Choosing among HD2600XT with DDR3, DDR4, or 8600GT? Or 7900GS, X1950Pro? Tests in the No AA/AF mode
Author:
Date: 08.08.2007 |
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This time, we did not run overclock the video cards but tested them in the nominal modes. Search for stable frequencies in overclocking takes up quite a time and does not guarantee reproduction of results with another video card like that. It is possible to overclock noiseless products, but we are against this approach because you'd have to add coolers, and the system appears to be either clumsy or noisy. Nevertheless, we ask the overclocking fanciers not to worry - we'll certainly come back to the topic again.
Test configuration
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Bus
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PCI-Express
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CPU
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MB
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Memory
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OS
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WinXP + SP2 + DirectX 9.0c
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PSU
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Thermaltake ToughPower 750 W
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We ran the tests using the ForceWare 162.18 and Catalyst 7.7 drivers.
We are currently reviewing middle-end products offering 128-bit wide memory bus, therefore we'll be testing the cards in quality modes but without full-screen antialiasing and anisotropic filtering enabled. Apart from the above three video cards HD2600XT GDDR3/4 and 8600GT, the diagrams show the results for previous-generation representatives – X1950Pro and 7900GS (at recommended frequencies). Why did we take just these? Because by their price they are very close to the middle-end novelties, but offer a 256-bit wide memory bus albeit lack support for DX10. Nowadays, while there are no games supporting DirectX 10, it is hard to decide what should be given preference to – proven "oldies" with a wide memory bus which are able demonstrating quite a good-quality picture even in the AA/AF mode, or to ambitious "new kids" which support DirectX 10 although offering a merely 128-bit memory bus. According to the findings in 256-bit memory bus in middle-end video cards: is it really necessary? Theory and practice, in the No AA/AF mode the difference should not be really significant. We'll now verify that. We'll also find out how the performance of HD2600XT differs depending on the use of GDDR3 and GDDR4 video memory.
 At 3DMark’05/06, the new video cards by AMD feel fine. Radeon X1950Pro takes a lead, with HD2600XT GDDR4 running almost on par, and HD2600XT with GDDR3 is lagging a bit behind it. At these tests, 8600GT takes a lead over the "oldie" 7900GS, but in the old 3DMark’03 we see a reverse picture. The cards with 256-bit wide memory bus leave all the others well behind.
At Oblivion, superiority is demonstrated by new AMD cards, with the "oldies" X1950Pro and 7900GS lagging far well behind. However, as the resolution goes up the gap in results drops substantially.
This time as well, Radeon cards - traditional leaders at Need for Speed Carbon - have remained unshakeable. On the other hand, X1950Pro and not HD2600XT leaves the others well behind.
At Serious Sam II, where NVIDIA's video cards have traditionally been favorites, X1950Pro again rushes forward. Nevertheless, the results for HD2600XT and 8600GT have ranked in way as it should be.
Programmers at AMD have done a good job optimizing the OpenGL drivers for their video cards, so at Quake 4,NVIDIA's traditional "estate", HD2600XT GDDR4 is a bit faster than 8600GT, but the absolute leadership belongs to 7900GS, which is no wonder.
At Prey, built in the same engine as Quake 4, HD2600XT GDDR4 suddenly takes a lead, although with the rise of resolution it anyway gives in its leading positions, but to whom? Again - to Radeon X1950Pro.
At F.E.A.R., X1950Pro again proves to be an irrefutable leader, and both the HD2600XT cards lose to 8600GT - even the bandwidth of GDDR4 does not help.
At Call of Juarez, the picture is antipodal. NVIDIA's representatives prove to be outsiders, whereas HD2600XT GDDR4 competes quite successfully versus the leader – X1950Pro.
HD2600XT GDDR3 versus GDDR4
The results of tests have shown that between the HD2600XT versions with GDDR3 and GDDR4 memory there is no substantial difference in performance. Let's look deeper and find the differences at a more detailed level. To this end, we'll be using the methodology described here. That is, with the GPU speed fixed (it is the same in both HD2600XT versions), we'll be changing the video memory frequency. We'll produce two lines of results, as is shown on the below graph.
 As the test application, we took Quake 4 as before. The tests were run at 1280?1024 in the No AA/AF mode. The bullet points on the graph depict the states corresponding to the video memory frequencies recommended for these cards. As you see, the HD2600XT version equipped with GDDR4 video memory proves to be faster, but what happens if we overclock the video memory to values above the nominal? Look - the angle of inclination of the tangent to the lilac line (GDDR3 memory) at a point corresponding to the nominal frequency is higher than the angle of inclination of the similar tangent for the blue line (GDDR4 memory). That means overclocking of the video memory on HD2600XT will be more effective in terms of rise results. You can make preliminary findings by the graph, but their correlation to the real state of affairs will become known once we test the video cards in overclocking. Lastly, we can see from the same graph how the timings of video memory affect the performance of the card in general. To this end, it suffices to compare the results corresponding to the same video memory frequency. In these conditions, the results for HD2600XT with GDDR3 appear to be higher, which is caused just by the more aggressive timings of the video memory as compared to GGDR4.
Final Words
Again, we have produced quite expectable results. Despite their age, the "oldies" X1950Pro and 7900GS are demonstrating a good performance. However, in the modes without full-screen antialiasing the middle-end novelties offering 128-bit wide memory bus are quite capable of competing on par, and in some exceptional case even surpass them. Today's owners of X1950Pro and 7900GS hardly win from migration to video cards of the HD2600XT and 8600GT class. On the other hand, those who have long intended to upgrade their video systems may choose a middle-end video card to their taste, which would be comparable at performance and support for DirectX 10.
As regards comparison of HD2600XT versions, they have proved very close at performance. Detailed investigation allows to assume that in applications critical to the video memory bandwidth, and a minor advantage will be with HD2600XT with GDDR4 memory. If the application is primarily sensitive to the video memory timings, then the version with GDDR3 memory will prove faster to a higher probability.
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