System requirements to unlock your potential GeForce GTX 580 i Radeon HD 6970 recommended by gameGPU site:
The minimum
Operating system:Windows 7
Processor: Core 2 Quad Q9600 3.0 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0 GHz above
RAM: 2 GB
DirectX: DirectX®11
Effective
Operating system: Windows 7
Processor: Core i 7 950 3.0 GHz or AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2 GHz above
Memory: 4 GB
DirectX: DirectX®11
With the release of new Nvidia video cards this spring, we conducted comparative testing of video cards from both manufacturers in the article Fermi vs Cypress in DirectX 11 modes – PC performance graphics benchmarks of Graphics Cards. But as we all remember, not so long ago AMD and Nvidia updated their lineup of single-chip flagships for their systems, introducing the GeForce GTX 580 and Radeon HD 6970 respectively, so at this point we can already determine who is the current leader in 3D. So, the confrontation continues!
Video card Zotac GeForce GTX 580 1536 MB
a video card arrived in our testing laboratory GeForce GTX 580 1536 MB manufactured by the company Zotac. In our recent description GeForce GTX 580 it was said that the GF110 was a slightly more improved modification of the GF100, so the number of changes that were made were quite minor and the emphasis was placed on increasing the “comfortable” characteristics of the video card. More details about the GeForce GTX 580 architecture can be found in this article. For those interested, let us remind you that the crystal of both video cards is manufactured using a 40-nm manufacturing process and contains more than 3 billion transistors. The increase in efficiency in cutting off hidden objects will give the GF110 chip better capabilities in applications with excessive redrawing, and will increase the efficiency of using the available bandwidth of the on-board video accelerator memory. According to NVIDIA, these two improvements give a total increase in performance per clock, on average, up to 14%, and coupled with increased clock speeds, we get an impressive increase of 30%!.
The dimensions of the printed circuit board itself, the rear panel connectors and the minimum power supply power required for the operation of this accelerator remained exactly the same as for the GeForce GTX 480, namely 600 W. We also note that the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 video card supports additional proprietary technologies NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology, NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround, NVIDIA PhysX Technology, NVIDIA CUDA Technology and NVIDIA SLI Technology.
Inside there is the video card itself and additional delivery components. Along with the graphics accelerator, the lucky buyer will receive the following accessories:
– User instructions;
– Disk with software and drivers;
– Disc with a licensed version of the game Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands;
– Video cards power adapter from two 6-pin connectors to one eight-pin PCI Express;
– Video cards power adapter from two MOLEX connectors to one six-pin PCI Express;
– Adapter from DVI to VGA;
– Adapter from Mini-HDMI to HDMI.
The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 video card itself is made on a black PCB, the front side of which is covered by a cooling system with a casing made of the same black plastic. The GeForce GTX 580 video card uses a PCB with exactly the same overall dimensions as the GeForce GTX 480 – its length is 26,7 cm (10,5″), which gives it a significant advantage compared to AMD cards, allowing it to fit almost in any of the modern buildings.
The board occupies two full-size slots on the rear panel of the case. For a sufficiently voluminous cooling system, the user will have to free up space inside the case. The rear interface panel has two DVI ports and one mini-HDMI. I am very pleased that Zotac cares about end users, because in the supply of some GeForce GTX 580 video accelerators from other companies there is no adapter from Mini-HDMI to HDMI, which can sometimes cause serious problems with finding it…. Plus, the second slot will be completely occupied by the output a grille that allows heated air to be blown out of the system unit.
This sample completely replicates all the characteristics of the reference version of the video accelerator on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580. The graphics processor operates at a frequency of 772 MHz, and shader domains at a frequency of 1544 MHz, respectively. GDDR5 video memory received 1002 MHz real or 4008 MHz effective frequency.
We overclocked ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 video cards using the MSI Afterburner utility version 2.0. What immediately catches your eye is the lack of binding of the frequency of the shader domain to the frequency of the graphics chip, which was not implemented in the 4XX series of video cards. In order not to bother, we took the overclocking frequencies at the level of our GeForce GTX 480, namely 830/1660 MHz for the core and a little more for the memory – 4200 MHz.
Video card AMD Radeon HD 6970 2048 mb
We were provided with a reference AMD Radeon HD 6970 video card for testing. Next, we will give a brief introduction, and we advise those who are more curious to refer to the next article. So, the front side of video cards is covered with a cooling system, and the back side is covered with a decorative aluminum cover. “Decorative”, since it does not come into contact with any elements of the printed circuit board, and the protective function in this case is very doubtful. The video cards are 276 mm long and 39 mm thick. The air heated by the video card is partially exhausted through the grille in the upper part of the casing, thus remaining in the body of the system unit. But, nevertheless, the bulk of its mass is removed from the housing through the grille on the panel with outputs:
By the way, unlike the Radeon HD 5870, there are now as many as five outputs: two DVI, two miniDP and one HDMI. In addition to such a solid set of outputs, we can say that now there will be no special Eyefinity Radeon HD 69xx video cards, and six monitors can be connected to any of these video cards using a special video hub.
