Related Articles

Hardware Setup

For this we review, we had a couple of routes we could go. One big question was whether to go with a SLI motherboard or CrossFire motherboard. In the end, we decided on the following configuration:

• CPU: Phenom 9900 @ 2.67 GHz
• Motherboard: Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe
• Memory: 2 gigabytes of Corsair XMS2-5400UL DDR2 RAM ((2 * 1024MB @ 820 MHz 4-4-4-12/2T)
  
• Power Supply: Corsair HX620W Modular Power Supply
• Hard Drive: 250 GB Seagate Barracude 7200.10 SATA, w/16 MB cache
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U 12

As for the video cards to use in the benchmarks, we chose the following: a Asus EN8800 GTX, a XFX 8800 GTS XXX 512, a BFG 8800 GT OC, a Palit 9600 GT Sonic, a VisionTek HD 3870, and a pair of Asus HD 3870 T.O.P's.  We would have like to tested our 3870X2 against the 9800GX2, but the 3870X2 had a untimely death in our lab. Instead, we tested a single HD3870, and two and three HD3870 cards running in a CrossFireX setup. The 3870X2 performs similarly to a pair of HD3870's running in CrossFire mode, so this will give us a clear indication of the relative performance of both dual-GPU solutions.

Software Setup

We use a fully-patched Microsoft Windows Vista to test out our cards. As for drivers, the NVIDIA cards all used Forceware 169.44, except for the 9600GT which used Forceware 174.12 Beta drivers, and the 9800GX2 which used 174.53 drivers. The ATI cards all were tested using the Catalyst 8.3 drivers.

For the games we decided to bench, here is some information on our chosen settings: 

Bioshock: For this benchmark, all of the Detail settings were set to 'High'. All of the graphic option switches were set to 'On', with the exception of the following three settings: Vsync, Windowed mode, and Force Global Lighting. We used FRAPS to measure frame rate performance. The FRAPS run was 138 seconds, triggered from pulling the switch in the sub at game's beginning. The sub's dive involves many big models moving around, which should strain the GPU's and be a good measure of the game's engine.

Call of Juarez: We used the stand-alone Call of Juarez DX10 benchmarking program for these results. For our AA testing, we used a setting of 2x.

Crysis: These benchmarks were performed using 'fly-by' GPU test found within the single-player pre-release demo version of the game. All graphic settings were on High.' For AA, we used a setting of 4x. DX10 mode was used. The game has also been fully patched (1.1).

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars: We use this id FPS benchmark to test out higher resolutions (1280x1024,1600x1200,1920x1200). We used the highest possible detail settings. We tested the resolutions at 4x AA as well as at 8x AA. 16x AF was also used.  

Unreal Tournament 3: We tested the game using a fly-through of the vehicle capture-the-flag map 'Suspense.'ShangriLa (map) running for 90 seconds. Details were set to 'High', and a AF setting of 16x was used.

World In Conflict: We used the built-in benchmark of the demo version of this game. We ran the benchmark in DX9 rendering mode, with a 'High' level of quality. For the AA testing, we used a setting of 4x, and a setting of 16x for AF.

If you would like any further information about our benchmark settings, feel free to ask us in the forums.