System setup and notes
Hardware and Software
Test Platforms
| Systems | Athlon 64 S939 PCI-Express System | |
| Processor | AMD Athlon 64 4000+ | |
| Mainboard | ABIT AX8 K8T890 | |
| Memory | 1GByte (2x512MB) Corsair XMS3200 XL | Memory timings | 2-2-2-5 1T @ DDR400 |
| Graphics Card #1 | SAPPHIRE RADEON X1800 XT 512MB PCIe (621/1494) | |
| Graphics Card #2 | Leadtek PX7800 GTX TDH MyVIVO Extreme 256MB PCIe (490/1250) | |
| Graphics Card #3 | GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB PCIe (430/1200) | Graphics Card #4 | XFX GeForce 7800 GT 256MB PCIe (450/1050) | Graphics Card #5 | GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB PCIe (425/1100) | Graphics Card #6 | SAPPHIRE RADEON X1800 XL 256MB PCIe (500/990) |
| Graphics Card #7 | ATI RADEON X850 XT 256MB PCIe (520/1080) | Disk Drive | 160GB Western Digital 160JB IDE |
| Monitor | Dell 2001FP 20.1-inch TFT - 1600x1200 native resolution | |
| BIOS Version | BIOS 13 | |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP2 | |
| Mainboard Software | VIA Hyperion Pro v4.55 | |
Software
ATI 8.173.2.3-051014a1-027813C for SAPPHIRE X1800 XT 512MB and 'XT 256MB
ATI CATALYST 5.10 for ATI RADEON X850 XT
NVIDIA ForceWare 81.85 for NVIDIA-based cards
Futuremark 3DMark05 Build 1.2.0 - AA and AF set via application
DOOM 3 (v1282) Timedemo 1 - AA and AF set via application
Far Cry v1.33 - custom HEXUS benchmark - AA and AF set via application
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory v1.04 - custom HEXUS benchmark - AA and AF set via application
Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay - custom HEXUS benchmark - AA and AF set via control panel
Half-Life 2 - custom HEXUS benchmark - AA and AF via application
Notes
We'll be comparing these two high-end cards against a number of other top-end performers, including a GeForce 7800 GTX, a GeForce 7800 GT, and ATI's RADEON X1800 XL. All cards bar the SAPPHIRE X1800 XT utilise a 256MB framebuffer. We've currently got a GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB card in the labs and will add its results to the ones on the following pages in due course.
No installation or testing problems to report. We tested SAPPHIRE's RADEON X1800 XT with the 8.183-051014a1-027813C-ATI driver set. It bears repeating that it's an iteration newer than the one we used to test the SAPPHIRE X1800 XL 256MB card with, although benchmark performances are identical. The major difference, as far as we can see, is that this new set rolls in the OpenGL-based antialiasing performance improvements that had to be manually configured by a third-party app. Please see our look at just what a difference this improvement makes here
The SAPPHIRE X1800 XT card also runs at slightly lower frequencies than those found on the reference card, which is clocked in at 631MHz core and 1504MHz (effective) memory. This retail sample, when subjected to 3D load, increased frequencies from a 2D 594/1386 to 621/1494MHz, respectively, so whilst it is a true X1800 XT in every sense of the word, it will benchmark a couple of percent slower than the reference model.