Next to the CrossFireX connectors there is a small switch for selecting the BIOS from which the video card can boot. Now the standard package of each reference video cards Radeon HD 6950 and HD 6970 includes two BIOS chips, one of which is reprogrammable, and the second is a backup, in case of overly optimistic frequencies or voltages hardwired into the first BIOS chip:
For additional power supply, the HD 6970 required two additional connectors – one six-pin and one eight-pin. It’s not surprising, since the peak power consumption of older video cards is stated at 250 W. Interestingly, AMD, when announcing the Caymans, for the first time introduces the concept of “typical gaming power consumption,” which for the Radeon HD 6970 is at 190 W. The power consumption of the new video cards in idle mode is only 20 W.
This sample is a typical reference, so we state the following: the graphics processor operates at a frequency of 890 MHz, and the GDDR5 video memory has a real 1375 MHz or 5500 MHz effective frequency and operates on a 256-bit bus.
Overclocking video cards AMD Radeon HD 6970 we carried out using the MSI Afterburner utility version 2.0. The overclocking frequencies rested on the limits set in the BIOS video cards, namely 950 MHz for the core and 5800 MHz for the memory. But even with this frivolous overclocking, the video card did not behave consistently, so I had to manually turn up the turbine speed a little…
GPU test
All video cards were tested at maximum graphics quality by the Fraps program in the most resource-intensive part of the game. All video cards were tested this time on a platform with a Core™ i7 processor. All tests were carried out at the maximum acceptable quality of graphics settings.
|
Hardware configuration |
|
|
Processors |
Intel® Core™ [email protected] GHz cache L3 8 MB |
|
motherboards |
MSI X58 Pro socket LGA1366 product provided by the company MSI |
|
Memory |
GOODRAM PLAY 1600MHz (8-8-8-24) product provided by the company GOODRAM |
|
Video Cards |
GeForce GTX 480 1536 MB Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB |
|
Hard disks |
3×2 RAID0 Western Digital Caivar WD2500GL 250 GB, 7200 rpm, SATA 3 Gbit/s |
|
Power Supplies |
SeaSonic S12D 850 Silver 850W product provided by the company SeaSonic |
|
System software and drivers |
|
|
Operating system |
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 |
|
Tested Applications |
ArcaniA – Gothic 4 |
|
Platform Driver |
Intel INF Chipset Update Utility 9.1.0.1012 |
|
Graphics driver |
Nvidia GeForce/ION Driver Release 260.99/263.09 AMD Catalyst 10.12 |
All our video cards were tested with and without overclocking. The frequency formulas for overclocking Nvidia video cards were: GeForce GTX 580 GPU 830/1660 MHz Mem 4200 MHz, GeForce GTX 480 GPU 830/1660 MHz Mem 4000 MHz. And the frequency formulas for overclocking AMD video cards were: Radeon HD 5870 GPU 950 MHz Mem 5800 MHz, Radeon HD 6970 GPU 950 MHz Mem 5400 MHz.
Crysis
A huge advantage of Crysis compared to its peers is its excellent graphics. Owners of personal computers have never seen pictures of this level. Millions of detailed particles, natural shadows, reflections of the sun on the grass and water – all this is mesmerizing. The dynamic change of day and night is worked out perfectly – the local sunsets are simply stunning. The characters’ faces, their facial expressions and acting are incomparable. The only problem was that in 2007 there was no computer in the world that could run the project at the Very High settings level. But at the moment this issue has disappeared and we can fully enjoy the excellent graphics without any slowdowns.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
The minimum FPS was not taken in the test due to the peculiarities of this benchmark, which caused its minimal drops not from the work of the video cards themselves, but from the insufficient loading speed of game locations. The weakest link at the moment is last year’s Radeon HD 5870, which only with overclocking could approach GeForce GTX 480. Today’s single-chip AMD flagship Radeon HD 6970 in nominal mode overtakes GeForce GTX 480, but with overclocking they are almost equal. Newbie in person Even in nominal mode, the GeForce GTX 580 leaves its opponents behind.
Dirt 2
The sequel uses a modified EGO engine, which has grown since 2007: its physical part has improved, light and shadows have experienced pleasant metamorphoses, and the detail of the surrounding world has noticeably increased. A distinctive feature is support for DirectX 11.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
В Dirt 2 The advantage definitely goes to Nvidia cards. Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 6970 show almost identical performance. Overclocking Radeon HD 6970 brought it almost close to the nominal performance GeForce GTX 480. GeForce GTX 580, as in the previous case, is the undisputed leader.
