{"id":6374,"date":"2009-05-10T08:31:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-10T08:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=6374"},"modified":"2009-05-21T13:42:41","modified_gmt":"2009-05-21T13:42:41","slug":"gtx285-vs-gtx260-vs-4850-performance-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/gtx285-vs-gtx260-vs-4850-performance-test\/","title":{"rendered":"GTX285 vs GTX260+ vs 4850 Performance Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I picked up a GTX285 as an upgrade for my GTX260+ (reviewed here<\/a>), so it\u2019s time to put up some new benchmarks. As you may know, the GTX285 is nVidia\u2019s 55nm variant of the original 65nm GT200 chip (my GTX260+ is 65nm too), along with higher clock speeds. It also has more shader units, texture units and ROPs than the GTX260+, along with a wider memory bus and 1 GB memory.<\/p>\n

This article\u2019s main focus will be the performance comparison between the GTX285 and the GTX260+, but the 4850 will be included whenever possible as a reference point. As such there will be a lot of combined mode anti-aliasing tests (the xS modes, which offer full screen super-sampling). These modes are not benchmarked in regular review circles, yet high-end parts really shine when using them. Note that these modes are exclusive to nVidia hardware, so it\u2019s not possible to run them on the 4850 for a comparison.<\/p>\n

For more information about the xS modes and how the vendors compare in terms of image quality, please see my image quality comparison article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve tested over 40 different games, some repeatedly across all three cards, so there\u2019s bound to be something for everyone here. In many cases the settings I used are actual settings that I use when gaming. If you\u2019re a fan of legacy gaming with super sampling AA, you\u2019ll find the results particularly interesting.<\/p>\n

Due to nVidia\u2019s TrAA implementation being quite different to ATi\u2019s AAA at times, I have not<\/span> used TrAA\/AAA in any tests where the 4850 is used. However when comparing the two nVidia cards with xS modes, I\u2019ve used TrAA as indicated.<\/p>\n

In the text charts, the % change<\/span> column represents the percentage change of the 285 from the 260+, and it\u2019s always highlighted green<\/span> because the 285 is always faster.<\/p>\n

Addendum: the video cards used in this review were selected because they were available to me from past upgrades that I paid for with my own money. By including a 4850, I am in NO WAY attempting to imply it\u2019s in the same price or performance class as the GTX260+ or the GTX285. The 4850 has only been included as a matter of interest.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Hardware<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n