The Games of Christmas '08: GPU Performance Part 1

Test System & Setup

System Used

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9770 @ 3.852Ghz
Memory: G.Skill 2x 2GB DDR2-1000 @ 1052Mhz DDR
Motherboard: ASUS P5E Deluxe X48
Disk Drive: Pioneer DVD Writer
Hard Drive: Hitachi Deskstar 320GB SATAII
Fans: 2X Yate Loon 120mm @ 1200RPM
Power Supply: Corsair HX1000W
Monitor: Samsung 305T 30” widescreen LCD
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x64 SP1


Graphics Cards:

Palit HD 4870 X2
Sapphire HD 4870 1GB
Palit HD 4870 512MB
Sapphire HD 4850 512MB
EVGA GTX 280
EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked
BFG GTX 260
EVGA 9800 GTX+


Drivers:

Nvidia 180.48 WHQL
ATI 8.12 WHQL


Applications Used:

Call of Duty: World at War
Crysis: Warhead
X3: Terran Conflict
Dead Space
Left 4 Dead
Far Cry 2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky
Fallout 3
Need for Speed Underclover


*Notes:

- All games tested have been patched to their latest version

- The OS has had all the latest hotfixes and updates installed

- All scores you see are the averages after 4 benchmark runs

All game-specific methodologies are explained above the graphs for each game

The Cost per FPS Numbers Explained

You will notice that for this article we have included a $ / FPS number which is representational of the amount you pay for each frame per second in a particular game at a certain resolution. The price for each card is divided by the average frames per second to give the final result.

The prices of each individual price is calculated in Canadian dollars and is the average price derived from the five lowest prices for each card found in our Price Comparison engine on December 7th, 2008. The prices of each card were as follows:

HD4870X2: $636
HD4870 1GB: $367
HD 4870 512MB: $285
HD4850:$201
GTX 280: $510
GTX 260 216: $379
GTX 260: $340
9800GTX+ $222

Results shown with an "n/a" means that the card was not able to achieve playable framerates so should not even be considered as a viable option at that resolution / IQ setting.