How we test
GPU comparisons |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics cards | Current pricing | GPU clock (MHz) | Stream processors | Shader clock (MHz) | Memory clock (MHz) | Memory bus (bits) | Graphics driver |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1,536MB | £399 | 772 | 512 | 1,544 | 4,008 | 384 | ForceWare 262.99 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 480 1,536MB | £340 | 700 | 480 | 1,401 | 3,698 | 384 | ForceWare 262.99 |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 470 1,280MB | £200 | 607 | 448 | 1,215 | 3,348 | 320 | ForceWare 260.89 |
| KFA
GeForce GTX 460 1,024MB SLI |
£300 | 675 | 336 | 1,350 | 3,600 | 256 x 2 | ForceWare 260.89 |
| KFA
GeForce GTX 460 1,024MB |
£150 | 675 | 336 | 1,350 | 3,600 | 256 | ForceWare 260.89 |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 460 768MB | £135 | 675 | 336 | 1,350 | 3,600 | 192 | ForceWare 260.89 |
| HIS Radeon HD 5970 2,048MB | £430 | 725 | 1,600 x 2 | 725 | 4,000 | 256 x 2 | Catalyst 10.10P |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1,024MB XF | £300 | 775 | 960 x 2 | 775 | 4,000 | 256 x 2 | Catalyst 10.10P |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1,024MB | £150 | 775 | 960 | 775 | 4,000 | 256 | Catalyst 10.10P |
| HIS Radeon HD 5870 1,024MB | £275 | 825 | 1,600 | 825 | 4,800 | 256 | Catalyst 10.10P |
| HIS Radeon HD 6870 1,024MB | £175 | 900 | 1,120 | 900 | 4,200 | 256 | Catalyst 10.10P |
| HIS Radeon HD 5850 1,024MB XF | £430 | 725 | 1,440 x 2 | 725 | 4,000 | 256 x2 | Catalyst 10.10P |
| HIS Radeon HD 5850 1,024MB | £215 | 725 | 1,440 | 725 | 4,000 | 256 | Catalyst 10.10P |
Test bench |
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| CPU | Intel Core i7 980X Extreme Edition (3.33GHz, 12MB L3 cache, hexa-core, LGA1366 - Turbo Boost enabled) | |||||||||||
| Motherboard | ASUS P6X58D Premium | |||||||||||
| Motherboard BIOS | 1002 | |||||||||||
| 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 Force F80 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, 16xAF, very high quality. | |||||||||||
| Just Cause 2 | DX10, 1,680x1,050, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, 4xAA, 16xAF, Dark Tower benchmark | |||||||||||
| Mafia II | DX9, 1,680x1,050, 1,920x1,080 and 2,560x1,600 resolutions, AA on, 16x AF, built-in benchmark | |||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||
| Unigine Heaven v2.1 | DX11, 1,920x1,080, various tessellation modes | |||||||||||
| 3DMark Vantage b1.0.2 | DX10, Run at the 'high' preset and overall, GPU and Feature Test 4 scores noted | |||||||||||
| Temperature | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and whilst playing Call of Duty: MW2. 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 Call of Duty: MW2. And, for a worst-case scenario, we throw in numbers from the FurMark stress test. | |||||||||||
| Noise | A PCE-318 noise level meter is placed at GPU height and 20cm away from the card installed inside a Corsair 700D chassis with side panel on. | |||||||||||
Notes
We've got a total of 14 high-end GPUs in this performance round-up. NVIDIA provided the press with the ForceWare 262.99 driver for testing with the GTX 580. We wanted to ensure that the numbers between the new GPU and GTX 480 lined up perfectly, and this is why the GTX 480 was retested with the newer set.Extending the same courtesy to AMD cards, we tried benchmarking both the HD 5970 and HD 5870 with the very latest Catalyst 10.10d drivers. Benchmark performance was at times comfortably lower than the press 10.10 set. We therefore kept the older set for these benchmarks. Providing you with a better idea of how best to spend money, the benchmarks also include three multi-GPU setups - GTX 460 1GB SLI, HD 5850 XF, and HD 6850 XF - all of which undercut the GTX 580's expected £399 price tag.
We transitioned between benchmarks for the Radeon HD 6850/70 review. HEXUS.community members wished to see how the cards performed in our older suite, comprised of DiRT 2, Crysis Warhead, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. With time to test still being a limiting factor, we've tried our best and benchmarked the truly high-end GPUs - GTX 580, 480, HD 5970 and HD 5870 - on the older games and included them, just for you.