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For the review today we have built a strong system which we feel would fit in well with the audience purchasing either of these cards. We are using a Core i7 950 Quad Core CPU with 6GB of DDR3 memory. We have applied a moderate overclock to the processor because we know you guys never run anything at reference speeds!
We are also going to limit testing to 1920×1080 (1080) and 1920×1200 as less than 1% of the enthusiast user base reading this will have a 30 inch screen – this will address the widest possible audience.
Test System: Validation here.
eVGA GTX460 FTW 1GB
Head to Head:
Reference HD5870
Other Hardware:
Processor: Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.6ghz
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 13
Motherboard: ASRock X58 Extreme 6
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tracer 1600mhz 6GB (3x2GB)
Power Supply: Thermaltake 750W Toughpower Grand
Chassis: Cooler Master CM 690 II
Monitor: Dell Ultrasharp U2410 (A00)
Software:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Stone Giant
3DMark Vantage
HQV Benchmark
Catalyst 10.9 Driver
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
Forceware 260.89 beta
Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Keithley Integra unit
Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter
Games:
Resident Evil 5
Lost Planet 2
Far Cry 2
Tom Clancy H.A.W.X.
Metro 2033
Alien V Predator
All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests all games across five closely matched runs and average out the results to get an accurate median figure.
Our minimum frame rate game graphs have three main zones. These are sampled over a specific 30 interval period of time and then mapped into a chart. These are handy reference guides to detail worst case performance of the product being reviewed. When we test video cards we try to find the best combination of resolution and image quality settings while still maintaining playable frame rates.
Over 30fps is the zone most people want at all times, this means perfectly smooth frame rates with no hitching.
Between 30fps and 25fps is the KitGuru ‘Playable’ zone, although some people might notice occasional stuttering in specific scenes.
Under 25fps is classed as the KitGuru ‘Danger Zone’ which means that the game experience will be less than impressive. Settings and/or resolution would need lowered to help smooth out the frame rate.
Briliant idea for a review Zardon. that little bugger can fairly fly! fantastic value for money.
very impressive card. I love the looks too, its so simple in design without colours and stickers all over it.
Christ, those 460s are killer. Surprised me how good it is in some of those engines. Is lost planet 2 any good ?
460GTX is the only good card nvidia have released all year. after that shocking 430 earlier this week its nice this was up to redress the results.
Good balanced reviewing. Z
I rarely see eVGA cards for sale in my region. Are they having supply issues?
I love eVGA products, such a shame to see BFG die t his year 🙁 hope this card seels a lot for them, but I cant buy it, even if I wanted. its not listed over here in Canada anywhere.
Well that was a right kick in the nuts for AMD there. stonking performance all round. This card would have dominated, but it seems far too late for me to be a big seller, especially with 6870 and 6850 about to hit the scene 🙁
If nvidia had gotten the 460 to launch in march/april it would be owning the market, sadly after a few months sales, id suspect they are startign to dry up now, with people hanging around for 6850/70. Too many mistakes for nvidia this year.
Oh yeah, the rest of their range sucks too, which isnt helping consumer confidence.
id still prefer the HD5870, but the pricing in the market is all over the place.
Lets have a look.
HD5870, great card but under pressure from 460. so it seems expensive.
HD5850, its getting whipped by 460
HD5830 – dead
HD5770 – big seller, good pricing
HD5670 – again, great media card, good seller
GTX480 – overpriced, too hot and the performance leader, but no one cares, apart from people out to break 3dmark scores.
GTX470 – dead
GTX465 – who cares
GTX460 – too late, but leading the way, making the 470 and 465 mean nothing anymore
GTS450 – crap
GT430 – overpriced and rubbish.
Pricing is all wrong with both sides ! Nvidia have the GTX460 priced too low and the other 450 and 430 too high !
just ordered the superclocked from scan. great price.
the 460 continues to surprise me great cards for their price
Just ordered one of these from Scan for just over £180. Gonna have to make up another PCI-e power cable as my 600w PSU only has one output for GFX. Simple job with a few molex connectors and a PCI-e plug. Will be interesting to see the improvement over my 8800GT 😉