AMD Radeon 6900 & 6800 Updated - Benchmarking

Submitted by skipclarke on 24 February, 2011 - 02:32

Article Type: 
Review

System Specs

The Radeon HD 6900 and 6800 benchmarks were done on the 10.12 Driver Release. This is what initially brought the 5x1-Portrait and the new Catalyst UI. Since that time two driver updates have been released, but I've stayed at 10.12 for consistency.

  • Windows 7
  • EVGA X58 Tri-SLI Motherboard
  • Intel i7 920 at 4x2.67GHz
  • 12GB G.Skill DDR3 RAM
  • 2x Samsung 320GB T-Series HDD (one for the OS and games; one for swap file and FRAPS)
  • LG Super Multi Blu (HD-DVD/Blu-Ray Player)
  • Onboard audio
  • Corsair HX1000
  • My Open PC Doma Pro PCI Case
  • Logitch K340 Keyboard & Performance MX Mouse
  • Ergotech Heavy Duty Triple Desk Stand
  • 5x Dell U2211H IPS 16:9 1920x1080 Displays

My test rig remains unchanged, except for a new case. For easier testing, I recently migrated to the Doma Pro PCI test bench from My Open PC (review on that coming soon).

Hardware Tested

I only have AMD hardware tested for comparison in this review. This is not for lack of wanting to test NVIDIA hardware in Surround, but NVIDIA has not yet decided to support the WSGF with hardware for review and benchmarking. Considering that the WSGF is a hobby that just supports itself, I cannot justify spending the money needed to test NVIDIA cards.

Most of my time is spent working on the site (or other projects), and much of my "play time" is spent benchmarking. Cards would basically only be used for testing, and I cannot reconcile purchasing cards that would only be used for testing. It's simply not a good ROI.

Resolutions Tested

I tested both 1600x900 and 1920x1080 in widescreen, as well as 4800x900 and 5760x1080 in Eyefinity. This allows for comparison between panels in the 20" and 23" range, as well as performance improvements from dialing back the resolution on notch.

Games Tested

This benchmark update brings these games into my benchmark portfolio:

  • Aliens vs. Predator
  • F1 2010
  • Heaven v2
  • Just Cause 2
  • Mafia II

Previously I had used the Just Cause 2 demo for benchmark. The full game offers three new benchmarks, and replaces the one in the demo. I am still using the desert sunset benchmark, but the one found in the full game is more demanding.

Also, I had previously used the first version of the Heaven demo. This now brings us current with the new second version.

Notes on Testing

In many areas, I am hitting a CPU limit in widescreen. In several instances the widescreen performance is hitting a wall at 100fps+. In some of these instances older cards appear to be outperforming newer cards by a couple fps. These minor differences are well within a margin of error, and should be considered identical performance.

Since I originally tested the 5800 series (well over a year ago), my system has gathered a certain amount of cruft due to games being installed and removed, and the video drivers being updated on a regular basis. While Windows 7 certainly handles "aging" much better than WinXP or Vista, this alone could account for the few fps difference (considering the difference is only a few percent variation).

Future Testing

I will also be re-benchmarking the higher end cards in the 5000-series on the newer drivers and on the 16:9 1920x1080 panels. This will ensure completely accurate comparisons.