Testing (continued):
For comparison purposes the following two cards were tested head to head with the 1024MB Radeon HD3850:
» 256MB Visiontek Radeon HD3850
» 512MB Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD3870
The Sapphire Toxic card will provide a point of reference to cards rated just above an HD3850, while the Visiontek card will provide a point of reference to a somewhat generic HD3850. The image below shows the three cards, and how physically similar they are.
The following table summarizes the key features and specifications, and shows how the 1024MB Radeon HD3850 is in between the two other cards in many regards.
The tests to be executed include three synthetic benchmarks, four 3D games analyzed for real world performance, and thermal testing. Each card was run through the following tests:
»
FutureMark 3DMark06
» FutureMark 3DMark Vantage
»
PassMark Performance Test v6.1
» Company of Heroes - Opposing Fronts
» F.E.A.R. Extraction Point
» Team Fortress 2
» Track Mania Nations Forever
» Thermal Testing
