Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3GHz (333MHz x 9)

Motherboard(s): ASUS P5K3 Deluxe (Supplied by ASUS)

Memory: 2 X 1GB Corsair XMS3 DDR-3 1066MHz 7-7-7-21 (Supplied by Corsair)

Hard Disk(s): Hitachi 80GB 7200RPM SATA-2

Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP2

Drivers: ATI Catalyst 7.8, NVIDIA ForceWare 162.18 and DX9c

That under $200 bracket is beginning to fill up more and more every week, we now have the HD 2600 XT and HD 2400 XT from AMD sitting in it along with the 8500GT and 8600GT from NVIDIA. It was clear what we had to do with the two Sapphire cards here today.

Testing in a number of applications with a medium resolution area of 1024, 1280 and 1600 we can see how these cards handle a number of current games at the respected resolutions.

3DMark05

Version and / or Patch Used: Build 130

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark05/

Buy It Here

3DMark05 is now the second latest version in the popular 3DMark "Gamers Benchmark" series. It includes a complete set of DX9 benchmarks which tests Shader Model 2.0 and above.

For more information on the 3DMark05 benchmark, we recommend you read our preview here.

Thanks to the latest drivers from AMD the HD 2600 XT can really hold its ground now. The HD 2400 XT also managed to put the smack down on the 8500GT.