HD 4870X2 QuadFire vs GTX 295 Quad SLI Compared

[RAID]

Testing Platform

CPU: Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition @ 4.27GHz

Motherboard: Asus Rampage II Extreme X58

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tracer 6GB DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 1T

CPU Cooling: Swiftech GTZ Water Block, D5 Pump, Thermochill PA120.3 Radiator, EK Res400 Reservoir, Tygon R-400 1/2" Tubing, BitsPower Compression Fittings

Hard Drive: Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB

Power Supply: Corsair HX1000W

Case: Danger Den Torture Rack

Monitor: Dell 3008WFP 30" LCD 2560x1600

Video Cards: Two VisionTek HD 4870X2 / Two EVGA GTX 295 (Stock Cooling / Reference Clocks)

Drivers: ATI Catalyst 9.2 / GeForce 182.06

Operating System: Vista 64



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Benchmarks


*Nvidia PhysX Disabled














Supreme Commander
2560x1600 60Hz
Background Image - On
Render Sky - On
Fidelity - High
Shadow Fidelity - High
Anti-Aliasing - 16Q
Texture Detail - High
Level Detail - High
Vertical Sync - On
Bloom Render - On



World In Conflict
2560x1600
Graphics Detail - Very High



Crysis Warhead
2560x1600
Ambush
Anti-Aliasing - 16x (SLI)
Anti-Aliasing - 8x (CrossFire)
VSync
DirectX 10



Far Cry 2
2560x1600 60Hz
Ranch Long
Anti-Aliasing - 8x
VSync
Direct3D 10
Fire - Very High
Physics - Very High
Real Trees - Very High
Vegetation - Very High
Shading - Ultra High
Terrain - Ultra High
Geometry - Ultra
Post FX - High
Texture - Ultra High
Shadow - Ultra High
Ambient - High
HDR
Bloom



GTA4
2560x1600 60Hz
Aspect Ratio - Auto
Texture Quality - Medium
Reflection Resolution - Very High
Water Quality - Very High
Shadow Quality - Very High
Render Quality - Highest
View Distance - 25
Detail Distance - 37
Vehicle Density - 26
Shadow Density - 3
Definition - On
VSync - On

[Gunslinger]

Nicely done. As a fellow 30" monitor user, I thank you, we usually get overlooked in most head to head GPU comparisons.

[JOCKTHEGLIDE]

will the GTX295 in sli be able to handle a 55inch LCD? I plan to build a home theatre PC with it with the rampage extreme 2 board with 12gigs of ram would like to surf too on the tv.

[ShoNuff]

Nice job RAID. I appreciate your work. I just got another 4870X2 and haven't really decided on which 30" monitor I am going to choose yet. I know I am looking forward to some 30" game luvin' fun soon.

[mrthingyx]

will the GTX295 in sli be able to handle a 55inch LCD? I plan to build a home theatre PC with it with the rampage extreme 2 board with 12gigs of ram would like to surf too on the tv.

Chances are it's 1920x1200 anyway, so it should be fine.

Nice to see the high-res gaming benches, too - another vote of appreciation!

[i7luver]

wow great review, nice lookin ram too

[Ra7or]

Excellent review!! Simple and very informative, thats how I like it.

[Bootsy]

Agreed nice job!!! I am leaning towards a dell 30" refurb from thier outlet store.

[Mescalamba]

Looks like Crossfire 4x doesnt work much sometimes..

[IronWarrior]

Very nice, it is hard to find reviews for that resolution, could you please do more tests with a greater choice of games, new games and old please?

[alexjpn]

very nice review.

[ILikeCosmosS]

very nice 4870x2 is still pretty good
but gtx295 is better in rendering games
but i want to see the 4995x2 against the gtx295 and see which is better

[dan7777]

whats the best jump from a gtx260-216 ? or is it best 2 wait ?

[methimpikehoses]

Nice, how about 1920x1200?

[IronWarrior]

Let's keep to 2560x1600 please, there are already reviews at that lower resolution all over the internets.

[Dami3n]

The second 4870x2 is useless in many games. Ati must improve their crossfireX.

[AMZ]

Very nice RAID. Thanks for the comparison!

[pcaddict]

ATI got pwn'd

[kylepaddock]

Great job on the information!!

[16floz470ml]

Here is my setup. 4850x2 quad stock clocks. This is Warhead at 2304x1440 with 4x AA, 16x AF. DX10 32 Gamer settings. 8.12 hotfix drivers. i7920 at 4ghz. Now maybe the Nvidia fangirls can shutup and not spam. Later I will try to run it in 64 bit and try newer drivers.


By i6floz470ml at 2009-03-03

[canislupy]

Compared to the settings for the numbers given by the OP, 22 FPS is nothing to write home about IMO. Lowered the resolution and AA to get the same numbers as the Quad SLI 295's. And no, I am not a fanboi... I have xfire 4850's in one of my systems and a 9800GX2 in the other... *shrug*

[16floz470ml]

You are right. I could have sworn that the op had 16xaf which is what I went with. Not 16xaa. Plus he does not show you what game shader settings he used. I will try it with different settings.

Edit. Warhead does not even go up past 8xaa on my system so it will be hard to test. Anyone else have this problem? Are you are saying that one can turn aa off in Crysis control panel and use the aa that Nvidia and Ati make up? That to me is not legit.

I can test it that way too. Here is 16xaa in CCC with it turned off in Crysis. The numbers are even better for me. I know that my resolution is not quite as high but I am not running 4870x2s, my cpu is slower, my memory speed is lower, etc. etc.


By i6floz470ml at 2009-03-03

[xman01]

excellent review

[canislupy]

Ah, I missed that you had 4850x2's, not bad.

[16floz470ml]

I am just trying to say that there are some issues with his results. Farcry 2 for example is way off. Hopefully the op can redo some of them. It is all driver issues I am sure.