System setup and notes
Hardware
| Graphics cards | AMD Radeon HD 4830 512MB | AMD Radeon HD 4670 512MB | Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 512MB | Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB | Inno3D GeForce 9800 GT 512MB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current pricing, including VAT | £90 | £59 | £79 | £115 | £90 |
| Shader model | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| Stream processors | 640 | 320 | 320 | 800 | 112 |
| GPU clock speed (MHz) | 575 | 750 | 775 | 625 | 600 |
| Shader clock speed (MHz) | 575 | 750 | 775 | 625 | 1,500 |
| Memory clock speed (MHz) | 1,800 | 1,986 | 2,250 | 1,986 | 1,800 |
| Memory bus width (bits) | 256 | 128 | 256 | 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 (07/07/2008) | P01 |
|||
| Mainboard software | Intel Inf 9.0.0.1008 | nForce
15.17 |
|||
| Memory | 4GB (2x 2GB) Corsair DOMINATOR PC8500 | ||||
| Memory timings and speed | 5-5-5-15 2T @ 1.066MHz | ||||
| PSU | Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W | ||||
| Monitor | Dell 24in 2405FPW - 1,920x1,200 | ||||
| Disk drive(s) | Seagate 500GB - 32MB cache - SATAII (ST3500320AS) | ||||
| Graphics driver | Catalyst 8.10 | Catalyst 8.8 | Catalyst 8.10 | Catalyst 8.10 | 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 Race Driver: GRID v1.2 - custom-recorded benchmark - ultra quality Call Of Duty 4 v1.7.568 custom HEX benchmark: DX10 - high quality |
|---|
Notes
Throwing in a bunch of cards that make up the mainstay of mid-range sales, it will be interesting to see how the HD 4830 fares against the erstwhile champ, Radeon HD 3870 512MB, and just how close it gets to the performance of a full-fat HD 4850.
NVIDIA partners' pricing is keen enough to keep stock-clocked GeForce 9800 GT 512MB cards to below £100, and the HD 4830 dukes it out with the GT for sub-£100 supremacy.Benchmarks were run at 1,280x1,024 and 1,680x1,050 with
varying degrees of image-quality enhancement.
