How we tested

As always, we did our best to deliver a clean set of benchmarks, with each test repeated three times and an average of those results is what we’re reporting here. In the rare case where performance was inconsistent, we continued repeating the test until we got three results that were consistent.

The tests performed are a mixture of custom in-game timedemos and manually played sections with FRAPS to record the average and minimum frame rates. We strive to not only record real-world performance you will actually see, but also present the results in a manner that is easy to digest.

Intel Core i7 Test System

• Intel Core i7-965 processor (3.2GHz: 133MHz x 24)
  
• Asus P6T V2 motherboard (Intel X58 Express with three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots)
  
• 3x 2GB Corsair TR3X6G1333C9 memory modules (operating in dual channel at DDR3 1,349.4MHz 9-9-9-24-1T)
  
• Corsair X128 120GB SSD running 1.571 firmware
  
• Corsair HX1000W PSU
  
• Windows 7 Home Premium x86-64
  
• Antec Twelve Hundred Chassis

ATI graphics cards

• AMD ATI Radeon HD 5890 2GB – operating at 725/4,000MHz using Catalyst 9.10 WHQL
  
• AMD ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB – operating at 850/4,800MHz using Catalyst 9.10 WHQL
  
• 2x AMD ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB in CrossFire – operating at 850/4,800MHz using Catalyst 9.10 WHQL
  
• AMD ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB – operating at 725/4,000MHz using Catalyst 9.10 WHQL
  
• 2x AMD ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB in CrossFitre – operating at 725/4,000MHz using Catalyst 9.10 WHQL
  
• AMD ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB – operating at 850/4,800MHz using Catalyst 9.11 WHQL
  
• 2x AMD ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB in CrossFire – operating at 850/4,800MHz using Catalyst 9.11 WHQL
  
• AMD ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB – operating at 750/3,600MHz using Catalyst 9.10 WHQL

Nvidia graphics cards

• Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 1,792MB - operating at 648/1476/1998MHz using Forceware 191.07 WHQL
  
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 1GB - operating at 576/1242/2,484MHz using Forceware 191.07 WHQL
  
• 2x Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 1GB in SLI - operating at 576/1242/2,484MHz using Forceware 191.07 WHQL
  

Games Tested

• Fallout 3, version 1.7 with DirectX 9.0
  
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, version 1.5.07 with DirectX 10/10.1
  
• Dawn of War 2 version 1.02 with DirectX 10
  
• Crysis, version 1.21 (64-bit) with DirectX 10
  
• Call of Duty: World at War, version 1.3.1080 with DirectX 9.0