{"id":18867,"date":"2010-06-10T22:59:11","date_gmt":"2010-06-10T21:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=18867"},"modified":"2010-06-12T00:11:08","modified_gmt":"2010-06-11T23:11:08","slug":"catalyst-10-5-and-geforce-197-75-performance-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/catalyst-10-5-and-geforce-197-75-performance-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalyst 10.5 and GeForce 197.75 performance analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n                   google_ad_client = \"pub-7021221536180758\"; \/* 468x60, created 11\/11\/09 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"1949837292\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">As part of an ongoing feature for AlienBabelTech, this editor will be comparing the performance of 21 benchmarks with the current monthly Catalyst driver release versus the one from the previous month.  Catalyst 10-5 was released at the end of last month and we naturally ask ourselves if there any performance improvements for the new Radeon 5000 series in games.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">As part of something new, since we are also benching GTX 480 for an unrelated review, we will give separate performance charts showing the performance changes in the latest WHQL GeForce drivers, 197.75 versus 197.41.\u00a0 We will not directly compare the Radeon to the GeForce performance as difference sets of criteria was used for the benching of each card.\u00a0 Since we are testing performance of Catalyst 10-5 for other articles and reviews, the HD 5870 was mostly benched with 4xAA and the GTX 480 was benched at 8xAA.\u00a0 However, you can see the <em>relative performance<\/em> change of each driver by looking at the charts.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">We are going to test Catalyst 10.4 against Catalyst 10.5 using our current benchmark suite of 20 games plus one synthetic benchmark, <em>Heaven 1.0<\/em>. We also added <em>Alien versus Predator <\/em>benchmark and we are now using the full retail version of <em>DIRT2&#8217;s<\/em> DX11 path instead of our earlier DX9c path from the demo version in previous reviews.\u00a0 Our testing platform is Windows 7 64-bit using Core i7 920 at 3.80 GHz, 6 GB DD3, and our video cards are HD 5870 and GTX 480.  All of our games are tested at 2560&#215;1600, 1920&#215;1200 and 1680&#215;1050 resolutions and with maxed-out in-game settings plus 4xAA or 8xAA\/16xAF and we use DX11\/10\/10.1 whenever possible.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Let\u2019s get right to the test configuration and the tests.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><!--pagetitle: Introduction--><!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: medium\"><span style=\"font-size: large\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00\"><strong>Test Configuration<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> <span style=\"color: #ffff00\"><strong> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00\"><strong>Test Configuration &#8211; Intel Hardware Core i7<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00\"><strong> <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">Intel Core i7 920 reference 2.66 GHz and overclocked to 3.8 GHz); Turbo (21X multiplier for 3.97 GHz of a single core) is on. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">Gigabyte <\/span>EX58-UD3R <span style=\"font-size: small\">(Intel X58 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 2.0 specification; CrossFire\/SLI 16x+16x).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">6 GB DDR3 PC 1800 Kingston RAM (3&#215;2 GB, tri-channel at PC 1600 speeds; 2&#215;2 GB supplied by Kingston)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">ATi Radeon HD 5870 PCS+ by PowerColor at reference clocks, 850\/1200 MHz<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">GeForce GTX 480 (NVIDIA reference version stock clocks)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">Onboard Realtek Audio<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">2 &#8211; 250 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 hard drives<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">Thermaltake ToughPowerXT 775 watt power supply <\/span><span style=\"font-size: small\">and Element G case supplied by Thermaltake<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">HP LP 3065 2560&#215;1600 30 inch LCD<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffff00\">Test Configuration &#8211; Software<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><span style=\"font-size: small\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">ATi Catalyst 10-4 and 10-5 (WHQL); highest quality mip-mapping set in the driver, Catalyst AI set to \u201cStandard\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">GeForce 197.41 and 197.75 (WHQL) &#8220;High Quality&#8221;<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium; very latest updates<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">DirectX February 2010.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">All games are patched to their latest versions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">vsync is off in the control panel and is never set in-game.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">4xAA enabled in all games (unless specified as 8xAA) and &#8220;forced&#8221; in Catalyst Control Center for<em> UT3<\/em>; all in-game settings at &#8220;maximum&#8221; or &#8220;ultra&#8221; with 16xAF always applied<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">All results show average, minimum and maximum frame rates except as noted.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">Windows 7, all DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths; DX11 titles under DX11 render paths and DX9c, etc.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ffff00\">The Benchmarks<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Far Cry 2<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Crysis<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">F.E.A.R.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Unreal Tournament 3<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Just Cause 2<br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">World in Conflict<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Call of Juarez<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Batman: Arkham Asylum<br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Left4Dead<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Lost Planet<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Call of Duty 4<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">X3:Terran Conflict<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Enemy Territories: Quake Wars<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">ARMA2<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">H.A.W.X.