Test System

BFG Geforce 8800GTS 320Mb OC
XFX Geforce 8800GTS 320Mb XXX

Intel Core2 Quad QX6700
Abit IN9-32xMax
2x1Gb Crucial DDR2 @ 800Mhz 4-4-4-12
Asetek Vapochill LS
WD Raptor 134Gb
Samsung 80Gb Sata Drive
Sony DWD710a DVD Writer
Enermax Galaxy 850w PSU
Viewsonic VP2330wb TFT
Windows XP Pro SP2
DirectX 9.0c
.Net Framework 2.0
Nforce 9.53 Drivers (WHQL)
Forceware 97.92
F.E.A.R. Extraction Point
Oblivion
Dark Messiah: Might and Magic
PREY
Flight Simulator X
Need for Speed: Carbon
Company of Heroes

The test system was built from scratch, a format of the hard drive was performed (NTFS) and then Windows XP was installed (SP2). Following the completion of the installation, the Nvidia drivers were installed. All updates were applied, including .NET Framework 2.0 (latest service pack) and the latest Media Player version and Patches. Next, the latest builds of the benchmarking tools were installed and finally, the hard drive was de-fragmented. For each test, the Nvidia drivers were set to default quality/optimizations (unless otherwise stated).

Good Benchmarking Practice:

Where possible, each benchmark was performed 3 times and the median result for each resolution/setting is shown in the tables that will follow. All applications had their latest patches applied and all hardware features the latest BIOS/Firmware.