Test System Specs & 3Dmark Vantage
Test System Specs: Hardware
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 (LGA775) 3.00GHz
- x2 Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-14400 Modules
- ASUS Rampage Extreme (Intel X48)
- OCZ GameXStream (700 watt)
- Seagate 500GB 7200-RPM (Serial ATA300)
- Gigabyte GeForce 9500 GT (512MB)
- Gigabyte GeForce 9600 GT (512MB)
- Gigabyte GeForce 9800 GT (512MB)
- Palit GeForce 9800 GTX+ (512MB)
- ATI Radeon HD 4650 (512MB)
- Palit Radeon HD 4670 (512MB)
- Palit Radeon HD 4850 (512MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 (64-bit)
- Intel System Driver 8.4.0.1016
- Nvidia Forceware 180.70 Beta
- ATI Catalyst 8.12
The standings and relative positions remain much the same across all three tested resolutions in 3Dmark Vantage.
When looking at the 1920x1200 results we see that the Radeon HD 4850 is the fastest graphics card tested, beating the GeForce 9800 GTX+ by a 10% margin. The new Radeon HD 4830 was also impressive in this synthetic benchmark, defeating the GeForce 9800 GT by a 19% margin, scoring 3298pts at this high resolution.
The performance continues to drop off and once we reach the Radeon HD 4650 the score is just on 1000pts. This means that the GeForce 8600 GTS/GT, 9500 GT, and Radeon HD 2600XT all scored well under 1000pts in 3Dmark Vantage at 1920x1200. Therefore we have quite a significant difference in performance between a budget $60 graphics card and a $150 mid-range graphics card.