Testing:
The tests to be executed include one synthetic benchmark, five benchmarks integrated with DirectX 10 capable 3D games, power consumption testing, and thermal testing. Each card was run through the following tests, and the system was rebooted between each run.
» FutureMark 3DMark Vantage
» World in Conflict
» PT Boats - Knights of the Sea
» Devil May Cry
» Company of Heroes - Opposing Fronts
» Call of Juarez
» Power Consumption Testing
» Thermal Testing
3DMark Vantage:
The first test to consider is
FutureMark's 3DMark Vantage, and higher is better for all results reported. The complete suite of tests was first executed in "Performance" mode, which uses a 1280x1024 resolution. I was surprised by this first indication of the GTX260 EXTREME+'s performance, as it was only outperformed by the dual GPU Radeon HD4850X2 by the slightest of margins.
3DMark Vantage was run a second time on each configuration, this time in "High" mode, which uses a 1680x1050 resolution. At these higher settings the scores remain close between the GTX260 EXTREME+ and the HD4850X2, while the single GPU HD4850 lags quite a good distance behind.
