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 X800 GTO² 256MB PCIe (400/980) | |
| Graphics Card #2 | SAPPHIRE X800 GT Hybrid 256MB PCIe (475/980)) | |
| Graphics Card #3 | ATI Radeon X850 XT 256MB PCIe (520/1080) | Graphics Card #4 | Galaxy GeForce 6600 GT 128MB PCIe (525/1050) | Graphics Card #5 | NVIDIA reference GeForce 6800 GT 256MB PCIe (350/1000) |
| Graphics Card #6 | NVIDIA reference GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB PCIe (430/1200) | Disk Drive | 160GB Western Digtal 160JB IDE |
| BIOS Version | BIOS 13 | |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP2 | |
| Mainboard Software | VIA Hyperion Pro v4.55 | |
Software
ATI CATALYST 5.7 for ATI-based cards
NVIDIA ForceWare 77.72 for NVIDIA-based cards
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
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - custom HEXUS benchmark
Notes
When run in the standard, shipping 12-pipe setup, the SAPPHIRE Radeon X800 GTO², unsurprisingly, benchmarks in identical fashion to an X800 GTO 256MB card. It should do, because it runs at the same clocks as all 'GTOs. However, once you've opened up the remaining quad via an appropriate BIOS that doesn't change core and memory clocks, the GTO² then becomes a standard ATI Radeon X800 XL 256MB card. In view of this, we've included results for the GTO² card with both 12 and 16 pipes enabled, and you can freely consider the results to also be representative of X800 GT 256MB and X800 XL cards'. Remember that a failed BIOS flash, for whatever reason, will invalidate the card's warranty.
We're also comparing it to a wide range of cards retailing from around £100, represented by the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB and ATI Radeon X800 GT 256MB cards, up to the fastest single card available today, the NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB. No problems to report during installation or testing.