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Preserving all the best traditions of the series, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 offers fans of the game a lot of new interesting features. You will have to fight in a variety of conditions: in snowy forests and impenetrable jungles, in hot deserts and inaccessible mountains, which requires the use of appropriate tactics. The graphics in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 did not disappoint, and showed us what the developers from the DICE studio are capable of. Of course, it didn’t manage to reach the level of Crysis, but it’s still a kind of small leap in shooter development over the past few years after a long-term stagnation.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
В Battlefield Bad Company 2 advantage of video cards GeForce becomes even more obvious. The average FPS of single-chip AMD flagships barely reaches the minimum of Nvidia cards. Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 6970 again shows almost identical performance.
Sid Meier’s Civilization V
Over the nearly twenty-year history of the Civilization series, the game has sold over nine million copies worldwide, making it the greatest global strategy game of our time. The fifth incarnation of the legendary “Civilization” takes a new bar in the quality of opportunities and development options, the opponents have become smarter, the network game is more interesting and varied, and the graphics are more beautiful. A distinctive feature of the fact that this game appeared in our test today is its support for DirectX 11.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
All video cards show impressive performance at maximum graphics quality settings. A slight advantage this time was on the side of Nvidia cards.
Metro 2033
Of course, Metro 2033 became a second wind for our compatriots. Unlike the moldy STALKER, literally everything in it breathes freshness and manufacturability. The game includes support for all modern graphics APIs, switchable directly in the graphics menu: DirectX 9, DirectX 10 and DirectX 11.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
None of the tested video cards were able to overcome the minimum FPS of 25 frames. The new generation of AMD cards has certainly raised the performance bar, but show performance above level GeForce GTX 480, even when overclocking Radeon-y HD 6970 It didn’t work out that way.
Just Cause 2
So, many already know that to run Just Cause 2 you need the Vista or Windows 7 operating system with DirectX 10. The game is one of the most beautiful released this year. Bokeh filter effects and improved water surface shaping based on NVIDIA CUDA have been disabled for overall consistency.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
В Just Cause 2 Radeon HD 6970 was finally able to overtake in nominal modeGeForce GTX 480, but when overclocked the latter showed considerable agility and was even able to outpace one running at nominal frequencies GeForce GTX 580.
Mafia II
The game takes place between 1945 and 1955 in the fictional city of Empire Bay (the name is a reference to the nickname of New York State). Mafia II is based on the Illusion Engine, which was developed by 2K Czech for internal use. The graphics part of the engine supports raised textures, complex dynamic lighting and shadows, various post-processing effects (such as depth of field), and shader effects.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
In Mafia II, video cards from Nvidia show performance slightly higher than opponents from the AMD camp. The only and undeniable leader in terms of productivity, as always, is GeForce GTX 580.
ArcaniA – Gothic 4
ArcaniA – Gothic 4 is based on a completely different engine than Gothic 3, namely Trinigy Vision Engine by Trinigy. “Trinigy Vision Engine” is cross-platform software and, in addition to a personal computer, also supports the gaming consoles PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. At the same time, the game has a very immodest appetite for system requirements…
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
In ArcaniA – Gothic 4 we again see another confrontation between the GeForce GTX 580 and GeForce GTX 480…. When overclocked, the GeForce GTX 480 again leaves behind the nominal GeForce GTX 580. The Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 6970 again show similar performance and it is necessary to upgrade specifically for this games for fans of AMD video cards make no sense.
Aliens vs Predator: D3D11 Benchmark
Rebellion, SEGA and Twentieth Century FOX presented a small (303 MB) test – Aliens vs. Predator DirectX 11 Benchmark. The test itself consists of several game scenes, the main character of which is an alien.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
In the Aliens vs Predator: D3D11 Benchmark, the confrontation is already unfolding between GeForce GTX 580 i Radeon HD 6970, but in the “race” for first place even overclocking couldn’t bring it closer Radeon HD 6970 in terms of minimum FPS to GeForce GTX 580.
Lost Planet 2 Benchmark DirectX 11
Even before the release of the game on PC, Capcom announced a preview of its new gaming hit Lost Planet 2 and presented the DirectX11 benchmark of the same name. The results were taken from the most resource-intensive test “B”.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
Lost Planet 2 Benchmark DirectX 11 gives back preference maps Nvidia, which show comfortable performance, which cannot be said about AMD cards, which were never able to reach the minimum FPS of 25 frames…
Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2 Benchmark
Before the release of the AMD Radeon HD 6870 and 6850 video cards, NVIDIA sent out notifications to website observers about the release of a new benchmark based on the future game Tom Clancy`s HAWX 2 from Ubisoft, which should have somewhat damaged the sales of AMD cards.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2 Benchmark the championship still remains with Nvidia and its flagships show almost twice the performance of AMD competitors.
