Test System Specs & 3Dmark Vantage

Core i5 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition (Overclocked @ 3.70GHz)
- x3 2GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (CAS 9-9-9-24)
- Asus P6T Deluxe (Intel X58)
- OCZ GameXStream (700 watt)
- Seagate 500GB 7200-RPM (Serial ATA300)
- Radeon HD 5870 (1GB) Crossfire
- Radeon HD 5970 (2GB)
- Radeon HD 5870 (1GB)
- Radeon HD 5850 (1GB)
- Radeon HD 5830 (1GB)
- Radeon HD 5770 (1GB) Crossfire
- Radeon HD 5770 (1GB)
- Radeon HD 4890 (1GB)
- Radeon HD 4870 X2 (2GB)
- Radeon HD 4870 (1GB)
- GeForce GTX 480 (1536MB)
- GeForce GTX 295 (1792MB)
- GeForce GTX 285 (1GB)
- GeForce GTX 275 (896MB)
- GeForce GTX 260 (896MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
- Nvidia Forceware 197.17
- ATI Catalyst 10.3a

3Dmark Vantage scores were quite lower than we expected for the GeForce GTX 480. Performance was 30% above the GeForce GTX 285, but the GTX 480 was still outclassed by the Radeon HD 5870 by a 10% margin. That said, this is a synthetic benchmark and we are far more interested in how the GeForce GTX 480 handles actual games.