We’ve moved our video card test platform to the new AMD M2 platform. The CPU used is the AMD 5000+ clocked at 2.6GHz, a step up from the FX-57 CPU we used previously (due to the dual cores), 2GB of Corsair DDR2 800 CL4 memory, 2 74GB WD Raptor SATA HDDs, and an ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard that is on NVIDIA’s approved list of motherboards for the 7950 series.

I’ve also updated our benchmark suite. 3DMark03 is kind of outdated at the moment and was removed. Far Cry, while a wonderful game of 2004, is getting long in the tooth today. I used FRAPs to benchmark Oblivion on an outdoor scene in Anvil. The path I took was the same around the houses of Anvil and the benchmarks were reproducible within 1.5% on three separate runs. You’ll also note that I added resolutions of 1920x1200 and 2048x1536, as any owner of the 7950 GX2 will not want to run their cards at 1024x768.

Test System

AMD Athlon 64 5000+
2GB Corsair DDR2 800MHZ CL4 memory Kit
2 74GB WD Raptor 10000 RPM SATA HDDs
Ultra Products 500W SLI PSU
Windows XP with SP2
DirectX 9.0c

Cards tested

XFX 7950GX2 M570 XXX Edition running 91.29 Forceware
XFX 7800GT XXX Edition running 91.29 Forceware
XFX 7800GT XXX Edition in SLI mode running 91.29 Forceware
ATI RADEON X1900XTX running Catalyst 6.5 drivers
EVGA 7950GX2 running 91.29 Forceware

Test Software

Oblivion 1280x1024, 1600x1200, 1920x1200, 2048x1536 resolution Max Settings with HDR enabled no AA no AF
Doom 3 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1600x1200 HQ settings, no AA no AF, 4x AA 16x AF
Quake4 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1600x1200 HQ settings, no AA no AF, 4x AA 16x AF
F.E.A.R. 1280x1024, 1600x1200, 2048x1536 HQ settings, no AA no AF, 4x AA 16x AF
COD2 1280x1024, 1600x1200, 1920x1200, 2048x1536 max settings no AA no AF, 4x AA 16x AF
3DMark05 1280x1024, 1600x1200, 1920x1200, 2048x1536
3DMark06 1280x1024, 1600x1200, 1920x1200, 2048x1536