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A clean system
was created for this test. First the operating system
was installed, fully patched, installed .NET Framework
2.0 and then the appropriate drivers for the chipset
and the graphics card. For the games we used the appropriate
in-game settings for Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic
filtering, where they exist – otherwise we forced
the settings from the Catalyst Control Center. All
games were benchmarked using FRAPS and in-built timedemo
functions, unless otherwise noted. To make sure we
got it right, each benchmarking session was run three
times, to make sure we get consistent results. Onboard
sound was enabled for all tests, to better simulate
the kind of performance an ordinary user would experience.
We chose to
benchmark in three resolutions: 1024x768, 1280x1024
and 1600x1200 – anything above that or below
that wouldn't make much sense if you consider the
card we have here for testing. The Anti-Aliasing/Anisotropic
filtering combinations we used were 0xAA/0xAF, 4xAA/8xAF
and 6xAA/16xAF. V-Sync was turned to Always Off, and
we enabled the “Enable Geometry Instancing”
and “Enable Triple Buffering” settings
– all other settings were left in their default
state.
Overclocking
As previously noted, we had an Athlon 64 3200+ in
our disposal. The processor is using a Venice core,
and can be easily overclocked to 2,7 GHz (which, according
to Sandra, is faster, performance-wise, than an AthlonFX-55)
from 2.0 GHz originally. That gives a very healthy
boost in performance, as you probably realize, and
it enables the graphics card to better show its potential
in games.
In order to
overclock the X800 GTO, we used ATI Tool by W1zzard
(you can get this excellent tool over here).
First thing we did was to check out whether the card
could be modded to 16 pipes, by using the excellent
guide
by TechPowerup!.
Unfortunately, our card was not one of the “chosen
ones”, so we had to settle to just overclocking
it in order to get more speed out of it. We proceeded
to load up ATI Tool, and used the in-built functions
in order to find the maximum overclock for both the
core and the memory. Our results?
Yes, your eyes
are not deceiving you. A whooping 160MHz increase
for the core, and a 70MHz increase for the memory,
resulting in a 560MHz Core / 560MHz Memory clock speed.
Bear in mind that, even the highest clocked Radeon
X-series card, the X850XT PE, is clocked “only”
at 540MHz, making this overclock even more drool-worthy.
The temperatures of the card remained in logical levels,
with the card sitting at 43 degrees idle, and reaching
75 degrees under full load in our benchmarks. Bear
in mind that the case we used for this test (a Thermaltake
Soprano) tends to get really hot, so these temperatures
can actually be lower with your setup.
But will 12
pipelines clocked at 560MHz make a difference in everyday
gaming? That's what we're about to find out.
Note: Bear
in mind that the board we had here for testing could
be hand-picked; meaning that not all GTO boards are
guaranteed to work in such a high frequency. Most
forum posts I have seen though claim that speeds about
500-520MHz are easily attainable, with some clocking
even higher. So please, don't hold us accountable
if you buy a board that doesn't overclock as high
as our reference sample.
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