Test setup and notes
Hardware
| Graphics cards | Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 | Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 in CrossFire | PowerColor Radeon HD 4850 512MB | ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current pricing, including VAT | £55 | £110 | £115 | £95 | ||
| Shader model | 4.1 | 4.0 | ||||
| Stream processors | 320 | 640 | 800 | 112 | ||
| GPU clock speed (MHz) | 750 | 750 | 625 | 600 | ||
| Shader clock speed (MHz) | 750 | 750 | 625 | 1,500 | ||
| Memory clock speed (MHz) | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 1,800 | ||
| Memory bus width (Bits) | 128 | 256 (two cards) | 256 | 256 | ||
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz, 1,333MHz FSB, dual-core) | |||||
| Motherboard | Foxconn P45A-S | XFX nForce 780i | ||||
| Motherboard BIOS | P05 | P01 | ||||
| Mainboard software | Intel Inf 9.0.0.1008 | NVIDIA device driver 15.17 | ||||
| Memory | 4GB (2x 2GB) Corsair DOMINATOR PC8500 | |||||
| Memory timings and speed | 5-5-5-15 2T @ 1066MHz | |||||
| PSU | Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W | |||||
| Monitor | Dell 24in 2405FPW - 1,920x1,200px | |||||
| Disk drive(s) | Seagate 500GB - 32MB cache - SATAII (ST3500320AS) | |||||
| Graphics driver | Radeon HD 4670 press driver (8.53-080805a-067874E-ATI) | Radeon HD 4670 press driver | Radeon HD 4670 press driver | ForceWare 177.79 | ||
| Operating system | Windows Vista Business SP1, 64-bit | |||||
Software
| 3D Benchmarks | Company Of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
v2.301: DX10 - ultra quality Enemy Territory: Quake Wars v1.5 (demo_00010.dem, map Valley): OpenGL - vhq GRID v1.2 - custom-recorded benchmark - ultra quality Call Of Duty 4 v1.7.568 custom HEX benchmark: DX10 - highest quality |
|---|
Notes
We're running the same benchmarks as for our single-GPU Radeon HD 4670 look, albeit with a Radeon HD 4850 and GeForce 9800 GT thrown in for good measure.The purpose is three-fold. Firstly, we want to find out is how effectively the budget GPUs scale with mid-range resolutions. Secondly, how do they compare against a full-fat model in the form of the HD 4850. Lastly, how does NVIDIA's 'new' GeForce 9800 GT perform in comparison, priced just a little lower.
Benchmarks were run at 1,280x1,024 and 1,680x1,050 with varying degrees of image-quality enhancement.
