My first graphics card review

[DrPepper]

Ok lately my friend is letting me use his 4870X2 for a little review I'd like to do. There is three cards I can compare it to that I have available so please don't complain. Also this is for personal reasons hence why the test resolution will only be 1920 x 1080

Test setup is in system specs

GPU's on trial are:

Powercolour 4870X2
EVGA GTX260 216 55nm
ASUS 3450

These three cards are respectable High end, high mainstream and last gen budget.

Programs I will be using as benchmarks

Crysis
Crysis Warhead
Company of Heroes
FurMark
Tropics Demo
3DMark Vantage
PT Boats Knights of the sea
Minesweeper
Devil May Cry
Call of Juarez

GTX260 216 at stock speeds
Crysis

Crysis Warhead

Company of Heroes

Fur Mark

Tropics Demo

3DMark Vantage

PT Boats Knights of The Sea

Devil May Cry 4

Call of Juarez

Max OC
Here is the max overclock I can achieve without voltage modification.
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/f63p3/

GTX260 Stable OC

Core Clock = 686mhz
Shader Clock = 1373mhz
Memory Clock = 1085mhz

Crysis

Crysis Warhead

Company of Heroes

Furmark

Tropics Demo

3DMark Vantage

PT Boats Knights of The Sea

Devil May Cry 4

Call of Juarez

Nvidia Results

Thanks to wolf and his bitchin' graph skillz

GTX260 Conclusion

This card was bought for £220 from overclockers UK. It is a stock GTX260 with 216 shaders and done on a 55nm process. The card's exterior is typical of nvidia's usual heatsink. A shroud covers the entire card with two inlets one on the shrouds surface and one at the very top of the card to draw in air. EVGA have done away with the backplate to save costs presumably and also because the memory chips have been re-arranged so that they are under the heatsink. The card runs very silently and cannot be heard unless you put your ear next to the card. At 100% the fan is audible but only about 40-50db as a rough guess. It runs cooler than the 65nm chips and consumes less power although the heat the card produces requires cool air being vented into the case. It also downclocks when idle with clock speeds dropping as low as 300mhz on the core to save power, heat and reduce noise.

EVGA have presented this, like most of thier cards quite extravagantly with a foam box with the shape of the card engraved into it and a foam lid with EVGA's insignia on it. The card came with Far Cry 2 <-- almost a negative point I guess , Two VGA to DVI dongles and two 4 pin to 6 pin power connectors. The driver disc contained release drivers for the card plus EVGA's precision software for overclocking. As of writing the 55nm version is not supported by EVGA's voltage tuner but future support is expected.

After upgrading to this after an 8800GT I can safely say it is about 50-60% better at gaming at maximum settings including AA and AF. For its price it has as much bang for buck value as the 4870 1GB because it is slightly more expensive but performs slightly better.

I would rate this card 8.3/10

Performance per Pound - 9
Power Consumption - 5
Ergonomics - 8
Looks - 9.5
Drivers 10

None of the above results are 100% accurate and never will be. Neither is the rating system it is based completely on my own opinion.

 

[Melvis]

Fear would be nice and easy with its inbuilt benchmark tester? also 3D mark 06?

 

[Artas1984]

First of - don't do it on a Quad Core CPU for god sakes! There is no game that takes advantage of Quad Core CPU more than over higer clocked C2D CPU! C2Q is for video editing for god sakes - it actualy makes me sick when gamers start whining "i want C2Q". BS..
And don't OC your CPU! A standart AMD 64 Athlon X2 6000+ or Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 should do just fine...

Anyway..

Anoter vote for F.E.A.R!!! Also maby some heavy shader based RPG game too.. Like NWN2 or Gothic 3 or Oblivion.. Deffinitely! Just don't include any iD/Ravensoft nvidia "edited" game LOL! This is great! I wish there were more people like you!
Since it's more trustable than reading reviews from "Tom's Hardware"


BTW!
I lauged my ass off when i saw HD3450..


Will you include some other cards in the future?

 

[DrPepper]

First of - don't do it on a Quad Core CPU for god sakes! There is no game that takes advantage of Quad Core CPU more than over higer clocked C2D CPU! C2Q is for video editing for god sakes - it actualy makes me sick when gamers start whining "i want C2Q". BS..
And don't OC your CPU! A standart AMD 64 Athlon X2 6000+ or Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 should do just fine...

Anyway..

Anoter vote for F.E.A.R!!! Also maby some heavy shader based RPG game too.. Like NWN2 or Gothic 3 or Oblivion.. Deffinitely! Just don't include any iD/Ravensoft nvidia "edited" game LOL! This is great! I wish there were more people like you!
Since it's more trustable than reading reviews from "Tom's Hardware"


BTW!
I lauged my ass off when i saw HD3450..


Will you include some other cards in the future?

Cheers for actualy commenting

issue 1 My X2 6000 windsor's only mobo is dead.
issue 2 Alot of games actualy do use quads
issue 3 I'll add oblivion but I don't actualy have fear.
I might do a 3dmark06 review but since I'm already using vantage I don't see the point.


