ATI HD 2900 XT 512Mb vs NVIDIA 8800 GTS 320Mb Review

Videocards/VGA Reviews by geoffrey @ 2007-07-06

We take an in-depth look at how the new ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT 512Mb stacks up to the lower priced NVIDIA Geforce 8800 GTS 320Mb; comparing overclocked performance and scaling as well as Crossfire tested with multiple games. Can the new HD 2900 XT outrun the current mid/high range GTS performance champ? Let´s find out.

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Test setup, Benchmark methodology & Overclocking

Test setup

Geoffreys' Intel Test Setup
Madshrimps (c)
CPUIntel E6600 @ 3,23GHz
CoolingZalman 9700 LED
MainbordDFI LanParty UT ICFX3200-T2R/G
Memory2x1Gb TEAMGROUP Xtreem 800MHz 4-4-4-10
Other
  • Silverstone DA750 PSU
  • Maxtor 80Gb PATA HDD
  • Seagate 200GB SATA HDD
  • 20" Dell UltraSharp 2007FP TFT monitor

  • The CPU was running at 3,23GHz by setting the front side bus to 370MHz and keeping the multiplier at default (9). The memory was running @ 400MHz (800MHz DDR) with 4-4-4-10 timings unlinked with the FSB.
  • NVIDIA ForceWare 158.22 drivers & ATI Catalyst 7.5
  • While Windows Vista is now officially launched we decided to test with a mature Windows OS (XP SP2), as most people out there are still using XP.

    Benchmark methodology

    The game benchmarks were completed with the HD 2900 XT at stock speeds as well as maximum stable overclock setting.

    All tests were done with a 20” LCD monitor with maximum resolution of 1600*1200. For high-end VGA cards this resolution can be quite stressful in newer games especially when higher quality settings are enabled like anti aliasing and anisotropic filtering.

    The R600 and G80 cards are quite powerful, at 1280x1024 and lower resolutions we couldn’t properly stress them unless we cranked the AA levels beyond reasonable levels. We stuck at our monitor’s maximum native resolution of 1600*1200 and found a good balance between image quality and playability.

    Depending on what game we ran, IQ was set a bit different. You will be informed at all time at what it is actually set. Whenever possible the in-game quality options were set to highest. FRAPS was used to measure the FPS during repeated manual run-throughs of a certain part of the games tested, the minimum, maximum and average values were recorded.

  • FEAR demo
  • Tomb Raider: Anniversary demo
  • TES: Oblivion
  • Colin McRae: DIRT demo
  • Need For Speed Carbon demo
  • Quake 4 demo
  • HardwareOC's Prey benchmark
  • Futuremark 3DMark Series

    Overclocking

    We ended up with three HD 2900 XT samples and all three seem to be very decent overclockers compared to the stock (743/828) clock speeds.

    Core clock (MHz)
    Memory clock (MHz)
    Jetway HD2900XT
    840
    1020
    HIS HD2900XT
    840
    1040
    HIS HD2900XT
    830
    1040


    In our tests we saw that there is no measurable performance difference between 1020<>1040Mhz on the memory, the small difference in GPU OC has a ~1% impact on performance. We decided to use 840/1040 (GPU/MEM) setting for the HD 2900 XT Overclocked Test.
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    Comment from Cranox @ 2007/07/06
    Nice review ( like always ) geoffrey , u know that i was waiting for this .
    Comment from Techie @ 2007/07/07
    hmm maybe it's worth mentioning that catalyst 7.6 is released. In most reviews on the internet, the 2900XT is faster than the 8800GTS 640MB and almost as fast as 8800GTX...
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/07/07
    Geoffrey tested the Cat 7.6 but did not find performance to be noticeable better than 7.5 in his games
    Comment from Rutar @ 2007/07/07
    Why no comparison of the noise and power consumption of the two?
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/07/07
    Can be (approx) compared with result of the GTS here: http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=get...&articID=5 61
    but indeed, next round giving them a nice head2head comparison is needed
    Comment from Techie @ 2007/07/07
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmke View Post
    Geoffrey tested the Cat 7.6 but did not find performance to be noticeable better than 7.5 in his games
    On most forums i read that the cat 7.6 gave a nice performance boost. But if it's tested, it's tested
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/07/07
    Let's wait for Geoff to reply
    Comment from geoffrey @ 2007/07/14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmke View Post
    Geoffrey tested the Cat 7.6 but did not find performance to be noticeable better than 7.5 in his games
    Right on, minor bug fixes and small performance increases here and there, nothing special in the end, I expected more from ATI: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=149354
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/07/15
    well, the driver releases are MONTHLY, I'm sure they have months were they focus on certain features; be it performance, bugfixes or other things, never all at the same time
    Comment from Unknown Soldier @ 2007/07/17
    Thank you for this comparison

