Big GPU Shootout – Revisited

Welcome to our Big GPU Shootout, Revisited.  We are updating our first “Big GPU Shootout” review that we published back in November.  We now feature ten video card configurations which are four more than the last time, and we also expect to add more later on as we continue to benchmark for you. In our last review, CrossFire-X eXplored, we tested AMD hardware with Catalyst 9-4 which you can now directly compare with Catalyst 9-5 performance in this review.  To compare Nvidia drivers, you need to refer to the article before that one, Diamond HD4890-XOC Review, to compare the 182.08 driver set then, with the next set 185.85 now. In this way, you can directly judge the progress ATi and Nvidia are making with their drivers.

Do I need to upgrade?  This is perhaps the most commonly asked question by today’s gamer.  This review showcases the performance comparison between last generation’s top and midrange cards vs. today’s latest and greatest, as well as including today’s midrange.  When we started benchmarking well over 9 months ago with Catalyst 8-8 and GeForce 175.19, we were not quite certain exactly where we would go or what we would find. We did have a clear idea that we would try to determine if video cards from the last generation or so need upgrading; and we are referring particularly to Radeon 2900/3800 series, and GeForce 8800/9800 series.

We decided to test the 2900 XT, which is largely unsurpassed by the 3800 series – and is also the near-equivalent of the 8800 GTS series – as representative of the upper-midrange cards of that generation. We also picked the venerable 8800 GTX, which has been a top choice standard for about 2 years and was mostly unsurpassed by Nvidia’s offerings, except for the higher-clocked Ultra, until GTX 280 launched last Summer – which we are also testing.  We also added the 9800 GT and the GTS 250 to our comparisons; less expensive midrange follow-ups to the 8800 series and we are adding HD 4890, ATi’s follow-up to HD 4870 series.

Each card has been tested for weeks and you will also get impressions of relative performance beyond benchmarking to actual game play – which is subjective and will be clearly stated as personal opinion or preference. We will also be testing CrossFire X-3 = 4870×2 + 4870, 4890 CrossFire, and HD 4870-X2 will be standing in for 4870 CrossFire. We use Intel’s Q9550s at 4.0 GHz with each of our video cards and CrossFire combinations.  We are using Catalyst 9-5 and GeForce 185.85; final certified drivers are used for our testing all through this review series. Identical 250GB hard drives are set up with the latest version of Vista 64; each with identical programs, updates and patches – the only differences are the video cards.

We are continuing to test at two of the most popular demanding wide-screen resolutions, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200, 4xAA plus 16xAF and with maximum DX10 details whenever it is available.  For our four older and mid-range video cards, we will test at 1440×900 resolution also – but not at 1920×1200 as they have a difficult time generally managing that resolution.

Our single GPU reference cards are:

• Radeon HD 2900 XT 512MB (743/825)
• GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB (575/900)
• GeForce 9800 GT 1GB (600/900)
• GeForce GTS 250 512MB (738/1100)
• GeForce GTX 280 1GB (602/1107)
• Radeon HD 4870 1GB (750/900)
  
• Radeon HD 4890 1GB (850/975)

CrossFire/TriFire is represented by:

• HD 4870-X2 (750/900) which is very similar to 4870 CrossFire at stock speeds
• HD 4890-CrossFire (850/975)
• HD 4870-X2 plus HD 4870 in CrossFire-X3 (750/900)

We are paying attention to how the drivers have changed overall in relation to each other and we are also setting new benches for you.  The old ones we ran back in November cannot be exactly compared as they were run on Vista 32.