I'l downclock the cpu to 2.4ghz and have it at 3ghz and 3.4 to see the difference. I would add more cards if my 8800GT would come back from rma and that would make for a nice mid range review.

Also all games will be done at highest settings at 16xAA and 16AF

 

[wolf]

First of - don't do it on a Quad Core CPU for god sakes! There is no game that takes advantage of Quad Core CPU more than over higer clocked C2D CPU!

untrue, UT3, TF2, Lost planet Extreme Condition, just to name a few.

not to mention todays intel quad cores will oc as well as a dual core.

i call 4+ ghz to be a good oc, wouldn't you guys?

cant wait to see the review DrPepper, looks like a good spread of games how are you going to take care of having nvidia and ATi drivers on the same box?

 

[phanbuey]

two things... one ATI drivers are a B*TCH to install after youve been playing with NV cards (did a 4870 vs 260 review for myself).. and will give the 4870X2 lower scores... After swapping cards a few times the drivers on my 4870 permaborked and gave me REALLY crappy performance.

and two... is it possible to also do a "maximum quick OC" graph per card so we can get an idea of OC vs stock performance?

Thanks!

*sunbsribed*

 

[MoonPig]

use the ClearSky Benchmark that was released last week, i've run it and it's quite extensive. Takes you through the swamps.

 

[craigwhiteside]

I don't actualy have fear.

Here ya go, F.E.A.R Combat should work nicely

http://www.gamershell.com/download_15038.shtml

its a multiplayer only version of F.E.A.R (which is free), and I believe it includes the benchmark too.

 

[wolf]

and two... can you also do a "maximum quick OC" graph per card so we can get an idea of OC vs stock performance?

Thanks!

*sunbsribed*

thats a fantastic idea, knowing stock VS max OC scores would be an awesome addition.

 

[DrPepper]

I will oc all 3 cards if the owner of the 4870 allows.

I will add other games if you wish and an OC versus stock comparison.

 

[phanbuey]

I will oc all 3 cards if the owner of the 4870 allows.

I will add other games if you wish and an OC versus stock comparison.

I vote for OC versus stock comparison and MIN FPS vs stock MIN... I think that OC performance is the true measure of a card's performance and one which too many reviews either ignore, or put at the very end of the article saying, "oh yeah it can also OC 30%." or "it can't really OC at all"...

OC performance and its impact on MIN frames is what I would love to see from any review. Too bad so many of them completely disregard it when this is one of the biggest impacts on the decision to purchase a videocard.

(if its not too much work btw)

 

[DrPepper]

I've got alot of free time. I should have done this months ago.

 

[wolf]

I vote for OC versus stock comparison and MIN FPS vs stock MIN... I think that OC performance is the true measure of a card's performance and one which too many reviews either ignore, or put at the very end of the article saying, "oh yeah it can also OC 30%." or "it can't really OC at all"...

OC performance and its impact on MIN frames is what I would love to see from any review. Too bad so many of them completely disregard it when this is one of the biggest impacts on the decision to purchase a videocard.

(if its not too much work btw)

man you and i have a very similar brainwave, its all about MIN FPS for me too.

a min/avg/max graph would be ideal if possible, but really MIN and AVG are what matter the most

 

[DrPepper]

Well since I have a shitload of free time you guys can add games you want done and I'l see if I can get them done but this review will be over a fairly long period of time.

Also the driver issue will be fixed because I need to reformat anyway.

If anyone wants to add me on msn and ask questions feel free to do so

djpenman@hotmail.co.uk

 

[phanbuey]

man you and i have a very similar brainwave, its all about MIN FPS for me too.

a min/avg/max graph would be ideal if possible, but really MIN and AVG are what matter the most

 

[DrPepper]

Ok making good progress with the GTX260

I've got pictures of the settings and the result for 5 out of 9 benchmarks and then time for the 4870X2 to go in the ringer.

 

[zithe]

No oblivion?

Excited to see how this goes.

 

[DrPepper]

No oblivion?

Excited to see how this goes.

I'l give oblivion a go since but I could bench fallout 3 instead. Same engine except more demanding

 

[DrPepper]

Ok here's some preliminary stock benchies been done enjoy. Next on the list are oc'd benchies.

 

[phanbuey]

sweet!

 

[DrPepper]

sweet!

Now to do that all over again with the oc'd GTX then reinstall windows and go at it with a stock 4870X2 then an oc'd one.

 

[viczulis]

I have three fears for sell in my FS games thread.

 

[zithe]

I'l give oblivion a go since but I could bench fallout 3 instead. Same engine except more demanding

Oblivion + QTP3 + MTAEVWD.

 

[DrPepper]

Oblivion + QTP3 + MTAEVWD.

Erm what do the abbreviations mean

 

[zithe]

Erm what do the abbreviations mean

"Qarl's Texture Pack 3" and "More than almost everything viewable when distant"