Testing

For graphics card testing we put the GPU through it’s paces with some synthetic and gaming benchmarks with varying degrees of AA and AF using the most mainstream resolutions. The tests we run are as follows:

3Dmark06, 3Dmark05, 3Dmark03, Half Life 2: Lost coast, FEAR and X3 reunion. These were run at the following settings:

3Dmark06: Stock
3Dmark05: Stock
3Dmark03: Stock
Half Life 2: Lost Coast: 1280×1024, 4xAA, 16AF, everything else set at full.
X3 Reunion: Default settings.
FEAR: Both CPU and GPU settings set to “Maximum” .

The PC that this card was tested in was:

Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.7ghz
Asus P5W-DH Deluxe
OCZ 2gb Special Ops 6400 @ 900mhz
Tagan Silver Power 600w

I compared this card to some of its nearest nVidia rivals, the 8600GT and GTS while also adding everyone’s favourite mic range solution, the x1950 Pro from ATI.