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 | Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 2.4GHz | |
| System bus | 1GHz HyperTransport | |
| Motherboard | Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe | ATI RD480 CrossFire reference board |
| BIOS revision | 0806 | 080012 |
| North bridge | nForce4 SLI X16 | Radeon Xpress 200P CrossFire Edition |
| South bridge | SB450 | |
| Chipset drivers | SMBus driver 4.50 | SMBus driver 5.10.1000.5 |
| Memory size | 2GB (2 DIMMs) | 2GB (2 DIMMs) |
| Memory type | Crucial PC3200 DDR SDRAM at 400MHz | Crucial PC3200 DDR SDRAM at 400MHz |
| CAS latency (CL) | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) | 3 | 3 |
| RAS precharge (tRP) | 3 | 3 |
| Cycle time (tRAS) | 8 | 8 |
| Hard drive | Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB SATA 150 | Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB SATA 150 |
| Audio | Integrated nForce4/ALC850 with Realtek 5.10.0.5900 drivers | Integrated SB450/ALC880 with Realtek 5.10.00.5188 drivers |
| Graphics | GeForce 6800 GS 256MB PCI-E with ForceWare 81.98 drivers |
Radeon X1800 XL 256MB PCI-E with Catalyst 8-203-3-060104a-029367E drivers |
| Dual GeForce 6800 GS 256MB PCI-E with ForceWare 81.98 drivers |
Radeon X1800 XT 512MB PCI-E with Catalyst 8-203-3-060104a-029367E drivers |
|
| XFX GeForce 7800 GT 256MB PCI-E with ForceWare 81.98 drivers |
Radeon X1800 CrossFire + Radeon X1800 XT 512MB PCI-E with Catalyst 8-203-3-060104a-029367E drivers |
|
| Dual XFX GeForce 7800 GT 256MB PCI-E with ForceWare 81.98 drivers |
Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB PCI-E with Catalyst 8-203-3-060104a-029367E drivers |
|
| MSI GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB PCI-E with ForceWare 81.98 drivers |
Radeon X1900 CrossFire 512MB PCI-E with Catalyst 8-203-3-060104a-029367E drivers |
|
| Dual MSI GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB PCI-E with ForceWare 81.98 drivers |
Radeon X1900 CrossFire + Radeon X1900 XTX 512MB PCI-E with Catalyst 8-203-3-060104a-029367E drivers |
|
| GeForce 7800 GTX 512 512MB PCI-E with ForceWare 81.98 drivers |
||
| Dual GeForce 7800 GTX 512 512MB PCI-E with ForceWare 81.98 drivers |
||
| OS | Windows XP Professional (32-bit) | |
| OS updates | Service Pack 2, DirectX 9.0c SDK update (December 2005) | |
Thanks to Crucial for providing us with memory for our testing. 2GB of RAM seems to be the new standard for most folks, and Crucial hooked us up with some of its 1GB DIMMs for testing. Although these particular modules are rated for CAS 3 at 400MHz, they ran perfectly for us at 2.5-3-3-8 with 2.85V.
All of our test systems were powered by OCZ PowerStream 520W power supply units. The PowerStream was one of our Editor's Choice winners in our last PSU round-up.
Unless otherwise specified, the image quality settings for both ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards were left at the control panel defaults.
The test systems' Windows desktops were set at 1280x1024 in 32-bit color at an 85Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests.
We used the following versions of our test applications:
- trq4demo1 demo
- Battlefield 2 1.12
- Guild Wars
- FEAR 1.02
- Half-Life 2: Lost Coast with trcoast1 demo
- FutureMark 3DMark06 Build 1.0.2
- FRAPS 2.7.2
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.
