Zotac GTX 260²
Test Setup & Games
Published: 20th January 2009 | Source: Zotac | Price: £222.39 |
Test Setup
A selection of games and benchmark suites has been chosen to test each of the graphics cards used in today's review on several different game engines. Each graphics card configuration will be run at both low and high resolutions with varying levels of texture filtering to represent 17", 20" and 24" screen sizes.
To ensure that the test system is powerful enough to test each GPU to its limits, the configuration chosen below has been specially selected to give the GTX260 plenty of headroom to produce the best results.
For testing we decided to put the GTX260 against its closest rival; The 4870. We chose our favourite 4870 tested so far, the 4870 IceQ4+ Turbo by HIS. This comes with a hefty overclock, and gave the GTX260 quite a battering at stock speeds. Therefore, to even things up, we decided to give the GTX260 a bit of a tweak. The final lineup is as follows:
Find out how they fared in the first round of testing...
A selection of games and benchmark suites has been chosen to test each of the graphics cards used in today's review on several different game engines. Each graphics card configuration will be run at both low and high resolutions with varying levels of texture filtering to represent 17", 20" and 24" screen sizes.
3DMark05
1024x768 / 0xAA
1680x1050 / 4xAA
1920x1200 / 4xAA
3DMark06
1280x1024 / 0xAA
1680x1050 / 4xAA
1920x1200 / 4xAA
3DMark Vantage
Performance Mode
High Mode
Extreme Mode
ET:Quake Wars
1440x900 / High / 4xAA
1680x1050 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / High / 4xAA
Unreal Tournament III
1440x900 / DX10
1680x1050 / DX10
1920x1200 / DX10
Call of Duty 4
1440x900 / Max / 4xAA
1680x1050 / Max / 4xAA
1920x1200 / Max / 4xAA
Farcry 2
1440x900 / Max / 4xAA
1680x1050 / Max / 4xAA
1920x1200 / Max / 4xAA
Racedriver GRID
1440x900 / High / 4xAA
1680x1050 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / High / 4xAA
Crysis
1440x900 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1680x1050 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1024x768 / 0xAA
1680x1050 / 4xAA
1920x1200 / 4xAA
3DMark06
1280x1024 / 0xAA
1680x1050 / 4xAA
1920x1200 / 4xAA
3DMark Vantage
Performance Mode
High Mode
Extreme Mode
ET:Quake Wars
1440x900 / High / 4xAA
1680x1050 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / High / 4xAA
Unreal Tournament III
1440x900 / DX10
1680x1050 / DX10
1920x1200 / DX10
Call of Duty 4
1440x900 / Max / 4xAA
1680x1050 / Max / 4xAA
1920x1200 / Max / 4xAA
Farcry 2
1440x900 / Max / 4xAA
1680x1050 / Max / 4xAA
1920x1200 / Max / 4xAA
Racedriver GRID
1440x900 / High / 4xAA
1680x1050 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / High / 4xAA
Crysis
1440x900 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1680x1050 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
1920x1200 / DX10 / High / 4xAA
To ensure that the test system is powerful enough to test each GPU to its limits, the configuration chosen below has been specially selected to give the GTX260 plenty of headroom to produce the best results.
CPU
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz @ 3.6 Ghz
Motherboard
ASUS P5Q Deluxe (P45)
Memory
Cellshock DDR2 PC-2 6400 5-5-5-18 @ 800mhz
Power Supply
Tuniq Ensemble 1200w
Graphics Drivers
NVidia Forceware 180.48
ATI Catalyst 8.12.72276
Operating System
Windows Vista 64bit SP1
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz @ 3.6 Ghz
Motherboard
ASUS P5Q Deluxe (P45)
Memory
Cellshock DDR2 PC-2 6400 5-5-5-18 @ 800mhz
Power Supply
Tuniq Ensemble 1200w
Graphics Drivers
NVidia Forceware 180.48
ATI Catalyst 8.12.72276
Operating System
Windows Vista 64bit SP1
For testing we decided to put the GTX260 against its closest rival; The 4870. We chose our favourite 4870 tested so far, the 4870 IceQ4+ Turbo by HIS. This comes with a hefty overclock, and gave the GTX260 quite a battering at stock speeds. Therefore, to even things up, we decided to give the GTX260 a bit of a tweak. The final lineup is as follows:
HIS 4870 1GB IceQ4+ Turbo,
Zotac GTX 260 @ 576/1242/1998 Core/Stream/Mem,
Zotac GTX260 @ 650/1242/2200 Core/Stream/Mem,
Gigabyte 4850 1GB.
Zotac GTX 260 @ 576/1242/1998 Core/Stream/Mem,
Zotac GTX260 @ 650/1242/2200 Core/Stream/Mem,
Gigabyte 4850 1GB.
Find out how they fared in the first round of testing...
Most Recent Comments
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='meh'
Nice read =)
Any particular reason for the exclusion of cost-per-frame? |
If there are any in particular you would like to know I can rustle up a graph.Quote
I think this is exactly where the cost per frame comes into play. The choice between a midrange and highend card based on price isn't hard anyway, but here it's starting to be tough.
Nice review btw :')Quote
Nice review btw :')Quote
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='monkey7'
I think this is exactly where the cost per frame comes into play. The choice between a midrange and highend card based on price isn't hard anyway, but here it's starting to be tough.
Nice review btw :') |
You've got a point there 
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CSS Valid
Any particular reason for the exclusion of cost-per-frame?Quote