Test Suite

As mentioned above, we will be using a total of 7 applications in our test suite. They are:

• Futuremark – 3DMark06
• Infinity Ward – Call of Duty 2
• Bethesda – Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Relic – Company of Heroes
• Id Software – Quake 4
• Valve – Half-Life 2: Episode 1
• Monolith – F.E.A.R

At this point it probably sounds like a broken record, but this list is shorter than what we wanted. It seems like every time we sit down to write a big-time review, our time is quite limited. Due to our testing procedures, benchmarking parts tends to take a pretty long time. It certainly isn’t ideal, but it is the price we pay for delivering truly accurate results. We also wanted to get this review out well ahead of the NDA, since we are not under the embargo on information regarding the G80, but sadly that was not really possible. We got this card just a few days ago, and we have literally been running benchmarks ever since. So then, enough with the bore and on to the score(s)!

Tests
3DMark06

As mentioned before, we will be using 3DMark06 to get a general idea of the capabilities of the 8800GTX. Although 3DMark06 scores are not entirely practical in terms of the real-world performance of a graphics card, it is, by far, the tool that more people use to compare their graphics subsystems with those of others. People often optimize their systems to maximize their 3DMark scores in an attempt to win bragging rights in a forum or other community. We thought it might be fun to engage in some friendly competition as well, so in addition to running tests at stock, we overclocked the system significantly (Kentsfield @ 3630MHz, RAM @ 419MHz) to get the highest score we could muster.


As you can see, the 8800GTX nearly doubles the score of 7900GT at stock settings. When the system was overclocked, the 8800GTX pulled even farther ahead. Our final score on this system of 12209 is pretty impressive, but we managed a score of 12931 on a different system that was also equipped with a G80 and a Kentsfield processor. That system made use of NVIDIA 680i chipset on the motherboard, and had various other optimizations, including an overclocked 8800GTX, that allowed it to score higher than our 12209. If the results of this test are any indication of the performance we will see out of the 8800GTX in the gaming tests, and we will tell you outright that they are, you may want to take a break and grab a glass of water.