Gigabyte EP45-DS3R P45 Motherboard Review

This section will provide an overview of single card vs. CrossFireX performance. For CrossFireX testing, two HIS IceQ HD4670s were used, both running at a speed of 750/1000. All tests were completed using Catalyst 8.10 drivers and Windows Vista Home Basic 64bit. Additionally, all CrossFire comparisons will be ran at overclocked CPU settings (4203Mhz/467Mhz 4-4-4-4).



3DMark Vantage Benchmark:

The first 3D benchmark test for CrossFireX is quickly becoming the new standard among benchmarking enthusiasts, Futuremark 3DMark Vantage. Performance settings will be used and all other settings remain at default to allow other users to compare their results.


Results: CrossFire results are really where the EP45-DS3R shines with gain in Vantage 3DMarks (performance preset) of 2,598 or an improvement of 75%!


3DMark 2006 Benchmark:

The second 3D benchmark test for CrossFireX is among the most common in the enthusiast world, Futuremark 3DMark 2006. To be comparable to other users’ systems, all settings remain at default, including the resolution which is 1280x1024.


Results: On par with the impact CrossFire had on Vantage, we see a 76% gain in 3DMarks when adding a second HD4670 and running the 3DMark06 benchmark in CrossFireX.


World in Conflict Benchmark:

For World in Conflict tests, resolution is set at 1680x1050, Detail is set to High, all other display options remain at default settings.


Results: In a gaming benchmark that simulates gaming situations, the performance gained when running CrossFire vs. a single card is nothing short of outstanding. When adding a second HD4670, FPS improves 88%!


Crysis Benchmark:

For Crysis benchmark tests we looped (3 times) and recorded the Demo Map Island level which goes through jungle, over water and in vehicles. Resolution used was 1680x1050 and other settings included: AA=2x, Vsync=Disabled, DX9, 64 bit test, FullScreen, and Global Game Quality was Medium.


Results: Similar to the World in Conflict results, the performance gained when running CrossFire vs. a single card in Crysis is excellent. A second HD4670 in the Crysis benchmark gave an improvement of 67% or 29 FPS!