The testing configuration and methodology
All participated graphics card in the
tests using a system with the following configuration:
·
Mainboard: Intel Siler DX79SI (Intel X79
Express, LGA 2011, BIOS 0559 from 03/05/2013)
·
CPU: Intel Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition,
3.5/4.0 GHz (Sandy Bridge-E, C2, 1.1 V, 2 x 256 KB L2, 15 MB L3);
·
CPU cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE (2 x Corsair
AF140 fans at 900 RPM);
·
Thermal interface: ARCTIC MX-4;
·
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 3 GB
863/902/6008 MHz và1018/1057/7168 MHz; NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN 6 GB
837/876/6008 MHz; ASUS GeForce GTX 680 DirectCU II TOP 2 GB (GTX680-DC2T-2GD5)
1006/1071/6008 MHz; HIS 7970 IceQ X² GHz Edition 3 GB 1050/6000 MHz;
·
System memory: DDR3 4 x 4GB Mushkin Redline
(Spec: 2133 MHz / 9-11-10-28 / 1.65 V);
·
System 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;
·
Back-up drive: Samsung Ecogreen F4 HD204UI
(SATA-II, 2 TB, 5400 RPM, 32 MB, NCQ);
·
System case: Antec Twelve Hundred (front panel:
3 x Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe S-Series MF12-S2 fan at 1020 RPM; back panel: 2
x Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPRO PL-1 fans at 1020 RPM; top panel: 200 mm
standard fan at 400 RPM);
·
Monitoring and control panel: Zalman ZM-MFC3;
·
Power supply: Corsair AX1200i 1200 W
(with a 120mm standard fan);
·
Display: 27” Samsung S27A850D (DVI-I, 2560x1440,
60 Hz).
As you can see the testing description for
the new Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 will compare with the ASUS's GeForce GTX 680
which works at negligible frequencies and compare with the reference GeForce
GTX TITAN.
Asus
GTX 680 DirectCU II and Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan
For AMD, we include a Radeon HD 7970 GHz
Edition of HIS:
Radeon
HD 7970 GHz Edition of HIS
Specifications
of AMD Radeon HD
To reduce the dependence of graphics
performance on overall platform speed, we have overclocked six-core 32nm CPU
core with our 48x multiplier, BCLK frequency was set at 100 MHz and "Load
-Line Calibration" was enabled up to 4.8 GHz. The Vcore processor was
raised to 1.38V in the mainboard BIOS.
The
Vcore processor was raised to 1.38V in the mainboard BIOS
The Hyper-Threading technology was enabled.
16 GB of DDR3 system memory worked at 2133 GHz with the timing of 9-11-10-28
and 1.65V
The test was started on 05/23/2013. All
testing was conducted on Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 with all
necessary updates as the date and the following drivers:
·
Intel Chipset Drivers 9.4.0.1017 WHQL from
03/27/2013 for mainboard chip;
·
DirectX End-User Runtimes library from
10/30/2010
·
Nvidia GeForce 320.14 Beta driver from
05/13/2013 for the GTX 680 and TITAN, GeForce 320.18 WHQL driver from
05/23/2013 for GTX 780 graphics card
·
AMD Catalyst 13.4 driver from 04/24/2013 +
Catalyst Application Profiles 13.4 (CAP1) for AMD graphics cards platform
We tested the
card's performance in two resolutions: 1920x1080 and 2560x1440. The test was
conducted in two image quality modes: "Quality + AF16x" - default
texture quality of drivers with 16x anisotropic filtering is enabled and
"Quality + AF16x + 4x MSAA (8x ) "with enabled 16x anisotropic
filtering and 4x or 8x full screen antialiasing, in such cases the average fps
is high enough for comfortable gaming. We enabled anisotropic filtering and
full screen antialiasing from the game settings. If the corresponding option is
lost, we will change the settings on the control panel of the Catalyst and
GeForce drivers. We also disabled Vsync. There is no change on the driver
settings.
Our benchmarks include two popular semisynthetic
benchmarks and 10 resource consumption game in many genres:
·
3DMark 2013
(DirectX 9/11) - version 1.0, the benchmarks are in the "Cloud Gate",
"Fire Strike" and "Extreme Fire Strike" scene;
·
Unigine Valley Bench (DirectX 11) - version 1.0, with maximum image quality setting,
AF16x resolution and (or) MSAA 4x, 1980x1080;
·
Metro 2033: The Last Refuge (DirectX 10/11) - version 1.2, set maximum graphics quality, the
official benchmark, image quality setting was "high"; tessellation,
DOF and MSAA4x was disabled; AAAd aliasing was enabled, two consecutive runs of
the "Frontline" scene.
·
Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai (DirectX 11) - version 1.1.0, integrated benchmark (Sekigahara
battle) at maximum quality graphics setting and enabled MSAA 8x in one of modes
·
Battlefield 3 (DirectX
11) - version 1.4, all image quality setting set at "Ultra",two
consecutive runs of the beginning of the "Going Hunting" mission
which lasts 110 seconds;
·
Sniper Elite V2 Benchmark (DirectX 11) - version 1.05, we used Adrenaline Sniper Elite V2
Benchmark Tool v1.0.0.2 BETA with maximum graphics quality setting
("Ultra" profile), Advanced Shadows: HIGH, Ambient Occlusion: ON,
Stereo 3D: OFF, two sequential runs
·
Sleeping Dogs (DirectX
11) - version, we have used the Adrenaline Sleeping Dogs Benchmark Tool
v1.0.2.1 with maximum graphics quality setting, Hi-Res Textures was installed,
FPS Limiter and V-Sync was disabled, two consecutive runs of the integrated
benchmark with antialiasing quality at Normal and Extreme
·
Hitman: Absolution (DirectX 11) - version 1.0.446.0, integration benchmark with Ultra
image quality settings, tessellation technology was enabled, FXAA and Global
Lighting;
·
Crysis 3 (DirectX
11) - version 1.0.1.3, all the graphics settings at maximum, the amount of Motion
Blur - Medium, lens blur - enable, FXAA and MSAA4x modes were activated, two
consecutive runs of the beginning of the "Swamp" mission which lasts
110 seconds;
·
Tomb Raider (2013) (DirectX 11) - version 1.1.743.0, we have used the Adrenaline
Benchmark Tool, all image quality settings were adjusted to "Ultra",
V-Sync was disabled, FXAA and 2x SSAA antialiasing were activated, TessFX
technology was enabled, two consecutive runs of the integrated benchmark.
·
BioShock Infinite (DirectX 11) - version 1.1.21.26939, we have used Adrenaline Action
Benchmark Tool v1.0.2.1, two consecutive runs of the Benchmark with
"Ultra" and " Ultra + DOF " settings
·
Metro: Last Light (DirectX 11) - version 1.0.2, we used the built-in benchmark for two
consecutive runs of D6 scene. All image quality and tessellation were set at
"Very high", "Advanced PhysX" technology was activated, we
have tested with and without anti-aliasing.
If the game
allows recording the minimum fps, they would be added to the chart. We ran each
test game and get the best results for the chart, but that's where the
difference between them does not exceed 1%. If they exceed 1%, we run the test
again to achieve match results.