    US
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/07/18
    HD 2900 XT loves Unreal 3 engine, try running Rainbow Six Las Vegas
    http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2988&p=22

    performance on par with GTX!
    Comment from Trixx @ 2007/08/16
    Im thinking about buying one of these systems but i dunno wich one. on paper there pretty similar. [i pinked up the stuff thats different for u guys]

    - Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 2.40GHz Dual Core CPU Overclocked too a minimum of 2.93GHz and beyond. (9 x 333MHz - 1333MHz FSB)
    - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Intel approved cooler
    - Arctic Silver 5 Heatsink compound professionally hand installed by our technicians
    - Intel P35 Asus P5K (Socket LGA775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
    - Award winning Team Elite 2GB PC2-6400 (2x1GB) Dual Channel Kit (Running at 800MHz)

    - 250GB Western Digital 16MB Cache SATA-2 Hard Drive
    - ATI Radeon HD 2900 512MB GDDR3 VIVO HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) DirectX 10 Graphics Card- Asus 18x DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black)
    - Black Sony Floppy Drive
    - Antec NINE HUNDRED Gamers ATX Case
    - Enermax Infiniti 650W Next Generation Power Supply


    Alternative

    - Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 2.40GHz Dual Core CPU Overclocked too a minimum of 2.93GHz and beyond. (9 x 333MHz - 1333MHz FSB)
    - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Intel approved cooler
    - Arctic Silver 5 Heatsink compound professionally hand installed by our technicians
    - Asus P5N32-E SLi NVIDIA 680 (Socket LGA775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
    - Award winning Corsair 2GB PC2-6400 (2x1GB) Dual Channel Kit (Overclocked at 900MHz+)

    - 250GB Western Digital Enterprise 16MB Cache SATA-2 Hard Drive
    - NVIDIA 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 VIVO HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) DirectX 10 Graphics Card
    - NEC 7173 18x DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black)
    - Black Sony Floppy Drive
    - Antec NINE HUNDRED Gamers ATX Case
    - Antec 650W Next Generation Power Supply

    i read the review on ATI vs NVIDIA so im swayed more to ATI although the NVIDIA does have the oc memory. There both the same price too, your opinions please
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/08/16
    Asus P35 + 8800 GTS and get the most affordable RAM, RAM OC doesn't do much for system performance
    Comment from blind_ripper @ 2007/08/17
    yeah john 2900XT driver's are getting beter .
    il give u update on game benches with single and CF to add to the review ones i get my cards back
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/08/17
    the GTS 320 is cheaper and a better deal, in stores for $240 and less!
    Comment from Trixx @ 2007/08/17
    I forgot to say guys this is a pre built system so i cant take Asus P35 with 8800 GTS. It has to be that one or the other. Btw the system costs £1000 does that sound fair to you?
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/08/17
    overpriced it sounds to me; why it is prebuild?
    Comment from blind_ripper @ 2007/08/17
    8800GTS 640MB in belguim shop for 312€ !
    HD2900XT same shop 355€
    Comment from jmke @ 2007/08/17
    ow! in that case, no challenge, GTS 640Mb FTW
    Comment from Trixx @ 2007/08/17
    Its pre build because anything electrical i touch turns to ashes :P My friend who used to own a computer store told me he'd be me one that spec for loads cheaper anyway but thanks for all your advice fellas.

     

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