HEXUS.bang4buck and overclocking
HEXUS.bang4buck
In a rough-and-ready assessment of the cards' bang per buck, we've aggregated the average 1920x1200 4xAA 8xAF framerates for the three games, normalised them*, and listed the cards' price. There are more provisos than I care to shake a stick at. We could have chosen three different games, the cards' prices could have been derived from other sources and pricing is such that it can fluctuate daily. However, to reiterate, the graph below highlights a metric that should only be used as a yardstick for evaluating comparative performance with price factored in. Other architectural benefits are not covered, obviously.| Graphics cards | HIS Radeon HD 2900 Pro Limited Edition 512MiB | Sapphire Radeon HD 2900 XT 512MiB | ASUS EN8800GTS 640MiB | ASUS EN8800GTS 320MiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual aggregate marks at 1920x1200 4xAA 8x(16x)AF | 188.35 | 225.01 | 238.63 | 231.94 |
| Aggregate marks, normalised**, at 1920x1200 | 171.78 | >202.36 | 209.31 | 205.97 | Current pricing | £175 | £240 | £230 | £185 |
| HEXUS.bang4buck score | 0.982 | 0.843 | 0.91 | 1.11 |
| Acceptable framerate (60FPS av.) at 1920x1200 4xAA 8/16xAF | No (FC, SC) | No (FC) | Yes | Yes |
Now, the HEXUS.bang4buck divides the normalised aggregate framerate by current price.
The HEXUS.bang4buck metric looks pretty decent for the asking price, but we know that it's somewhat compromised by the mediocre performance in Far Cry. Still, it's hard to ignore the value proposition from a card that packs in so much technology for what, really, can be considered reasonable money - £175 buys you helluva lot these days.
Overclocking
| Graphics cards | HIS Radeon HD 2900 Pro Limited Edition 512MiB |
|---|---|
| Default core/memory frequencies | 600/1584 |
| Overclocked core/memory frequencies | 715.5/1818 |
The HIS Radeon HD 2900 Pro almost manages to overclock to the default Radeon HD 2900 XT core speed of 743MHz. Memory bandwidth, though, is higher still, so performance should be similar to a stock-clocked XT's.
To see how the overclocked frequencies were manifested in increased performance, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was run at 1920x1200 0xAA 8xAF HDR.
Yup, almost matching the Sapphire Radeon HD 2900 XT here.
Temps
| Graphics cards | HIS Radeon HD 2900 Pro Limited Edition 512MiB | Sapphire Radeon HD 2900 XT 512MiB | GeForce 8800 GTX 768MiB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambient temperature | 21°C | 21°C | 21°C |
| Idle temperature (2D) | 42°C | 49°C | 64°C |
| Load temperature (3D) | 68°C | 71°C | 84°C |
The idling temperature is excellent, keeping the 2D noise down. The load temperature is just a shade below the Sapphire Radeon HD 2900 XT's, which makes perfect sense, as both use the same cooler but, as you will no doubt know by now, the Pro is clocked in at a lower core speed.
