System setup and notes
Cutting right to the numbers' chase.| Graphics cards | Gigabyte Radeon HD 4870 1,024MB | BFG GeForce GTX 260 896MB |
|---|---|---|
| Typical pricing, including VAT | £185 | £165 |
| Shader model | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| Stream processors | 800 | 216 |
| GPU clock speed (MHz) | 750 | 576 |
| Shader clock speed (MHz) | 750 | 1,242 |
| Memory clock speed (MHz) | 3,600 | 1,998 |
| Memory bus width (bits) | 256 | 448 |
| CPU | Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition (3.20GHz, 8MB L3 cache, quad-core, LGA1,366) | |
| Motherboard | Foxconn Bloodrage X58 | |
| Motherboard BIOS | P04 | |
| Mainboard software | Intel Inf 9.1.0.1012 | |
| Memory | 6GB Corsair DOMINATOR PC12,800 | |
| Memory timings and speed | 9-9-9-24 1T @ DDR3-1,333 | |
| PSU | Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1,000W | |
| Monitor | Dell 30in 3007WFP - 2,560x1,600px | |
| Disk drive(s) | Seagate 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 (3Gb/s mode) | |
| Graphics driver | Catalyst
9.3 (Windows Vista) Catalyst 9.3 (Windows 7) |
ForceWare
182.06 (Windows Vista) ForceWare 181.71 beta (Windows 7) |
| Operating system | Windows
Vista Business SP1, 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate Beta, 32-bit |
|
Software
| 3D Benchmarks | Call of Duty 4: Modern
Warfare v1.7, HEXUS custom-recorded
benchmark:
DX9 - very high quality Company Of Heroes: Opposing Fronts v2.103: DX10 - very high quality Enemy Territory: Quake Wars v1.5, HEXUS custom-recorded benchmark. OpenGL - very high quality Far Cry 2 v1.01 - very high quality Race Driver: GRID v1.2, HEXUS custom-recorded benchmark - ultra quality |
|---|
Notes
What we're attempting to quantify is the relative performance of NVIDIA and ATI's cards in the sub-£200 space, both based on high-end GPUs, and see how they stack up against current Vista results. One faux-pas on our part is the use of 32-bit Ultimate rather than 64-bit Windows 7; unavoidable time pressures made this so.Both cards ran well under Windows 7, with no obvious stability problems. Recent price maneouvering means that a Radeon HD 4870 1GB card etails for around £185, whilst an 896MB-equipped GeForce GTX 260 is now available for £165.
Let's see how things pan out under Windows 7 and Vista.
