Performance Tests

System Used

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.5Ghz
Memory: 4GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 @ 1556Mhz (Thanks to Corsair)
Motherboard: Asus Blitz Extreme
Disk Drive: Pioneer DVD Writer
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 320GB SATAII
Fans: 5X Yate Loon 120mm @ 1200RPM
Monitor: LG Flatron L2000CN-BF (1600X1200)
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x64

Graphics Cards:

EVGA 8800GTS 640MB SSC Edition w/112 SPs
Asus 8800GTX 768MB (stock)
Nvidia 8800GT 512MB (stock)
Gigabyte HD2900XT 512MB (stock)
EVGA 8800GTS 320MB (stock)

Drivers:

ATI Catalyst 7.10
Nvidia 169.04

*Notes:

- All games tested have been patched to their latest version
- The OS has had all the latest hotfixes and updates installed…minus one that destabilized the whole system. ;)
- All scores you see are the averages after 4 benchmark runs
- It is VERY important to note that we are using updated drivers. Thus, some scores may be different from our last reviews.


DX9 Tests

3DMark06 Professional




Unfortunately, things don’t start off too well for the EVGA 8800GTS even with its additional shader processors unlocked. Overall it is edged out by the HD2900XT and even the stock 8800GT wins over it by a fair margin. Yet, this card’s real wild card lies with its additional ram over some of the other cards here and unfortunately that will not show in a benchmark like 3DMark06 which was run at the default 1280x1024 resolution.


Half Life 2: Episode 2

Half Life 2: Episode 2 is the newest installment in Valve’s long running Half Life series and this is without a doubt the best looking game in the series. For this benchmark a typical 10 minute exterior gameplay sequence was prerecorded and then played back using the in-game timedemo feature. The results were recorded with FRAPS.



At 1280X1024 resolution the extra memory of the GTS 640MB has very little impact when playing this game but as the resolution increases, its performance takes less of a hit than the other cards. Even though it is still eclipsed by the top-dog 8800GTX, the EVGA SSC Edition puts on a very good show.


Company of Heroes

Company of Heroes from Canadian developer Relic has been widely held as one of the greatest RTS games of all time while also being one of the most stressful games on the graphics card. There are very few instances in this game that will not make your graphics card beg for mercy and as such it makes a great benchmarking tool. Instead of using a typical mission (which seems to have given odd results more often than not when used with FRAPS) we are now using the in-game benchmarking tool which seems to give MUCH more consistent results.



In Company of Heroes we see basically the same results as Half Life 2 but this time the EVGA 8800GTS SSC plays second fiddle to the 8800GT in both tested resolutions. Both the minimum and maximum frame rates of the GTS surpass that of the GT but in the end, EVGA’s 112 Stream Processor card is not enough to overcome the average frame rate of the cheaper 8800GT.


Prey

Even though Prey may be a bit older game compared against many of the other ones we are testing, it still provides a workout of even the best graphics cards on the market. This time we have enabled its Graphics Boost feature (Gboost in the charts) and run through a custom timedemo.



In these large texture tests, the new 8800GTS is really able to shine. While it can’t match the raw horsepower of the 8800GTX, this EVGA card sits solidly in second place in these tests.


World in Conflict

This is one stunning game. World in Conflict has provided me with some of my most memorable gaming experiences since the first Homeworld game was released and it has not stopped wowing me. This is a brand new benchmark for us and with all of the bangs and whistles turned on; this is a great benchmark for any graphics card out there.



While WiC is stressful for any graphics card out there, the EVGA 8800GTS SSC was able to handle anything we could throw at it. Even with the AA turned up to 4x and the AF maxed out, it provided a relatively smooth gameplay experience at 1600x1200. On the other hand, when playing at 1280x1024, it very narrowly edged out the stock 8800GT which is a good $75 less expensive than EVGA’s new GTS. We can also see how much the cards with lower amounts of memory struggle in games with very detailed textures since the 8800GTS 320MB gets creamed in both of these tests.


Lost Planet Extreme Condition

This game was one of the first to jump into the DX10 pool. It provides some pretty good visuals while being very fun to play. In this test we ran through the retail version’s in-game benchmark 4 times and averaged out the scores we received in each area.



Once again we see this card excel in conditions with high resolutions but this time it edges out the 8800GT for a very convincing lead at 1280x1024 as well. You may have noticed (or at least I hope you did) that there is no benchmark result for the 8800GTS 320MB at 1600x1200. This may be the result of the drivers we used but after repeated attempts to get the benchmark running, it was the only card that would immediately lock up at the beginning of the test. This happened with two different 320MB cards.


Medieval 2: Total War

This is a game that we see all too rarely in benchmark results even though it places a massive strain on both the graphics card with thousands of units on-screen at once and the processor which as to calculate the AI for all those units. This game is perfectly playable at 20fps but anything below that and gameplay gets thrown out the window and you are left without much control over your army.

In this test, the Battle of Hastings opening scene was run while Fraps was used to take measurements. This scene runs a few minutes and uses zooms and camera pans that must be used throughout gameplay so it gives a good overall look at what performance you will experience.



The results in Medieval 2 reflect exactly what we were expecting with the 8800GTS: it performs well at lower resolutions but when all the eye candy is turned on at higher resolutions, it really comes in to its own.


Supreme Commander

Tons of units, fast-paced and extremely hard on your whole system…what more is there to say about Supreme Commander? In for this test, the built-in benchmarking tool was used to determine the average frames per second. 20fps is the absolute minimum you want to see here as an average frame rate.



Even with anti aliasing to the in-game maximum, it is pretty clear that we are experiencing a bit of frame rate capping due to processor limitation at 1280x1024 resolution. Yet, even at the higher 1600x1200 resolution, the EVGA 8800GTS SSC barely edged out the 8800GT 512MB by 1FPS in each of the tests.