Rollo's 7800GTX SLI Benches

[nRollo]

System:
A64 3800+/Asus A8N SLI/ 1GB Geil PC3500/2 reference nVidia 7800GTX 256MB/SB Audigy 2
Drivers: 77.72, Quality
Note All single card 7800GTX benches run with MS Transparency AA[/b] Only the HL2 12X9 8X16X benches were run with Transparency AA on SLI.

Pictures

Stellar graph by Keysplayr2003!

Doom3 6800NU SLI vs. 6800GT SLI vs. 6800GT vs 7800GTXSLI vs 7800GTX*

16X12 4X8X=42fps......67fps.......38fps........................83FPS..................54fps
16X12 8X8X High.......................................................31FPS
12X10 8X8X High.......................................................49FPS...................26fps
16X12 4X8X Ultra.......................................................79FPS


I didn't see the point of going any lower here. Note how a person limited to 12X10 could set the eye candy to 8XAA 8XAF and still run 49fps average. I'd call that a "use" for 7800SLI power for those who don't have super large high end displays?
Also, note the difference between single and SLI 7800s- Doom3 clearly loves SLI.
*Transparency AA enabled for single card tests, whether Doom3 uses it or not selecting in Doom3, I don't know.
Half Life 2

16X12 4X8X, all "High" 6800NU SLI vs 6800GT SLI vs. 6800GT vs. 7800GTX SLI vs 7800GTX (Transparency AA)

at_c17_12=53fps.......58fps......52fps..........................................62FPS...............62FPS

at_canals_ 08=76fps.......87fps.......60fps....................................94FPS...............94FPS

at_coast_05=85fps........91fps........83fps....................................96FPS................99FPS

at_prison_05=70fps.......89fps........60fps....................................103FPS..............97FPS

I was fairly surprised by this, so I upped the resolution!

19X14 4X8X, all "High" 6800GT SLI vs 7800GTX SLI vs 7800GTX (Transparency AA)
at_c17_12=47fps...............................61FPS................58FPS

at_canals_ 08=48fps..........................93FPS.................71FPS

at_coast_05=65fps............................95FPS..................89FPS

at_prison_05=60fps...........................97FPS..................66FPS

THAT is impressive. Running HL2 at 19X14 4X8X faster than my 6800GT SLI ran it at 16X12 4X8X.

Then I started thinking about the guys with small monitors again, and how some say they have "no use" for 7800SLI.

12X9 8X Transparency MS AA 16X AF, all "High" 7800GTX SLI
at_c17_12=................................................................61FPS

at_canals_ 08=...........................................................93FPS

at_coast_05=.............................................................95FPS

at_prison_05=............................................................99FPS

Hmmm. So the guy limited to 12X10 could run 8 transparency (MS) AA, and 16X AF. I can tell you it looks pretty sweet, and the jaggies are nowhere to be seen at these settings.



Far Cry Maximum Details

16X12 4X8X 6800NU SLI vs 6800GT SLI vs 6800GT vs. 7800GTX SLI vs 7800GTX (Transparency AA)

Regulator=34fps .....48fps........31fps...........................65FPS................47FPS
Research=50fps.......72fps.......46fps...........................115FPS...............74FPS
Training=39fps.........54fps.......36fps...........................72FPS.................56FPS
Volcano=49fps.........71fps........42fps...........................107FPS...............67FPS

Then I thought I'd better check out EXR HDR in Far Cry, as people are always saying it's an "unusable check box feature".

16X12 HDR 8XAF 7800GTX SLI vs 7800GTX
Regulator.............39fps................37FPS
Research..............51fps................48FPS
Training................42fps................41FPS
Volcano................46fps................44FPS

12X10 HDR 8XAF 7800GTX SLI vs 7800GTX
Regulator.............52fps..................51FPS
Research..............71fps.................68FPS
Training................55fps.................54FPS
Volcano................66fps..................63FPS

HDR is pretty clearly a usable feature with the 7800GTX SLI. Note: I did see some banding in some places of some demos using version 7 of HDR. I imagine this will be addressed in subsequent driver releases.


3DMark 05 6800NU SLI vs. 6800GT SLI vs. 6800GT vs. 7800GTX SLI vs 7800GTX
6761......8555........4813........................................................10455..............7393

3DMark 03 6800NU SLI vs 6800GT SLI vs. 6800GT vs. 7800GTX SLI vs 7800GTX
14275......18799......11257......................................................25855.............15720

Bear in mind for the synthetics that all my hardware is at stock speeds and conservative timings for maximum system stability. I personally don't care if I could get another 800 in 3DMARK 05 if it means I overheat or crash.

There you have it, as promised. More to come, different games, non standard settings, single 7800GTX. Wanted to get this out fast for all the early adopters.

 

[xtknight]

Thanks...we do appreciate all the time you spend doing this. :beer: We will need some single 7800 GTX benchmarks for the sake of comparison though. Looks like 7800 GTX SLI tears up every last resolution. I'd sure hope it did after all that money. I'm not one that needs 7800 SLI...I only have a 17" 1280x1024 LCD. Now all you need is an 8-way Opteron cluster to remove the CPU bottleneck on these things.

 

[Rent]

/waits for the "R520 will be soo much better" comment...

