System setup and notes
Hardware
| Graphics cards | Force3D Radeon HD 4870 (1GB) | POV GeForce GTX 260 896MB (216 cores) | Palit GeForce GTX 260 896MB (216 cores) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current pricing, including VAT | £200 |
£218 | £205 |
| Shader model | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Stream processors | 800 | 216 | 216 |
| GPU(s) clock speed (MHz) | 750 | 576 | 576 |
| Shader clock speed (MHz) | 750 | 1,242 | 1,242 |
| Memory clock speed, effective (MHz) | 3,600 | 1,998 | 1,998 |
| Memory bus width (Bits) | 256 | 448 | 448 |
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 LGA775 (3.0GHz, 12MB L2 cache, quad-core) | ||
| Motherboard | MSI X48 Platinum (X48+ICH9R) | EVGA CK-132 NF79 (nForce 790i Ultra SLI) | |
| Motherboard BIOS | v2.3 (07/07/2008) | P06 |
|
| Mainboard software | Intel Inf 9.0.0.1008 | nForce 15.17 |
|
| Memory | 4GB (2x 2GB) Corsair XMS3 DMX DDR3-1333 | ||
| Memory timings and speed | 9-9-9-24 1T @ 1,333MHz | ||
| PSU | Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1,000W | GIGABYTE Odin GT 800W | |
| Monitor | Dell 30in 3007WFP - 2,560x1,600 | ||
| Disk drive(s) | Seagate 500GB - 32MB cache - SATAII (ST3500320AS) | ||
| Graphics driver | Catalyst 8.11 | ForceWare 180.48 | ForceWare 177.79 |
| Operating system | Windows Vista Business SP1, 64-bit | ||
Software
| 3D Benchmarks | 3DMark Vantage b1.0.2 - default performance test 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 putting the Point Of View card up against a Palit that's only performance-differentiated by the use of different drivers: the basic specifications are the same. What this lets us do is compare driver revisions.
ATI is represented by a Force3D Radeon HD 4870 1GB that's the cheapest of the trio, costing £200 on the nose, and what we're attempting to do, as mentioned in the outset, is see which company offers better value at around the £200 mark.
Real-world gaming benchmarks were run at 1,680x1,050, 1,920x1,200 and 2,560x1,600, although the highest resolution wasn't run with Race Driver: GRID due to substantial slowdowns in the game, leading to inconsistent and unrepeatable results via our FRAPS-recording method. We've also added in decent amounts of image quality, too.
