 30in 3007WFP | |||||||||||
| Disk drive(s) | Crucial RealSSD C300 (256GB) | |||||||||||
| Chassis | Corsair Graphite Series 600T | |||||||||||
| Operating system | Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit, SP1) | |||||||||||
HEXUS high-end benchmark suite |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aliens vs. Predator | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600, and 5,760x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality | |||||||||||
| Battlefield 3 | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600, and 5,760x1,080 resolutions, 4xMSAA, 16xAF, ultra quality | |||||||||||
| Batman: Arkham City | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600, and 5,760x1,080 resolutions, 8xMSAA, extreme quality | |||||||||||
| Crysis 2 | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600, and 5,760x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, ultra quality | |||||||||||
| Just Cause 2 | DX10, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600, and 5,760x1,080 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, very high quality | |||||||||||
| Total War: Shogun 2 | DX11, 1,920x1,080, 2,560x1,600, and 5,760x1,080 resolutions, 4xMSAA, 16xAF, high quality | |||||||||||
| Power Consumption | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record mains power draw both when idle and whilst playing Batman: Arkham City | |||||||||||
| Temperature | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and whilst playing Batman: AC | |||||||||||
| Noise | A PCE-318 meter is used to record noise levels when idle and whilst playing Batman: AC | |||||||||||
| Overclocking | Pushing the graphics card as far as it will go, we increase speeds and re-run the Crysis 2 benchmark | |||||||||||
Notes
We're doing something a little different with this partner Radeon HD 7950 3GB card. Rather than spit out the usual array of numbers and compare it against a bevy of high-end cards, as we have done historically, it makes more sense to focus on the performance of the Twin Frozr III against its immediate competition from NVIDIA, the GeForce GTX 670 standard and pre-overclocked GPUs.
And because these £300-plus cards make mincemeat of our benchmarks when run on a single screen (1,920x1,080 resolution), even with some of the highest in-game settings we can apply, we've set all four cards to run the very same benchmarks on a three-screen setup, encompassing a trio of 24in, 1,920x1,080 monitors from BenQ. The final 5,760x1,080-resolution test is one that'll push these premium GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA.
But we can do still more, helping you gain a better insight into which GPU is right for you. The per-second framerates can be logged and graphed, showing where each partner-overclocked GPU is either strong or weak, based on our six games. It's reference Radeon HD 7950 up against a reference GeForce GTX 670 and MSI's Twin Frozr III OCstrutting its stuff against KFA²'s impressive, albeit more expensive, GTX 670 EX OC.
