NO LONGER UPDATED AS OF JUNE 2010

This article will focus on performance results of different video cards tested in a series of benchmarks and games. As time progresses we aim to add more results and video card models; Clear your cache if you don't see the new results

This article was made possible in large part thanks to Tones.be

We build our test setups with the help of Tones.be (Belgian’s Largest Hardware Shop!) who helped us with the hard drives, CPUs and monitors, MSI for the motherboards, OCZ for the memory, Coolermaster for the cases and power supplies and last but not least, Scythe for the silent CPU coolers.

Madshrimps VGA Test Stations
CPU	2x Intel Core 2 E8200 @ 3.375Ghz
Cooling	2x Scythe Ninja 2
Mainboard	2x MSI P45 Platinum
Memory	2 kits of 2 * OCZ 2Gb PC2-8500 Reaper
Other	2x Coolermaster CM690 Enclosure (3*120mm case fans) 2x Coolermaster UCP 900W Power Supply 2x Western Digital 80Gb HDD (system) 2x Samsung 640Gb HDD (Data)

At the time of purchase each system we build cost us approximately ~€1200 without the VGA card. While it’s not a budget system, it’s also far from high end as we’re using a DDR2 motherboard and a mid-range Core 2 Duo Wolfdale CPU. Combining it with a €300+ VGA card does place it in the more expensive bracket when it comes down to building a game machine.

One of the costs for a system is the monitor for sure, the system price mentioned above includes this screen, a SAMSUNG Syncmaster 2493HM 24inch, it has a native resolution of 1920x1200 this screen offers quite low 5ms latency. Again this screen is mid-range as more expensive models are available, but the resolution of most 26”~27” screens remains the same at 1920x1200. You need to invest into a 30” to go higher to 2560x1600 at which point you will be spending a pretty hefty sum.

Software config:

The drivers version used for the cards are the same as this is the first release, as time progresses there might be a slight variations in driver version if we’re not able to re-test the same VGA card.

OS: Windows Vista SP2 64-bit

These are the benchmarks and games we used:

3DMark03

3Dmark05

3Dmark06

3DMark Vantage

Aliens vs. Predator 2010

Call of Duty 4

Crysis

Crysis Warhead

Far Cry 2

FEAR

Mafia 2

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

STALKER

STALKER: Clear Sky

Trackmania Nations

Unreal Tournament 3

World In Conflict

And the resolutions tested::

1280x1024 0xAA/0xAF (17~19” TFT screens)

1600x1200 0xAA/0xAF (20~23” TFT screens)

1920x1200 0xAA/0xAF (24~27” TFT screens)

1600x1200 4xAA/16xAF (increased IQ)

1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF (increased IQ)

If a certain game was run with different settings, you will find this configuration in the result charts.

Benchmark Methodology

Each card was installed in the same hardware setup and we ran each benchmark repeatedly side by side, especially in games which do not have any build-in benchmark mode this came in very handy as we could reproduce the same game path on both systems, and reduce overall time needed to complete testing, as illustrated in the small movie below:

We used a VIP-844-BC 4 port PS/2 Keyboard Multicaster, which allows you to control up to 4 PCs simultaneously with one keyboard, for the mouse we used 2 Logitech MX1000 receivers and synchronized one MX1000 with both receivers, with this setup we are able to control both PCs 99% simultaneously. It proved a challenge to set up at first as every window and field in Windows has to match up 100% otherwise you would have to focus on one system each, using a HDD image copy we got a complete setup match and benchmarking could start.

Onto the results, the results will do the talking.