I'm jealous. I'm really *really* tempted to buy 2 to play with ;x

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Rent
/waits for the "R520 will be soo much better" comment...

I'm jealous. I'm really *really* tempted to buy 2 to play with ;x

LOL- it's surely coming. After seeing these run UT2007 Tuesday night, I was pretty much convinced.

 

[Rent]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: Rent
/waits for the "R520 will be soo much better" comment...

I'm jealous. I'm really *really* tempted to buy 2 to play with ;x

LOL- it's surely coming. After seeing these run UT2007 Tuesday night, I was pretty much convinced.

You going to keep that 3800 or jump onto the X2 bandwagon? My current CPU/mobo needs to get out of my case, this could very well be the time for me to do it

 

[Avalon]

Thanks as always for your benchmarks, Rollo. This just goes to further prove that if you plan on playing higher than 1600x1200, this is the card for you. Otherwise, you'd be better off opting for a 6800GT. It's half the price, but very close in performance due to CPU limitations (except in Far Cry...that game does seem to get a noticeable boost at 1600x1200). I'm guessing the future games coming out in a year will exhibit similar performance traits to Far Cry.

 

[xSeongminx]

Where do you come up with the money to get all these cards.. :Q

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Rent

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: Rent
/waits for the "R520 will be soo much better" comment...

I'm jealous. I'm really *really* tempted to buy 2 to play with ;x

LOL- it's surely coming. After seeing these run UT2007 Tuesday night, I was pretty much convinced.

You going to keep that 3800 or jump onto the X2 bandwagon? My current CPU/mobo needs to get out of my case, this could very well be the time for me to do it

Only upgrades I currently have planned are moving my son to PCIE. I'm running my games fine.

 

[rise]

you gonna bench his lego racer game or whatever it is?

seriously, thanks rollo, i alway appreciate that you take the time to do all this.

 

[dug777]

awesome, good work mate

 

[gxsaurav]

Hmm, so does it means playing games with a 7800 GTX at 1024X768 with 4X AA & 8X anis at a 17" LCD will result in a severe bottleneck

 

[TwYsTeD]

Hopefully mine get here tomorrow

 

[biostud]

only thing important is a U2K7 Bench, use your M4D 1337 h4Xx0r SK!LLZ and get one

 

[canadianpsycho]

Originally posted by: gxsaurav
Hmm, so does it means playing games with a 7800 GTX at 1024X768 with 4X AA & 8X anis at a 17" LCD will result in a severe bottleneck

IMHO 1024x768 with a 7800 GTX is a waste of money, unless you're trying to plan for that next big upgrade. You'd be fine with a 6800 or X800

 

[TStep]

Originally posted by: canadianpsycho

Originally posted by: gxsaurav
Hmm, so does it means playing games with a 7800 GTX at 1024X768 with 4X AA & 8X anis at a 17" LCD will result in a severe bottleneck

IMHO 1024x768 with a 7800 GTX is a waste of money, unless you're trying to plan for that next big upgrade. You'd be fine with a 6800 or X800

My thoughts as well, until I have 16x12 or better, not much reason to step up. I guess free eye-candy to the max and very high minimum frame rates would be a nice reason though

Edit: thanks for the benchies Rollo. Always nice to see an informative post in P&N....uuuuhhhmm, I mean, Video forum.

 

[Keysplayr]

Awesome Work Rollo!!!!
I continue to live vicariously through your benchmarks. For now, I will have to "suffer" with my 6800GT

Congrats on your new hi-tech toys. :beer:

 

[nitromullet]

Nice. Very nice

Hopefully my card and proc will get here today, my motherboard looks so empty without them...

Question about your rig/setup... I know that AT and other hardware sites pretty much run test spec rigs when they benchmark, how about you? Is this a rig with a clean windows install with just games and drivers, or are you running NAV and the other usual stuff in the background?

 

[zendari]

Nice.

 

[dguy6789]

Rollo can you do some 8XAA benches? I have always wondered how an SLI config would run something with 8X.

 

[linkgoron]

Rollo, can you test 7800GTX sli with and without the SLI bridge?

 

[imported_X]

Thanks Rollo! I second the call for the same tests with the single 7800. It would be nice to see how that compares with the 6800NU/6800GT SLI configs.

 

[blckgrffn]

Yes, I want more benches too - at this point it could concievably be cheaper to run to 6800GTs than run one 7800GTX... lets hope some early adopters drop their old stuff for decent prices

Also, this gives weight to all those who bought just one 6800GT or 6800U and waited... adding another now does give them single card next gen performance ++

 

[James3shin]

man everytime I look at GTX benchies its like I'm just "PWNING" myself. Crazy frames at insane resolutions! Have fun with those bad boys. For some reason, I am also intrigued by your sons Lego game on a GTX or SLi

 

[Emultra]

Do you pay for this stuff yourself or does your company (or something) do it, Rollo?

 

[Ronin]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: Rent
/waits for the "R520 will be soo much better" comment...

I'm jealous. I'm really *really* tempted to buy 2 to play with ;x

LOL- it's surely coming. After seeing these run UT2007 Tuesday night, I was pretty much convinced.

I wanna know how you got a second ref card and I don't yet.