Palit 9800 GTX: Review and SLI testing - PAGE 4

We used the following system for our benchmarking:  

• CPU: E6700 Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.67 GHZ (333 * 8) 
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6
• Memory: 2 gigabytes of GSKILL PC2-6400 CL4D-2GBHK DDR2 RAM (2 * 1024MB @ 833MHz 4-4-4-12/2T) 
• Power Supply: Enermax Galaxy DXX 1000W
• Hard Drive: 250 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA, w/16 MB cache
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U 12

For this review, we wanted to focus on the SLI potential of a dual 9800GTX rig, so we tested some popular, recent SLI configurations. The 9800GTX SLI numbers will be compared to 8800 GTs in SLI, as well as a pair of 9600GT, and a pair of 8800 GTS 512MB cards in SLI. The second 9800GTX we used was from XFX, and runs at the same clock speeds as the Palit 9800GTX.

In addition to the SLI numbers, for our benchmarks we tested the following cards: a Gigabyte HD3870, a Palit 9600GT, a Asus 8800 GTX, a Asus 8800GT T.O.P, and a XFX 9800GX2.

Software Setup

We tested all of our cards using Microsoft Vista. As for drivers, things got a little complicated this time around, with different drivers not working with different cards. While all of ATI cards used Catalyst 8.3 drivers, the NVIDIA drivers were a bit more of a mash-up. Both the 9800GX2 and 9800GTX used Forceware 174.74 drivers, while the rest used 164.44 Forceware drivers.

For our games we using for benchmarking, 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, please feel free to make use of our forums.