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VGA Testing Methodology
The Microsoft DirectX-11 graphics API is native to the Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System, and will be the primary O/S for our test platform. DX11 is also available as a Microsoft Update for the Windows Vista O/S, so our test results apply to both versions of the Operating System. The majority of benchmark tests used in this article are comparative to DX11 performance, however some high-demand DX10 tests have also been included.
According to the Steam Hardware Survey published for the month ending September 2010, the most popular gaming resolution is 1280x1024 (17-19" standard LCD monitors). However, because this 1.31MP resolution is considered 'low' by most standards, our benchmark performance tests concentrate on higher-demand resolutions: 1.76MP 1680x1050 (22-24" widescreen LCD) and 2.30MP 1920x1200 (24-28" widescreen LCD monitors). These resolutions are more likely to be used by high-end graphics solutions, such as those tested in this article.
In each benchmark test there is one 'cache run' that is conducted, followed by five recorded test runs. Results are collected at each setting with the highest and lowest results discarded. The remaining three results are averaged, and displayed in the performance charts on the following pages.
A combination of synthetic and video game benchmark tests have been used in this article to illustrate relative performance among graphics solutions. Our benchmark frame rate results are not intended to represent real-world graphics performance, as this experience would change based on supporting hardware and the perception of individuals playing the video game.
Intel X58-Express Test System
DirectX-9 Benchmark Applications
- Call of Duty: Black Ops
- Extreme Settings: (8x AA, Trilinear Texture Filtering, Extra Quality)
- Mafia II
- Extreme Settings: (Antialiasing, 16x AF, High Shadow Quality, High Detail, High Geometry, Ambient Occlusion)
DirectX-10 Benchmark Applications
- 3DMark Vantage v1.02
- Extreme Settings: (Extreme Quality, 8x Multisample Anti-Aliasing, 16x Anisotropic Filtering, 1:2 Scale)
- Crysis Warhead v1.1 with HOC Benchmark
- Moderate Settings: (Very High Quality, 4x AA, 16x AF, Airfield Demo)
DirectX-11 Benchmark Applications
- Aliens vs Predator Benchmark 1.0
- Extreme Settings: (Very High Quality, 4x AA, 16x AF, SSAO, Tessellation, Advanced Shadows)
- BattleField: Bad Company 2
- Extreme Settings: (Highest Quality, HBAO, 8x AA, 16x AF, 180s Fraps Single-Player Intro Scene)
- BattleForge v1.2
- Extreme Settings: (Very High Quality, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Auto Multi-Thread)
- Lost Planet 2 Benchmark 1.0
- Moderate Settings: (2x AA, Low Shadow Detail, High Texture, High Render, High DirectX 11 Features)
- Metro 2033
- Moderate Settings: (Very-High Quality, AAA, 16x AF, Advanced DoF, Tessellation, 180s Fraps Chase Scene)
- Tom Clancy's HAWX 2 Benchmark 1.0.4
- Extreme Settings: (Maximum Quality, 8x AA, 16x AF, DX11 Terrain Tessellation)
- Unigine Heaven Benchmark 2.1
- Moderate Settings: (High Quality, Normal Tessellation, 16x AF, 4x AA)
PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Cards
| Graphics Card |
Radeon HD6850 |
GeForce GTX460 |
Radeon HD5850 |
Radeon HD6870 |
GeForce GTX560 |
Radeon HD5870 |
Radeon HD 6950 |
GeForce GTX570 |
| GPU Cores |
960 |
336 |
1440 |
1120 |
384 |
1600 |
1408 |
480 |
| Core Clock (MHz) |
775 |
675 |
725 |
900 |
850 |
850 |
800 |
732 |
| Shader Clock (MHz) |
N/A |
1350 |
N/A |
N/A |
1700 |
N/A |
N/A |
1464 |
| Memory Clock (MHz) |
1000 |
900 |
1000 |
1050 |
1026 |
1200 |
1250 |
950 |
| Memory Amount |
1024MB GDDR5 |
1024MB GDDR5 |
1024MB GDDR5 |
1024MB GDDR5 |
1024MB GDDR5 |
1024MB GDDR5 |
2048MB GDDR5 |
1280MB GDDR5 |
| Memory Interface |
256-bit |
256-bit |
256-bit |
256-bit |
256-bit |
256-bit |
256-bit |
320-bit |
- $180 Radeon HD 6850 (775 MHz GPU/1000 MHz 1GB GDDR5 - AMD Catalyst Driver 11.1a Beta)
