System setup and notes
| Graphics cards | ZOTAC GeForce GTX 295 | (2x) Inno3D GeForce GTX 260 SLI | Inno3D GeForce GTX 280 | BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX | Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 | Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current pricing, including VAT | £392 |
£430 (2 x £215) | £275 | £378 | £345 |
£260 |
| Shader model | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| Stream processors | 480 | 216 | 240 | 240 | 1,600 | 1,600 |
| GPU clock speed (MHz) | 576 | 576 | 612 | 702 | 750 | 625 |
| Shader clock speed (MHz) | 1,242 | 1,242 | 1,296 | 1,584 | 750 | 625 |
| Memory clock speed (MHz) | 1,998 | 1,998 | 2,214 | 2,664 | 3,600 | 1,986 |
| Memory bus width (Bits) | 896 (2 x 448) | 896 (2 x 448) | 512 | 512 | 512 (2 x 256) | 512 (2 x 256) |
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 LGA775 (3.0GHz, 12MB L2 cache, quad-core) | |||||
| Motherboard | EVGA CK132 -NF79 (nForce 790i Ultra SLI) | MSI X48 Platinum (X48+ICH9R) | ||||
| Motherboard BIOS | P06 | V2.3 | ||||
| Mainboard software | NVIDIA device driver 15.17 | Intel Inf 9.0.0.1008 | ||||
| Memory | 4GB Corsair XMS3 DHX (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1,333 | |||||
| Memory timings and speed | 9-9-9-24 1T @ DDR3-1333 | |||||
| PSU | GIGABYTE Odin GT 800W | |||||
| Monitor | Dell 30in 3007WFP - 2,560x1,600px | |||||
| Disk drive(s) | Seagate 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 (3Gb/s mode) | |||||
| Graphics driver | ForceWare 181.20 | ForceWare 181.20 | ForceWare 180.48 | ForceWare 180.48 | Catalyst 9.1 beta | Catalyst 9.1 beta |
| Operating system | Windows Vista Business SP1, 64-bit | |||||
Software
| 3D Benchmarks | Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare v1.7, HEXUS
custom-recorded benchmark:
DX9 - very high quality Company Of Heroes: Opposing Fronts v2.103: DX10 - very high quality Enemy Territory: Quake Wars v1.5, HEXUS custom-recorded benchmark. OpenGL - very high quality Far Cry 2 v1.01 - very high quality Race Driver: GRID v1.2, HEXUS custom-recorded benchmark - ultra quality |
|---|
Notes
A few heavyweight cards in this line-up. We throw the two near-£400 GeForce review cards up against a stock-clocked GTX 280, retailing for around £275 right now, and add some proper SLI action with Inno3D GeForce GTX 260s.ATI is well-represented by a couple of pre-CrossFired X2 cards from the HD 4870 and HD 4850 stables, and recent price-chops have meant that they're now in direct competition with the two high-end GPUs from NVIDIA.
Real-world gaming benchmarks were run at 1,680x1,050, 1,920x1,200 and 2,560x1,600. We've also added in decent amounts of image quality, too.
Thinking of spending anywhere between £260 and £430? Now see how far that money goes.
