discussion NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 Review

[SKYMTL]

Come One Come All: Products from Board Partners

Come One Come All: Products from Board Partners

ASUS

EVGA

Gigabyte

MSI

Zotac

 

[SKYMTL]

Test System & Setup

Test System & Setup

Processor: Intel Core i7 920(ES) @ 4.0Ghz (Turbo Mode Enabled)
Memory: Corsair 3x2GB Dominator DDR3 1600Mhz
Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
Cooling: CoolIT Boreas mTEC + Scythe Fan Controller (Off for Power Consuption tests)
Disk Drive: Pioneer DVD Writer
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB
Power Supply: Corsair HX1000W
Monitor: Samsung 305T 30” widescreen LCD
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate N x64 SP1


Graphics Cards:

GTX 480
GTX 470
ATI HD 5970 2GB (Stock)
Sapphire HD 5870 1GB (Stock)
Sapphire HD 5850 1GB (Stock)
EVGA GTX 285 (Stock)
GTX 275 896MB (Stock)
GTX 295 (Stock)


Drivers:

ATI 10.3a Preview + 10.3 Profile 1.0
NVIDIA 197.17 Beta


Applications Used:

Aliens Versus Predator
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
DiRT 2
Dragon Age: Origins
Far Cry 2
Left 4 Dead 2
Metro 2033
Unigine: Heaven


*Notes:

- All games tested have been patched to their latest version

- The OS has had all the latest hotfixes and updates installed

- All scores you see are the averages after 2 benchmark runs

All game-specific methodologies are explained above the graphs for each game

All IQ settings were adjusted in-game

 

[SKYMTL]

Aliens Versus Predator (DX11)

Aliens Versus Predator (DX11)

When benchmarking Aliens Versus Predator, we played through the whole game in order to find a section which represents a “worst case” scenario. We finally decided to include “The Refinery” level which includes a large open space and several visual features that really tax a GPU. For this run-through, we start from within the first tunnel, make our way over the bridge on the right (blowing up several propane tanks in the process), head back over the bridge and finally climb the tower until the first run-in with an Alien. In total, the time spent is about four minutes per run. Framerates are recorded with FRAPS.


1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

Things don’t start off too well for the GTX 470 since it starts its journey running neck and neck with the HD 5830 at 1680 resolution. Luckily, things really start looking good when AA is enabled and it can sometimes actually vault past the HD 5870 while maintaining significantly higher minimum framerates than the HD 5850.

 

[SKYMTL]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (DX11)

BattleField: Bad Company 2 (DX11)

To benchmark BF: BC2 we used a five minute stretch of gameplay starting from the second checkpoint (after the helicopter takes off) of the second single player mission up until your battle with the tank commences. Framerates are recorded with FRAPS.


1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

The trend started in AvP continues here with good famerates at and below 1920/ 4x but we are seeing a bit of inconsistent performance out of the GTX 470 once it hits 2560 resolution. As we stated in the GTX 480 review, according to NVIDIA this is a driver issue and should be fixed shortly.

 

[SKYMTL]

DiRT 2 (DX11)

DiRT 2 (DX11)

Being one of the newest games on the market, DiRT 2 cuts an imposing figure in terms of image quality and effects fidelity. We find that to benchmark this game the in-game tool is by far the best option. However, due to small variances from one race to another, three benchmark runs are done instead of the normal two. It should also be mentioned that the demo version of the game was NOT used since after careful testing, the performance of the demo is not representative of the final product. DX11 was forced through the game’s config file. In addition, you will see that these scores do not line up with our older benchmarks at all. This is due to the fact that a patch was recently rolled out for the game which included performance optimizations in addition to new graphics options.

1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

Dirt 2 performance is simply stunning at anything below that pesky 2560 x 1600 resolution which the GTX 470 seems to have so much trouble with. Honestly, if you own a 24” or smaller display, don’t want to spend more than $400 on a video card and enjoy Dirt 2 this is the card for you.

 

[SKYMTL]

Dragon Age: Origins (DX9)

Dragon Age: Origins (DX9)

To benchmark Dragon Age, we used a simple walkthrough coupled with a short combat sequence. The benchmark run begins with a walk through one of the most demanding scenes we have come across in the game so far: the walk over the bridge and through Ostagar. This is followed by a combat sequence outside of the fortress itself. In total the runthrough takes about 6 minutes.

1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

Dragon Age: Origins has never been a game which NVIDIA cards excelled at and the same can be said for the GTX 470. It is consistently neck and neck with the HD 5850 but there are times where it looses out by a narrow margin as well.

 

[SKYMTL]

Far Cry 2 (DX9)

Far Cry 2 (DX9)

Even though Far Cry 2 has its own built-in benchmarking tool with some flythroughs and “action scenes”, we decided to record our own timedemo consisting of about 5 minutes of game time. It involves everything from run-and-gun fights to fire effects. The built-in benchmarking too was then set up to replay the timedemo and record framerates


1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

Far Cry 2 definitely benefits NVIDIA’s new architecture since we see the GTX 470 consistently beating not only the HD 5850 but also the HD 5870. These are impressive results to say the least.

 

[SKYMTL]

Far Cry 2 (DX10)

Far Cry 2 (DX10)

Even though Far Cry 2 has its own built-in benchmarking tool with some flythroughs and “action scenes”, we decided to record our own timedemo consisting of about 5 minutes of game time. It involves everything from run-and-gun fights to fire effects. The built-in benchmarking too was then set up to replay the timedemo and record framerates


1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

Once again this $350 NVIDIA card simply dominates the HD 5850 in Far Cry 2 but this time it is within the DX10 version.

 

[SKYMTL]

Left 4 Dead 2 (DX9)

Left 4 Dead 2 (DX9)

For benching Left 4 Dead 2, we used a pre-recorded 6 minute timedemo taken on the hectic Atrium level. Framerates were captured with FRAPS.


1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

The Left 4 Dead 2 performance for the GTX 470 is impressive to say the least; particularly when it comes to minimum framerates in comparison to the HD 5850. It has a small slip-up at 2560 x 1600 but then brings things back on track again and finishes the 4xAA test with a very good result.

 

[SKYMTL]

Metro 2033 (DX11)

Metro 2033 (DX11)

There has been a lot of buzz about Metro 2033 which has mostly centered on its amazing graphics coupled with absolutely brutal framerates on even the best GPUs on the market. For this test we use a walkthrough and combat scene from The Bridge level which starts at the beginning of the level and lasts for about 5 minutes of walking, running and combat. Famerates are measured with FRAPS and Advanced PhysX is turned off.


1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

2560 x 1600

The GTX 470 continues to put down some extremely promising numbers by consistently beating the HD 5870 and leaving the HD 5850 in the dust.