Test methodology
Out the box, KFA2's overclocked frequencies could push the GTX 460 1GB LTD OC's performance up into Radeon HD 5850 or GeForce GTX 470 territory.
To find out exactly where it fits in, we're putting it up against a complete range of mid-to-high-end cards from both AMD and NVIDIA. For your reference, here's a breakdown of the comparison graphics cards, our trusty ol' test bench and our current list of benchmarks.
GPU comparisons |
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| Graphics cards | ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 1,536MB | ZOTAC GeForce GTX 470 1,280MB | ASUS GeForce GTX 465 1,024MB | ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 SLI 1,024MB | EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SC SLI 768MB | KFA2 GeForce GTX 460 LTD OC 1,024MB | ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 1,024MB | EVGA GeForce GTX 460 768MB | Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 XF 1,024MB | HIS Radeon HD 5870 1,024MB | Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1,024MB | Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 1,024MB |
| Current pricing | £370 | £235 | £195 | £370 | £360 | £210 | £185 | £165 | £470 | £325 | £235 | £170 |
| Shader model | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Stream processors | 480 | 448 | 352 | 336 x2 | 336 x2 | 336 | 336 | 336 | 1,440 x2 | 1,600 | 1,440 | 1,120 |
| GPU clock speed (MHz) | 700 | 607 | 607 | 675 | 763 | 810 | 675 | 675 | 725 | 850 | 725 | 800 |
| Shader clock speed (MHz) | 1,401 | 1,215 | 1,215 | 1,350 | 1,526 | 1,620 | 1,350 | 1,350 | 725 | 850 | 725 | 800 |
| Memory clock speed (MHz) | 3,698 | 3,348 | 3,208 | 3,600 | 3,800 | 4,000 | 3,600 | 3,600 | 4,000 | 4,800 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| Memory bus width (bits) | 384 | 320 | 256 | 256 x2 | 192 x2 | 256 | 256 | 192 | 256 x2 | 256 | 256 | 256 |
| Graphics driver | ForceWare 258.80 | ForceWare 258.80 | ForceWare 258.80 | ForceWare 258.80 | ForceWare 258.80 | ForceWare 258.80 | ForceWare 258.80 | ForceWare 258.80 | Catalyst 10.6 | Catalyst 10.6 | Catalyst 10.6 | Catalyst 10.6 |
Test bench |
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| CPU | Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition (3.20GHz, 8MB L3 cache, quad-core, LGA1366 - Turbo Boost enabled) | |||||||||||
| Motherboard | ASUS P6X58D Premium | |||||||||||
| Motherboard BIOS | 0808 | |||||||||||
| Memory | 6GB Corsair DDR3 | |||||||||||
| Memory timings and speed | 9-9-9-24-1T @ DDR3-1,600 | |||||||||||
| PSU | Corsair HX1000W | |||||||||||
| Monitor | Dell 30in 3007WFP - 2,560x1,600px | |||||||||||
| Disk drive(s) | Corsair Nova V128 SSD | |||||||||||
| Operating system | Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit | |||||||||||
Benchmarks |
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| Aliens vs. Predator | DX11, 1,680x1,050, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 2xAA, 8xAF, very high quality. | |||||||||||
| Battlefield: Bad Company 2 | DX11, 1,680x1,050, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, ultra quality, FRAPS-recorded benchmark. | |||||||||||
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | DX9, 1,680x1,050, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, ultra quality, FRAPS-recorded benchmark. | |||||||||||
| Crysis Warhead | DX10, 1,680x1,050, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, gamer quality, Frost map, FRAPS-recorded benchmark. | |||||||||||
| DiRT 2 | DX11, 1,680x1,050, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, ultra quality, London map. | |||||||||||
| Temperature | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and whilst playing Crysis Warhead. And, for a worst-case scenario, we throw in numbers from the Furmark stress test. | |||||||||||
| Power consumption | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record mains power draw both when idle and whilst playing Crysis Warhead. And, for a worst-case scenario, we throw in numbers from the Furmark stress test. | |||||||||||
| Noise | Albeit not scientific, we use the tried-and-trusted human ear to share an opinion on GPU noise. | |||||||||||