Heaven Benchmark v2.1
Heaven has officially been updated to version 2.1. In the new version, Heaven supports OpenGL 4.0, 3D Graphics API, as well as DirectX 11 technology. The second major change is support for 3D, stereoscopic images are available in several modes, such as Analygraph, 3D Vision, etc. The new version also fixes minor errors that occur while using the program.
Testing at standard quality settings 1920×1080
In Heaven Benchmark v2.1 we performed the test on standard settings, since we consider the “extreme” tasseling a little unnecessary… Now we can see the advantage of architecture Radeon HD 6970 over Radeon HD 5870, although “overcome” She failed again with the GeForce GTX 480…
Call Of Pripyat Benchmark
Benchmark based on the game STALKER: Call Of Pripyat. Measures the estimated computer performance by making three runs of one location (the city of Pripyat) at different times of the day. The rendering method, picture quality and resolution can be adjusted to suit you. For those who want to boast about the results obtained, there is an online table of records, an entry into which, however, is made only after launching a special testing mode that uses its own settings. This program (as well as the game) supports DirectX 11.
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
Radeon HD 6970 shows almost identical performance to GeForce GTX 480, slightly ahead of it in normal mode. The GeForce GTX 580 is still the undisputed leader…
Stone Giant
Two Swedish companies are involved in the creation of Stone Giant: BitSquid and FatShark. The first was the direct creator of the “engine”, the second was responsible for the artistic and graphic component. The ties between the two companies are very close: BitSquid was founded by the owners of the FatShark studio, as well as two leading developers from the GRIN studio (which went bankrupt in August 2009 and managed to release such projects as Ballistics, Bandits: Phoenix Rising, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 1 and 2 , Bionic Commando, Terminator Salvation).
Testing at maximum quality settings 1920×1080
Stone Giant clearly favors Nvidia video cards – AMD cards are once again very far from them….
3DMark Vantage
Since the release of PCMark Vantage, Futuremark has decided to stop mentioning the year of manufacture in the names of its products. In the 2008 line, the word “Vantage” appeared, which can be translated as “advantage”, “superiority”. The test is entirely based on the new 3D engine, which is only compatible with DirectX 10, and therefore requires Windows Vista (SP1); 3DMark Vantage can only run on Vista-compatible video cards (GeForce 8 and 9, Radeon HD 2000 and 3000).
Testing in Performance mode 1280×1024
3DMark Vantage scales well in terms of performance and for it we limited ourselves to only one test in Performance mode, and the indicator was GPU performance. Radeon HD 6970 was finally able to provide serious competition GeForce GTX 480, and the new one The GeForce GTX 580 showed simply impressive performance.
3DMark 11
3DMark 11 is a computer program and benchmark developed by the Finnish company Futuremark. “3DMark 11” is intended for testing the performance of personal computer components and, above all, for testing the graphics subsystem in Direct X 11 mode. “3DMark 11” only works on Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 and Windows 7.
Testing in Performance mode 1280×720
In this case, we again see the advantage of Nvidia video cards. The overclocked GeForce GTX 480 again reminds itself and is a serious competitor even to its “overclocked” brother GeForce GTX 580.
Testing in mode Extreme 1920×1080
With the transition to widescreen HD mode, the balance of power changes slightly in favor of AMD cards. Overclocking again helps raise the performance bar for the GeForce GTX 480; the undisputed leader, as in all cases, is the GeForce GTX 580.
Radeon HD 5870 – last year’s top, which today shows quite acceptable performance, although in some cases it may not be enough. Another small drawback is the memory capacity of 1 gigabyte, which may negatively affect overall gaming performance in the future. The current market price is about $335, which makes it an excellent purchase for budget-conscious extreme gamers.
GeForce GTX 480 – Nvidia’s previous flagship, which can even compete with the modern champion GeForce GTX 580 in overclocking, and in many cases is a serious opponent for the 6970 and is confidently ahead of it in most modern resource-intensive projects. The cost of $440 is quite justified, although we should not forget about the disadvantages of the G100 chip – heating and high noise characteristics.
Radeon HD 6970 – counter attack AMD, which, although not aimed at the upper price range, held great hopes. The noise characteristics are at an acceptable level, but heating and power consumption leave much to be desired. Among the advantages, it is worth noting the presence of 2 gigabytes of video memory on board and a price that is quite reasonable for its performance, which today is at a very attractive level for the buyer of $414.
GeForce GTX 580 – the most productive single-chip solution to date. Aside from the inflated $548 retail market price, the GeForce GTX 580 has a lot going for it, including stunning performance, moderate heat, and excellent noise performance. A definite Must Have for extreme gamers.