Test configuration and testing method
All participating graphics card will be
tested in a system with the following configuration standard:
Test configuration
·
Motherboard: Intel Siler DX79SI (Intel X79
Express, LGA 2011, BIOS 0494 from 7/23/2012)
·
CPU : Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition, 3.3
GHz, 1.2 V, 6×256 KB L2, 15 MB L3 (Sandy Bridge-E, C1, 32nm)
·
CPU cooling fan : Phanteks PH-TC 14PE (2×135 mm
fans at 900 RPM)
·
Thermal surface : ARCTIC MX-4
·
Graphics card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti DirectCU
II TOP 2 GB (TI-DC2T-2GD5); Asus GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II OC 2 GB
(GTX660-DC2O-2GD5); Sapphire Redeon HD 7870 GHz Edition OC 2 GB; HIS 7850 IceQ
Turbo X 2 GB (H785QT2G2M)
·
System storage: DDR3 4×4GB Mushkin Redline
(Spec: 2133 MHz / 9-11-10-28 / 1.65 V)
·
System hard drive: Crucial m4 256 GB SSD
(SATA-III, CT256M4SSD2, BIOS v0009)
·
Drive: for programs and games: Western Digital
VelociRaptor (300GB, SATA-II, 10000 RPM, 16MB cache, NCQ) inside Scythe Quiet
Drive 3.5” HDD silencer and cooler
·
Backup drive: Samsung Ecogreen F4 HD204UI
(SATA-II, 2 TB, 5400 RPM, 32 MB, NCQ)
·
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred (front panel; three
Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe S-Series MF12-S2 fans at 1020 RPM; back panel: two
Noiseeblocker NB-BlackSilenPRO PL-1 fans at 1020 RPM; top panel: standard 200
mm fan at 400 RPM)
·
Controlling and monitoring panel: Zalman ZM-MFC3
·
Power source: Seasonic SS-1000XP Active PFC F3
1000W (with a default 120 mm fan)
·
Screen: 27” Samsung S27A850D (DVI-I, 2560×1440,
60Hz)
Here are pictures
and technical specs of products participating in testing process:
Products
participating in the tests
To reduce the dependence of the graphics
cards performance on the overall platform speed, I overclocked 32 nm six-core CPU
with BCLK frequency set at 125 MHz and “Load-Line Calibration” allowed at 4.625
GHz. The processor Vcore was increased to 1.49 V in the motherboard BIOS:
Overclocking
CPU
Hyper-Threading tech was enabled. 16-GB
DDR3 system memory worked at 2 GHz frequency with 9-11-10-28 timing parameter
and 1.65V voltage.
The test session took place on February 7,
2013, based on Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 with all updated criteria
and drivers as of that date as follows:
·
Drivers Intel Chipset 9.4.0.1014 WHQL from
02/07/2013 for motherboard’s chipset;
·
DirectX End-User Runtimes from 30/11/2010;
·
AMD Catalyst 13.2 Beta 5 (12.100.17.0) driver
from 02/05/2013 + Catalyst Application Profiles 12.11 (CAP2) for AMD graphics
card;
·
Driver Nvidia GeForce 313.96 Beta from
29/01/2013 for Nvidia graphics cards.
We carried out
our tests in two following resolutions: 1920x1080 and 2560x1440. The tests were
performed in two different image modes: “Quality+AF16x” – default image quality
with drivers enabling 16x antialiasing filtering process and “Quality+
AF16x+MSAA 4(8)x”, allowing 16x antialiasing filtering process and full screen at
4x or 8x if the average frame rate was high enough to comfortably experience
games. We enabled anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing filtering when
setting up games. If the corresponding demand were not enough, we changed these
settings in the Control Panels, Catalyst and GeForce drivers. We also disabled
Vsync here. There were no other changes in the driver settings.
Ever since we have already reviewed a few basic
GeForce GTX 660 graphics cards, the list of games and apps used was shortened
and included two popular system-standard suites and 9 latest games of various
genres with the up-to-date updates as of the beginning of the test session time:
Games
participating in test session:
·
3Dmark 2011 (DirectX 11) – version 1.0.3.0,
Performance and Extreme profiles;
·
3Dmark 2013 (DirectX 9/11) – version 1.0,
benchmarks in “Cloud Gate” , “Fire Strike” and “ Fire Strike Extreme” scenes;
·
Metro 2033: The Last Refuge (DirectX 10/11) –
version 1.2, maximum graphics quality settings, official standard PCB, highest
graphics-quality settings; DOF and MSAA4x disabled; AAA enabled, two
consecutive test sessions.
·
Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai
(DirectX 11) – version 1.1.0, built in standard (Sekigahara battle) with
maximum graphics settings and enabled MSAA 4x in one test mode;
·
Crysis 2 (DirectX 11) – version 1.9, we used
Adrenaline Crysis 2 Benchmark Tool v.1.0.1.14. BETA with “Ultra High” graphics
configuration, activated HD features, two runs the same demo recorded on “Times
Square” level;
·
Battlefield 3 (DirectX 11) – version 1.4, all
images set to “Ultra”;
·
Sniper Elite V2 Benchmark (DirectX 11) – version
1.05, used Adrenaline Sniper Elite V2 Benchmark Tool v1.0.0.2 BETA with maximum
graphics settings (“Ultra” profile), Advanced Shadows: HIGH, Ambient Occlusion:
ON, Stereo 3D: OFF;
·
Sleeping Dogs (DirectX 11) – version 1.5, used
Adrenaline Sleeping Dogs Benchmark Tool v1.0.0.3 BETA with maximum graphics
settings, Hi-Res Textures PCK installed, FPS Limiter and V-Sync disabled, two
consecutive runs of the built-in benchmark with quality antialiasing at Normal
and Extreme levels;
·
F1 2012 (DirectX 11) update 10, used Adrenaline
Racing Benchmark Tool v1.0.0.13 with image-quality settings at “Ultra”,
“Bonnet” camera mode;
·
Borderlands 2 (DirectX 11)- version 1.3.1, built
based on system benchmark with maximum image quality settings and maximum PhysX
level, FXAA enabled;
·
Hitman: Absolution (DirectX 11) – version 1.0,
high image quality settings.
If the game
allowed recording the min fps reading, they would also be performed on the
charts. We ran each game test or scored the system twice but only if the
difference between the 2 didn’t exceed 1%. If it exceeded 1%, we would run the
tests at least one more time to have the repeated results.
