System setup and notes
We're testing two differently classed cards as far as performance is concerned, so rather than pit them against each other, we've conducted tests with each product against similarly classed cards. We've used four different, but appropriately configured, test systems, with specifications that should reflect the kind of power present in a system into which the respective card would be installed. For our two ranges of benchmarks we've got NVIDIA and ATI testbeds.
| Low-end test bed | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ATI system | NVIDIA system | ||
| GeCube X1300 HDMI/HDCP HyperMemory 512MB | ATI Radeon X1300 Pro 256MB | MSI NX7300GS-TD256E 7300GS 256MB | |
| CPU | AMD Athlon 64 Socket AM2 (2.2GHz, 512KiB L2 cache, single-core) | AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 (2.2GHz, 512KiB L2 cache, single-core) | |
| Motherboard | ECS RS485M-M (ATI RS485+SB460) | ASUS A8N-VM CSM (NVIDIA GF6150 + Nforce 430) | |
| Memory | 2 x 256MiB Crucial CT3264AA53E PC4200 | 2 x 256MiB Corsair VS512MBKIT400 PC3200 | |
| Memory timings/speed | 4-4-4-12 1T @ DDR2-488.8MHz | 2.5-3-3-8 1T @ 400.18MHz | |
| BIOS | BETA version dated 06/28/2006 | 0702 (01/17/2006) | |
| Chipset drivers | Catalyst 6.2 Southbridge driver package | nForce driver pack 8.22 | |
| Hard drive | 160GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 (3Gb/s mode) | ||
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP2 | ||
| GPU/Mem clocks | 499.5MHz/540MHz | 594MHz/792MHz | 550MHz/810MHz |
| Graphics BIOS | 009.012.012.002 | 009.012.006.002 | 5.72.22.34 |
| Graphics driver | 8.243-060404a-033273E-ATI | 84.21 | |
We recently put the budget AM2 board in this review up against a S939 board, albeit not the same one here, but found the performance different to be minimal, so we can say the graphics performance figures are comparable, albeit not in the most absolute sense.
| Mid-range test bed | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATI system | NVIDIA system | |||
| GeCube X1600 HDMI/HDCP HyperMemory 512MB |
Sapphire Radeon X1600 Pro HDMI 256MB |
HIS X1600 Pro IceQ Turbo 128MB |
Point of View GeForce 7600GS 256MB | |
| CPU | AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ S939 (2.0GHz, 2 x 512KiB L2 cache, dual-core) | |||
| Motherboard | ASUS A8R32-MVP (RD580 + M1575) | ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe (nForce4 SLI X16) | ||
| Memory | 2 x 512MiB OCZ4001024V25DC-K PC3200 | |||
| Memory timings/speed | 2.5-4-4-8 2T @ 400MHz | |||
| BIOS | 0404 | 1103 | ||
| Chipset drivers | 1.0.5.2a | 6.82 | ||
| Hard drive | 160GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 (3Gb/s mode) | |||
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP2 | |||
| GPU/Mem clocks | 500MHz/792MHz | 500MHz/792MHz | 587MHz/693MHz | 400MHz/800MHz |
| Graphics BIOS | 009.012.012.002 | 009.012.008.002 | 009.012.006.002 | 5.73.22.16 |
| Graphics driver | 8.231-060221a1-030895C-ATI (Cat 6.3) | 84.21 | ||
With our mid-range test setup the board changes between ATI and NVIDIA card testing, but the remaining components are the same, save the graphics cards, of course.
Testing software
- Far Cry v1.33
- Quake 4 v1.04
- Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory v1.05
Notes
Although it didn't affect testing, we did find that DVI didn't work when entering a 3D application when using the Catalyst 6.3 driver. Updating the driver fixed this, so it's an issue to be aware of if you're using an HDMI card.
Given that many of these cards may well be hooked up to HDTVs, HDMI or not, we thought it prudent to get some performance figures at a typical HD resolution. We chose 720p, which for those of us who still talk in dimensions is 1280x720 without any of this interlacing funny business. We don't have any numbers at this resolution from any other cards, so we've included the results for just the two GeCube cards so you can get an idea of how they perform on their respective test systems.
We also ran at the more typical PC monitor resolutions of 1024x768 and 1280x1024 for the low-end system, and ditched 1024x768 in favour of 1600x1200 for the mid-range system.
With our mid-range cards we turned anti-aliasing on at 4x and anisotropic filtering at 8x for 1280x1024, turning AA off for 1600x1200. Neither are turned on for our low-end card tests, however. This reflects the configuration efforts that might be made by the end-user.
A wise and handsome Welshman once said that it's not unusual to have fun with anyone, so with no other issues to raise, let's go have some fun with these graphics cards...
