Hardware Test Setup And Benchmarks
| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i7-975 Extreme (Bloomfield) 3.33 GHz, 6.4 GT/s, 8 MB L3 Cache, power-saving settings disabled Overclocked to 4 GHz (25 * 160 MHz) |
| Motherboard | Asus Rampage II Extreme (LGA 1366) X58/ICH10, BIOS 1504 |
| Memory | Corsair Dominator 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 @ 1,600 MHz |
| Hard Drive | Intel SSDSA2MH160G2C1 160 GB SATA 3 Gb/s |
| Networking | Realtek RTC8111C, 1 Gbps |
| Graphics Cards | ATI Radeon HD 5970 2GB |
| ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB | |
| ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB | |
| ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB | |
| ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GB | |
| ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 1.8GB | |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 1GB | |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master UCP 1100 W |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Platform Driver | Intel INF Chipset Update Utility 9.1.1.1019 |
| Graphics Driver | AMD Catalyst 8.663.1 |
| AMD Catalyst 9.9 | |
| Nvidia GeForce 190.62 | |
| Benchmark | Configuration |
|---|---|
| World in Conflict | Very High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Patch 1009, DirectX 10 |
| Very High Quality Settings, 4x AA / 16x AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Patch 1009, DirectX 10 | |
| Far Cry 2 | Ultra High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Steam Version |
| Ultra High Quality Settings, 8x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Steam Version | |
| Crysis | Very High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1900x1200, 2560x1600, Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit Executable |
| Very High Quality Settings, 8x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1900x1200, 2560x1600 Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit Executable | |
| Left 4 Dead | Highest Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Steam Version |
| Highest Quality Settings, 8x AA / 16x AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Steam Version | |
| Grand Theft Auto IV | Highest Quality Settings, No AA / "High" AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, 2560x1600, Patch #3 |
| Stalker: Clear Sky | Extreme Quality Setting, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, DirectX 10 lighting |
| Extreme Quality Setting, 4x MSAA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, DirectX 10 lighting | |
| H.A.W.X. | Highest Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, AO enabled, DirectX 10/10.1 |
| Highest Quality Settings, 8x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, AO enabled, DirectX 10/10.1 | |
| Resident Evil 5 | High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, DirectX 10, Fixed Benchmark |
| High Quality Settings, 8x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600, DirectX 10, Fixed Benchmark | |
| 3DMark Vantage | Performance Default, High Quality, Extreme Quality |
Drivers For Days
During the course of the past two months, I’ve literally tested thousands of combinations of platforms, graphics cards, games, and resolutions. Along the way, ATI and Nvidia have revised their supporting software, fine-tuning for bugs, enhancing performance, and adding functionality (like support for Drag and Drop transcoding in Windows 7).
In order to get this story finished in time for ATI’s launch, we’re using the results from our Radeon HD 5870 and 5850 launches for comparison. But before we “went there,” we wanted to test cards from both vendors to demonstrate comparability. On the ATI side, it’s beta 8.66 R6 driver versus 8.663.1 (the Hemlock-supplied driver). On the Nvidia side, it’s GeForce 190.62 versus GeForce 191.07.
The only title that demonstrates any notable difference in either one of our comparisons is H.A.W.X. on the ATI cards. Everything else looks to be very comparable, making our typically-uncommon benchmark recycling a sound exercise.
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amd did it again! WOW,..aren't we all shocked! lets see something out of their cpu line now! Ati's a life saver!!!
pity Toms forgot to include triple GTX285s
If they include triple GTX285s they will include 2 5970 aswell.
But the people who are gonna pay 1110$ for the gtx's or 1200$ for the dual 5970 really dont need the benchmarks, for them its a presitige to have this, so including them in this article is kinda useless.
All Hail ATi!!!
What a huge piece of tech!
Anyone else see the potential for a 5990 with GPUs shipped at 5870 speeds?
it even has solder points to make the 6pin into an 8pin PCIe power connector!
Can someone please explain to me why these graphics cards are referred to as 'discrete'? They're like the absolute least discrete components in my machine. Now that I mention it, why are they still called graphics cards and not graphics bricks??
And another question... are AMD aware that this card is bottlenecked by their fastest CPU? That means they are pretty much forcing customers who buy this to Intel .... what were they thinking??
AMD better put their foot down on those 6-core chips.
Awesome! cant wait to get my hands on one!
And still Crysis cannot be played at full detail with Aliasing / Filtering on as well @ 1080p...
You know what is the best thing about this card? OMFG!!! 640 euros!! Now that, my friends, is the best feature AMD could have implemented!!!
P.S :640 Euros = 957.95200 U.S. dollars. But wait, this card is 660 U.S. dollars = 440.940673 Euros.
Can someone please explain to me why these graphics cards are referred to as 'discrete'? They're like the absolute least discrete components in my machine. Now that I mention it, why are they still called graphics cards and not graphics bricks??
graphics mountains more like it
@Dandalf:
You seem to be confusing "discrete" with "discreet".
5970 is £574 at Novatech, I'm tempted but I'll wait for Nvidia's release.
i wish i could buy it.
This beast make my GTX275 looks like little toy..*sigh* even a tri sli cant even be compared with it..time to break my piggy bank LoL
Woop jimb you are right! My second point stands though
From dictionary.com
1. Constituting a separate thing
adj.
1. Marked by, exercising, or showing prudence and wise self-restraint in speech and behavior; circumspect.
2. Free from ostentation or pretension; modest.
Oh and the 5970 seems amazing. Out of my budget though, but then I'm happy with my 4850 which is considered weak sauce compared to these!
strictly for idiots.
I've got 2 HD5870's
better than HD5970 right?