Test notes
You can see all of our test configs below, but I'd like to make note of a few things. First, the GeForce 9600 GT card that we tested was "overclocked in the box" a little more fully than most (the core is 700MHz, while most cards are 650-675MHz), so its performance is a little bit higher than is typical. Similarly, we tested the GeForce 8800 GT and Radeon HD 3870 512MB at their stock speeds, which are increasingly rare in this segment. Most shipping products have higher clocks these days.
Beyond that, we're in pretty good shape. Our examples of the Radeon HD 3850 512MB and GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB are both clocked above the baseline frequencies by typical amounts, and most of the higher end cards tend to run close to their baseline clock speeds.
Our testing methods
As ever, we did our best to deliver clean benchmark numbers. Tests were run at least three times, and the results were averaged.
Our test systems were configured like so:
| Processor | Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz |
| System bus | 1066MHz (266MHz quad-pumped) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 |
| BIOS revision | F7 |
| North bridge | X38 MCH |
| South bridge | ICH9R |
| Chipset drivers | INF
update 8.3.1.1009 Matrix Storage Manager 7.8 |
| Memory size | 4GB (4 DIMMs) |
| Memory type | 2
x Corsair
TWIN2X20488500C5D DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz |
| CAS latency (CL) | 4 |
| RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) | 4 |
| RAS precharge (tRP) | 4 |
| Cycle time (tRAS) | 18 |
| Command rate | 2T |
| Audio | Integrated
ICH9R/ALC889A with RealTek 6.0.1.5497 drivers |
| Graphics |
Diamond Radeon HD
3850 512MB PCIe with Catalyst 8.2 drivers |
|
Radeon HD 3870 512MB PCIe with Catalyst 8.2 drivers |
|
|
Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB PCIe with Catalyst 8.2 drivers |
|
|
Diamond Radeon HD 3870
1GB PCIe with Catalyst 8.3 drivers |
|
| Palit
GeForce
9600 GT 512MB PCIe with ForceWare 174.12 drivers |
|
| GeForce
8800 GT 512MB PCIe with ForceWare 169.28 drivers |
|
| EVGA
GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB PCIe with ForceWare 169.28 drivers |
|
| GeForce
8800 Ultra 768MB PCIe with ForceWare 169.28 drivers |
|
| GeForce
9800 GX2 1GB PCIe with ForceWare 174.53 drivers |
|
| GeForce
9800 GX2 1GB PCIe with ForceWare 174.53 drivers |
|
| Hard drive | WD Caviar SE16 320GB SATA |
| OS | Windows Vista Ultimate x86 Edition |
| OS updates | KB936710, KB938194, KB938979, KB940105, KB945149, DirectX November 2007 Update |
Please note that we tested the single and dual-GPU Radeon configs with the Catalyst 8.2 drivers, simply because we didn't have enough time to re-test everything with Cat 8.3. The one exception is Crysis, where we tested single- and dual-GPU Radeons with AMD's 8.451-2-080123a drivers, which include many of the same application-specific tweaks that the final Catalyst 8.3 drivers do.
Thanks to Corsair for providing us with memory for our testing. Their quality, service, and support are easily superior to no-name DIMMs.
Most of our test systems were powered by PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W power supply units. The Silencer 750W was a runaway Editor's Choice winner in our epic 11-way power supply roundup, so it seemed like a fitting choice for our test rigs.
Unless otherwise specified, image quality settings for the graphics cards were left at the control panel defaults. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests.
We used the following versions of our test applications:
- Bioshock 1.1
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 1.4
- Crysis 1.1
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars 1.4
- Half-Life 2 Episode Two
- Unreal Tournament 3 1.1
- 3DMark06 1.1.0
- FRAPS 2.9.4
The tests and methods we employ are generally publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.
