GTX 480 vs. HD 5870, 8x AA Performance Analysis, Part 3

X3: Terran Conflict

X3:Terran Conflict (X3:TC) is another beautiful stand-alone benchmark that runs multiple tests and will really strain a lot of video cards. X3:TC is a space trading and combat simulator from Egosoft and is the most recent of their X-series of computer games. X3:TC is a standalone expansion of X3: Reunion, based in the same universe and on the same engine. It complements the story of previous games in the X-Universe and especially continues the events after the end of X3: Reunion.

Compared to Reunion, Terran Conflict features a larger universe, more ships, and of course, new missions. The X-Universe is huge. The Terran faction was added with their own set of technology including powerful ships and stations. Many new weapons systems were developed for the expansion and it has generally received good reviews. It has a rather steep learning curve.

First we test at 2560×1600 resolution:

Nothing seems to help the minimums at 2560×1600. We see minimal performance hits from both video cards when they are set to run at 8xAA over 4xAA and their relative ranking remains unchanged; the GeForce is faster. Next we note the results at 1920×1200:

We see much the same results where the HD 5870 at 4xAA has the highest minimum but is edged out by the GTX 480 at 8xAA and also in the average and maximum frame rates. Now we test at 1680×1050:

Again we see a fairly tight grouping. However, all of our video cards perform well and all of them experience similar minimum framerates. Overall, the GTX 480 is slightly faster than the overclocked HD 5870 at 4xAA and at 8xAA although you will probably not really notice any difference actually playing this game.