Test Settings
We began today’s 3-way GTX 260 Core 216 versus 2-way GTX 280 comparison with our $2,500 System Builder Marathon machine, substituting two EVGA part number 01G-P3-1280-AR graphics cards for the 2-way test.
For a price-per-performance 3-way versus 2-way shootout, the only challenge this configuration faced was that the GeForce GTX 260 graphics cards came from EVGA pre-overclocked by 8.68% for the GPU core and 5.4% for the memory. To make the comparison fair, we overclocked the GTX 280 cards by the same amount, resulting in a 654 MHz GPU core and 2338 MHz GDDR3 data rate. The new clock speed is comparable to EVGA's part number 01G-P3-1284-AR.
Test System Configuration | |
|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core i7 920 (2.66 GHz, 8.0 MB Cache) |
Overclocked to 4.00 GHz (BCLK 200) | |
CPU Cooler | Vigor Monsoon III LT |
2x 2000 RPM 120 mm Fans (Stock) | |
Motherboard | EVGA X58 3X SLI (P/N: 132-BL-E758-A) |
Intel X58/ICH10R Chipset, LGA-1366 | |
RAM | 3.0 GB Super Talent DDR3-1333 CAS 8 |
Overclocked to DDR3-1600 CL 9-8-8-16 | |
3-Way SLI Graphics | 3x EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 S.E. |
626 MHz GPU, GDDR3-2106 | |
2-Way SLI Graphics | 2x EVGA GeForce GTX 280 (Overclocked) |
654 MHz GPU, GDDR3-2338 | |
Hard Drives | 3x Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ RAID 5 |
1.0 TB, 7,200 RPM, 32 MB Cache | |
Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
Case | Cooler Master Stacker 830 Evolution (Black) |
Power | Silverstone OP1000 Evolution |
ATX12V v2.2. EPS12V, 1000 W, 80 A +12 V Rail | |
Optical | LG GGC-H20LK 6X Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM, 16X DVD±R |
Additional Fans | 2x Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120 mm 1,600 RPM |
Software | |
OS | Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit SP1 |
Graphics | NVidia GeForce 180.48 |
Chipset | Intel INF 8.3.0.1016 |
Some of our graphics benchmarks have been handicapped by CPU rather than GPU limitations, so we left our $2,500 PC’s overclock in place to shift this limitation by the greatest amount possible to the graphics cards.
We also repeated the full benchmark suite from our System Builder Marathon, including encoding and productivity benchmarks, to check for any additional CPU overhead that might have been caused by using three graphics cards in the GTX 260 Core 216 configuration.
Benchmarks and Settings | |
|---|---|
3D Games | |
Crysis | Version: 1.2.1, Video Quality: Very High Details, Demo: CPU-Benchmark + Tom’s Hardware Tool |
Supreme Commander | Version: 1.5.3599, Video Quality: Highest Settings, Demo : WallaceTX_006_006, Benchmark: Fraps 2.9.4 - Build 7037 |
Forged Alliance | |
Unreal Tournament 3 | Version: 1.2, Sound and DirectX10, Texture Details: 5, Level Details: 5, Demo: vCTF-Reflection_bot, Time: 12/60 |
World in Conflict | Version: 1.0.0.9, Video Quality: Very High details, Demo: Game-Benchmark |
Audio Encoding | |
iTunes | Version: 7.7.0.43, Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 min, Default format AAC |
Lame MP3 | Version: 3.98 Beta 3 (05-22-2007), Audio CD ""Terminator II" SE, 53 min, wave to MP3, 160 Kb/s |
Video Encoding | |
TMPEG 4.5 | Version: 4.5.1.254, Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes), Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9 |
DivX 6.8.3 | Encoding mode: Insane Quality, Enhanced Multi-threading, Enabled using SSE4, Quarter-pixel search |
XviD 1.1.3 | Display encoding status=off |
Mainconcept Reference 1.5.1 | MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kbp/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS), Profile: Tom’s Hardware Settings for Qct-Core |
Reference H.264 Plugin Pro 1.5.1 | |
Applications | |
Autodesk 3D Studio Max 9 | Version: 9.0, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV) |
Adobe Photoshop CS 3 | Version: 10.0x20070321, Filtering from a 69 MB TIF-Photo, Benchmark: Tomshardware-Benchmark V1.0.0.4, Filters: Crosshatch, Glass, Sumi-e, Accented Edges, Angled Strokes, Sprayed Strokes |
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 8 | Version: 8.0.134, Virus base: 270.4.5/1533, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files |
Winrar 3.80 | Version 3.70 BETA 8, WinZIP Commandline Version 2.3, Compression= Best, Dictionary= 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
Winzip 11 | Version 11.2, Compression=Best, Benchmark: THG-Workload (139 MB) |
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
3DMark Vantage | Version: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores |
PCMark Vantage | Version: 1.00, System, Memory, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646 |
SiSoftware Sandra XII SP2 | Version 2008.5.14.24, CPU Test=CPU Arithmetic/MultiMedia, Memory Test=Bandwidth Benchmark |
It just goes to show how quickly things move along, and goes to support my personal mantra of "if you're prepared to pay for it, then get it when you want it". You simply cannot hang about now waiting for significant price drops or the next big thing because it all moves along too quickly.
are these better than my gforce 2 mx440?
nice article, but ca you please be consistent with the colours on the graphs, sometimes the 260's are blues sometimes the 280's are blue, this changed on the same page. We can see which bar is biggest we don't need 'blue is best' style colour coding as well.
All looks so very nice! I now have to find out if it is worth it to upgarde to these or wait? I have 2 BFG8800 GTs, perhaps I should wait for the next gen. of cards to come out. I just hope that my 1000 watt power supply will be good enough for the next gen. of cards?!?!
1000 watt is sure enough! You could run two GTX280 cards with that. With the smaller manufacturing processes coming up, graphic cards shouldn't get more power thirsty in the future then the current top line. The GTX280 and 260 are the most power hungry cards in history. It's redicilous actually how much power these things require.
If I were you, I would wait. The 8800GT is still a decent card, and with two of them, you still can run almost every game to the max. I don't know what your processor is, probably an E8400 or a Q6600. With those processors (especially the Q6600), anything faster then two 8800GT cards will be overkill. Your processor will be a bottleneck. Only with the really fast i7 systems it makes sense to put in two cards. You can even see in these benchmarks that the i7 processor here bottlenecks 3 GTX260 cards. I would only put that much graphics power in the i7 extreme processor, and then still it would probably be a bottleneck. These graphics cards are redicilously powerful on their own. There isn't a processor out there yet which can keep up with 3 GTX280, or even GTX260 cards.
i've got a Q6600 on a G33 board with 4Gb DDR800 @ 1066
GFX card is an aging 7950GT (quadro 3500) and its getting choppy running current games at 2560x1024.
what single card can i upgrade to to push that and 3840x1024 happily?
i know the Q6600 is going to be a bottleneck etc, but i'm not going to upgrade till i7 gets down to mainstream, so 260? 280? 285? and has anyone got a massive passive cooling solution for the 200 series?
Forget about all the benchmark crap! Go buy a good card or 2 or 3 and put them in your rig. If you have a great picture and graphics at whatever resolutions you play, then that's all that matters!!!