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Battleforge<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Dirt 2<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Call of Pripyat<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Resident Evil 5<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-size: small\">Alien versus Predator<br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: small\">Heaven (Unigine) 1.0<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Let&#8217;s head right for the results of our performance testing of Catalyst 10-4 versus 10.5 and GeForce 197.41 versus 197.71<\/p>\n<p><!--pagetitle: Test Configuration--><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: small\"><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><span style=\"color: #ffff00\"><strong>Benchmarks &amp; Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Here are our results of 21 benchmarks &#8211; 20 games and one synthetic &#8211; compared between Catalyst 10-4 and 10-5 and GeForce 197.41 versus 197.75<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8220;Wins&#8221; are in <strong>bold<\/strong>; if there is a tie, both results will be in bold type.<\/p>\n<p style=\"TEXT-ALIGN: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_1.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18947\" title=\"AMD_1\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_1.JPG?resize=322%2C671\" alt=\"AMD_1\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_2.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18948\" title=\"AMD_2\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_2.JPG?resize=318%2C607\" alt=\"AMD_2\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_2.JPG?resize=318%2C607 318w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_2-157x300.jpg 157w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 318px) 100vw, 318px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_3.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18949\" title=\"AMD_3\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_3.JPG?resize=321%2C619\" alt=\"AMD_3\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_3.JPG?resize=321%2C619 321w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_3-155x300.jpg 155w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 321px) 100vw, 321px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_4.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18950\" title=\"AMD_4\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_4.JPG?resize=322%2C301\" alt=\"AMD_4\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_4.JPG?resize=322%2C301 322w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/AMD_4-300x280.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Here is the GTX 480 benched with GeForce 197.41 vs 197.75<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_1.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18951\" title=\"NV_1\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_1.JPG?resize=326%2C674\" alt=\"NV_1\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_1.JPG?resize=326%2C674 326w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_1-145x300.jpg 145w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 326px) 100vw, 326px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_2.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18952\" title=\"NV_2\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_2.JPG?resize=325%2C614\" alt=\"NV_2\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_3.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18953\" title=\"NV_3\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_3.JPG?resize=322%2C619\" alt=\"NV_3\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_3.JPG?resize=322%2C619 322w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_3-156x300.jpg 156w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_4.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18954\" title=\"NV_4\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_4.JPG?resize=324%2C512\" alt=\"NV_4\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_4.JPG?resize=324%2C512 324w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/NV_4-189x300.jpg 189w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 324px) 100vw, 324px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We see almost no significant performance improvement over Catalyst 10-4 with Catalyst 10-5.  The only games that we tested that showed more than a slight improvement was J<em>ust Cause 2<\/em> and <em>Lost Planet<\/em>.  Conversely, <em>Call of Defense<\/em> showed a decline in performance with Catalyst 10-5.  However, we would recommend upgrading to Catalyst 10.5 because there is no real disadvantage and whatever slight plusses we found outweigh any slight negatives and it makes reasonable sense to use the latest WHQL drivers .  Of course, if you have a 5000 series Radeon, it would be wise to upgrade just for the features of Catalyst 10.5<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, we see no reason to upgrade from GeForce 197.41 unless you find bugs that 197.75 addresses. We are certainly looking forward to the next driver set as they seem to promise a performance increase with the next set (if the betas are any indication).<\/p>\n<p>We will be back later this month to compare performance of Catalyst 10.5 versus 10.4 and perhaps we can also cover the new GeForce WHQLs when they are released later this month.   Happy gaming!<\/p>\n<p><!--pagetitle: Conclusion--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Become a Fan on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142', 'Facebook']);\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech', 'Twitter']);\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the latest updates from ABT, please <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Folding@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 164304<\/li>\n<li>SETI@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 138705<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1', 'World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech']);\" target=\"_blank\">World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=18867\"><img decoding=\"async\" align=top title=\"Author: Mark Poppin\" src=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/Catalyst-10-5-Nvidia-197-75.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2533,7814,6],"tags":[3334,3726,3727,3728,3730,3729,3731,3058,2079],"class_list":["post-18867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abt-news","category-articles","category-news","tag-catalyst-10-4","tag-catalyst-10-4-versus-10-5","tag-catalyst-10-5","tag-driver-performance-analysis","tag-geforce-197-41","tag-geforce-197-41-versus-197-75","tag-geforce-197-75","tag-gtx-480","tag-hd-5870"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}