System setup and notes
Hardware and Software
Test Platforms
| System | AMD Athlon 64 S939 PCI-Express System | |
| Processor | AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 | |
| Mainboard | ABIT AX8 K8T890 | |
| Memory | 1GByte (2x512MB) Corsair XMS3200XL | Memory timings | 2-2-2-5 1T |
| Graphics Card #1 | ASUS Extreme N6800 GeForce 6800 Ultra/2DT 256MB PCIe | Graphics card drivers | NVIDIA ForceWare 71.84 |
| Graphics Card #2 | ATI RADEON X850 XT PE 256MB PCIe | |
| Graphics Card #3 | ATI RADEON X850 XT 256MB PCIe | Graphics card drivers | ATI CATALYST 5.4 | Disk Drive | 160GB WD IDE |
| Monitor | Dell P991 19" CRT 1600x1200 max | |
| BIOS Version | BIOS 10 - 23rd March 2005 | |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional, SP2 | |
| Mainboard Software | VIA Hyperion Pro v4.55 | |
Benchmark Software
Futuremark 3DMark05 Build 1.2.0 - AA and AF set via application
DOOM 3 v1.1 (1282) Timedemo 1 - AA and AF set via application
Far Cry v1.3 - custom HEXUS benchmark - AA and AF set via application
Half-Life 2 - custom HEXUS benchmark - AA and AF set via application
Chronicles Of Riddick - Escape from Butcher's Bay - custom HEXUS benchmark - AA and AF set via control panel
Notes
A straight shootout against two of ATI's fastest cards. Each benchmark was run three times. The lowest and highest results were discarded. All benchmarks were set to high/max quality. These are, after all the fastest single cards that money can currently buy. AMD's Athlon 64 FX-53 and Corsair's XMS3200XL provide the system oomph to do the cards justice. No problems to report during testing.
