Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8GHz (190MHz x 20)
Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P (Supplied by Noctua)
Motherboard(s): GIGABYTE EX58-UD5 (Supplied by GIGABYTE)
Memory: 3 X 2GB Kingston Hyper X PC3-16000 2000MHz DDR CL9 (Supplied by Kingston)
Hard Disk(s): Western Digital 300GB Velicorapter (Supplied by Western Digital)
Operating System: Windows 7
Drivers: Catalyst 9.12, Catalyst 10.1, Catalyst Hemlock Beta Driver

This month we've added the HD 5970 into the mix. This is not only going to give us an idea of how ATIs top performing model goes with the new driver each month, but should also give us some insight to performance improvements related to CrossFire.

We never tested the 9.12 drivers with the HD 5970, so instead we've just thrown in the original Hemlock Beta driver to see if there are any improvements since that release.

Let's get started!

3DMark Vantage

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.1
Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com
Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmarkvantage/
Buy It Here

3DMark Vantage is the new industry standard PC gaming performance benchmark from Futuremark, newly designed for Windows Vista and DirectX10. It includes two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, and support for the latest hardware.

3DMark Vantage is based on a completely new rendering engine, developed specifically to take full advantage of DirectX10, the new graphics API from Microsoft.

HD 5770 - Here we see no change.

HD 5850 - Here we see no change.

HD 5870 - Here we see no change.

HD 5970 - We see a nice bump in performance when compared to the original beta driver the HD 5970 came with.