Performance in games

Testbed:

• Intel Core2 Extreme QX9650 (3000 MHz) CPU
• Zotac 790i Ultra motherboard on NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra
• 2GB DDR3 SDRAM Corsair 2000MHz
• WD Caviar SE WD1600JD 160GB SATA hard drive
• Tagan TG900-BZ 900W PSU
• Windows Vista 32bit SP1, DirectX 10.1
• Dell 3007WFP 30-inch monitor
• ATI CATALYST 8.12beta (8.561.3); NVIDIA 181.20 drivers
• VSync disabled

Benchmarks:

• Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft) -- DirectX 10.0, shaders 4.0 (HDR), built-in benchmarking utility (the Middle level), maximum settings.
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky 1.507 (GSC Game World/THQ) -- DirectX 10.0, maximum quality settings (dynamic lighting enabled); demo, copy files to the savegames folder, run the game, load level 'ixbt4', and type "demo_play ixbt4" in the console. This game does not support AA.
• 3DMark Vantage 1.02 (FutureMark) -- DirectX 10.0, shaders 4.0, multitexturing, 'Extreme' settings.
• CRYSIS 1.2 (Crytek/EA), DirectX 10.0, shaders 4.0, 'Very High' settings, 'Rescue' level; batch file, e-mail us to obtain the timedemo.
• CRYSIS Warhead (Crytek/EA), DirectX 10.0, shaders 4.0, 'Very High' settings, 'Cargo' level; batch file, e-mail us to obtain the timedemo.
• Company Of Heroes Opposing Fronts (Relic Entertainment/THQ) -- DirectX 10.0, shaders 4.0, maximum settings; batch file, run the game, invoke graphics settings and click the test button.
• World In Conflict 1.007 (Massive Entertainment/Sierra) -- DirectX 10.0, shaders 4.0, 'Very High' settings with adjusted AA and AF; run the game, invoke graphics settings and click the test button.
• Devil May Cry 4 (CAPCOM) -- DirectX 10.0, 'Super High' settings with adjusted AA and AF; Scene 1.
• Lost Planet Extreme Condition Colonies Edition (CAPCOM) -- DirectX 10.0, 'Super High' settings (with adjusted AA and AF); Scene 1.
• Left 4 Dead (Valve) -- DirectX 10.0, 'Super High' settings.

We publish GTX 285 results for three modes: nominal frequencies, Zotac's AMP! Edition, and overclocked. GTX 295 test results are published here.

Note that performance charts are located on dedicated pages.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky

Performance charts: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

World In Conflict

Performance charts: World In Conflict

CRYSIS, Rescue, DX10, Very High

Performance charts: CRYSIS, Rescue, DX10, Very High

CRYSIS Warhead, Cargo, DX10, Very High

Performance charts: CRYSIS Warhead, Cargo, DX10, Very High

Far Cry 2

Performance charts: Far Cry 2

Company Of Heroes

Performance charts: CoH

3DMark Vantage, Graphics MARKS

Performance charts: 3DMark Vantage, Graphics MARKS

Devil May Cry 4, SCENE1

Performance charts: Devil May Cry 4, SCENE1

Lost Planet EC Colonies, SCENE1

Performance charts: Lost Planet EC Colonies, SCENE1

Left 4 Dead

Performance charts: Left 4 Dead

Conclusions

GTX 285 is opposed by RADEON HD 4850 X2, which is actually not very wide spread, because such cards are made only by a couple of manufacturers. Just like 4870 X2, 4850 X2 is a dual-GPU graphics card, so it suffers from all problems of such cards. We have already mentioned them here. As we can see, GTX 285 proves to be a very good product for its price (its MSRP in the USA is $349). A number of defeats were probably an annoying mistake.

When overclocked to very high frequencies, GTX 285 still fails to catch up with the 4870 X2 card in most cases (except when CrossFire does not work or works at its partial capacity). It goes without saying that 4870 X2 is more expensive. However, prices for 4870 X2 have been dropping, and that does not make the life of GTX 285 any easier.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 285 1024MB is a copy of the reference card with an incomplete bundle. All depends on the price.

Leadtek GeForce GTX 285 1024MB is also a copy of the reference card with a complete bundle (we cannot consider an old game as a good bonus).

Zotac GeForce GTX 285 AMP! Edition 1024MB is a copy of the reference card, but it works at the increased frequencies, plus it has a very good bundle.

Zotac GeForce GTX 295 2x896MB is a copy of the reference card with the same bundle. All depends on the price as well.

None of NVIDIA's partners manufacture such cards on their own, they buy them from NVIDIA. So all GTX 285 cards are actually manufactured at a couple of plants and then distributed among NVIDIA's partners. So there is no reason to write about peculiarities of this or that GTX 285 card whatever maker there is. It all depends on the price, operating frequencies, bundles, and users' preferences.

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