- $165 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 (675 MHz GPU/1350 MHz Shader/900 MHz 1GB GDDR5 - Forceware 266.58)
- $210 AMD Radeon HD 5850 (725 MHz GPU/1000 MHz 1GB GDDR5 - AMD Catalyst Driver 11.1a Beta)
- $225 AMD Radeon HD 6870 (900 MHz GPU/1050 MHz 1GB GDDR5 - AMD Catalyst Driver 11.1a Beta)
- $245 ZOTAC GeForce GTX 470 (608 MHz GPU/1215 MHz Shader/837 MHz 1280MB GDDR5 - Forceware 266.58)
- $260 EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB (850 MHz GPU/1700 MHz Shader/1026 MHz 1GB GDDR5 - Forceware 266.56 Beta)
- $280 ATI Radeon HD 5870 (850 MHz GPU/1200 MHz 2GB GDDR5 - AMD Catalyst Driver 11.1a Beta)
- $300 Radeon HD 6950 ( MHz 2GB GDDR5 - AMD Catalyst Driver 11.1a Beta)
- $350 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (732 MHz GPU/1464 MHz Shader/950 MHz 1280MB GDDR5 - Forceware 266.58)
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Comments
Been holding out on my Sandy Bridge Mini-ITX system until this card shows up, and I'm set on using the Sugo SG05-450. If this card will fit and can be powered by the 450W Strider then it's going in, otherwise I'm going GTX 460 instead.
There are also manufacturers with custom build coolers and pcb`s that put the PCI-E connectors on the side.
I know Asus, MSI and Gigabyte do. They should fit in these cases.
All reference cards have the PCI-E connectors facing rearwards
As for the power caracteristics Nvidia advises a 500watt minimum.
But the high quality 450watt 80plus bronse powersupply fitted in these cases should be easy enough for these cards.
I would not worry about it. Good luck with your build
Good luck with your build!
As far as the rest of the kit goes, here's the full proposed spec:
Core i5 2400
Gigabyte H67N-USB3 Mini-ITX board
2x4GB DDR3 RAM (more than likely a 1.5V kit)
GTX 560
OCZ Vertex 2E 120GB SSD
WD Scorpio Black 500GB HDD
Slimline Blu-Ray/DVD-RW
Antec Kuhler H20 630 OR Prolimatech Samuel 17 with AP121 Air Penetrator
NO overclocking at all (H67 chipset obviously), undervolting where/if possible.
The PSU that's in the SG05-450 is Silverstone' Strider ST45SF 450W
Just have to wait for card and motherboard availability now. Hopefully the Kuhler won't be long either so I can get some benches on that. Antec's promo video wasn't too impressive (4.2GHz 980X averaging 83 degrees at 100% load is NOT cool), but it's not like Sandy Bridge is all that toasty.
Sorry for the wrong information
There was a Sugo SG05 build that crammed in a GTX 280 a few years back. Although Silverstone state that the SG05 can take 9" cards, there's a bit of extra space (half inch I think) between the chassis and the front panel if you dremel out a hole and he put his PCI-E cables in that space.
I may do that if push comes to shove, but I'll hang on for a bit to see if Palit/Gainward do a shorter version like they did with the GTX 460, or wait for more GTX 560s to hit the shelves and see who puts the connectors on the top/side.
As an aside, I don't like the front of the SG06 - I love the aluminium face and having the fan inlets on the side, but bending back in for the optical drive just gives is a stupid bump IMO - what was wrong with a perfectly flat front? Just scootch the optical drive forward a bit and you're done.
Depending on how crazy I feel, I may get the SG05 front panel duplicated in brushed aluminium lol
In this review I found GTX560 winning the race in most of the benchmarks against HD 6950 but on other reviewing sites i find HD 6950 to be equally comparable with GTX560. I dont know the reason why ...
and secondly in this review HD6950 used was of 2GB version while there is a cheaper 1 GB version also available in the market.
Resolutions used in the tests were favorable to 1GB framebuffer. 2 GB is goin to benefit if u are playing at higher resolutions or at tripple monitor setup ... so my point is when talkin abt pricing why didnt the cheaper version mentione ...