Far Cry 2, H.A.W.X
Far Cry 2| Far Cry 2 - 1,680x1,050 4xAA 16xAF | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX | HIS Radeon HD 5850 | HIS Radeon HD 5870 | EVGA GeForce GTX 275 | Inno3D Geforce GTX 260 OC | Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 | Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 |
| 71.04 | 83.27 | 97.09 | 63.12 | 58.51 | 56.61 | 62.69 |
| Far Cry 2 - 1,920x1,200 4xAA 16xAF | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX | HIS Radeon HD 5850 | HIS Radeon HD 5870 | EVGA GeForce GTX 275 | Inno3D Geforce GTX 260 OC | Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 | Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 |
| 63.93 | 71.91 | 84.9 | 56.53 | 52.42 | 49.76 | 53.39 |
| Far Cry 2 - 2,560x1,600 4xAA 16xAF | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX | HIS Radeon HD 5850 | HIS Radeon HD 5870 | EVGA GeForce GTX 275 | Inno3D Geforce GTX 260 OC | Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 | Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 |
| 48 | 49.8 | 59.31 | 41.61 | 38.15 | 33.17 | 36.15 |
Far Cry 2 performance is lower than expected, as it just beats out the Radeon HD 5770 at all resolutions and generally matches the GeForce GTX 275. Our feeling is that a 5800-series cards needs the full complement of 32 ROPs to function efficiently when 4x AA and 16x AF is applied.
H.A.W.X
| H.A.W.X - 1,680x1,050 4xAA 0xAF | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX | HIS Radeon HD 5850 | HIS Radeon HD 5870 | EVGA GeForce GTX 275 | Inno3D Geforce GTX 260 OC | Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 | Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 |
| 77.5 | 73 | 85.5 | 65.5 | 60 | 55 | 59.5 |
| H.A.W.X - 1,920x1,200 4xAA 0xAF | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX | HIS Radeon HD 5850 | HIS Radeon HD 5870 | EVGA GeForce GTX 275 | Inno3D Geforce GTX 260 OC | Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 | Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 |
| 68 | 67 | 77 | 56 | 53.5 | 47.5 | 53.5 |
| H.A.W.X - 2,560x1,600 4xAA 0xAF | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX | HIS Radeon HD 5850 | HIS Radeon HD 5870 | EVGA GeForce GTX 275 | Inno3D Geforce GTX 260 OC | Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 | Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 |
| 48 | 50 | 58.5 | 41 | 36.5 | 34 | 38.5 |
H.A.W.X performance is better, clearly, but the Radeon HD 5850 maintains a 25 per cent lead across the resolutions.
Summary
The lopsided architecture of the Radeon HD 5830 means that its performance varies considerably from one gaming title to the next: it's not as predictable as the HD 5850, for example.
Our numbers indicate that the new GPU's performance is closer to the HD 5770 than the HD 5850, and that's troubling for a card that will etail at close to £200. Let's examine the value proposition by looking at the HEXUS.bang4buck.
