GTX 570 SLI Scaling and CPU Bottleneck Analysis Page 1 / 17 1/22/11
Introduction and Test Setup
UPDATE : Originally the data for this article was collected with CPU NB Frequency at 2.10 GHZ. We have since made an update to the article with NB Frequency at 2.95 GHZ. The two titles that showed significant changes (upto 6% in TRI SLI mode @ 4.0-4.2 GHZ) were Resident Evil 5 and Far Cry 2.
It has been a while since one of our articles featured an AMD Processor. Ever since intel's core 2 line up of processors emerged, the gaming and benchmarking market has been heavily dominated by intel. However, over the past few years we have seen AMD release some high quality processors that offer great value for the end user. The latest among these processors is the Phenom II X6 1100T and this article will analyze its performance in various gaming titles.
If you look at the different reviews online it is not hard to assess that AMD might not be the best choice if you are aiming for the best graphics rendering performance. One can also find reports of multi-GPU setups being severely handicapped when coupled with a Phenom II processor as opposed to an I7. Of course, some of these tests are run at resolutions and image quality settings that only worsen the situation. Unlike such scenarios, this article will try to make full use of a powerful TRI SLI setup at resolution and image quality settings where high end GPU offerings are supposed to run ! Hopefully this will give us a more practical picture of the extent of the disadvantage that an AMD Processors puts you at, when you are running a high end gaming set up.
The following setup was utilized for this article:
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T - Turbo Core Disabled (3.3-4.2 GHZ, 2.95 GHZ NB)
2 X 4GB DDR3 Team Extreme @ 1680 MHZ 9-9-9-24
Asus Crosshair iv formula
3 X Galaxy GTX 570 1.2 GB (Forceware 263.09, SLI Patch 0.9 beta)
150 GB 10,000 RPM Velociraptor
Dell 3008 wfp 30" LCD
Antec 1200 Watt PSU
Windows 7 64 bit
Here is a list of software that we used as benchmarks :
Alien vs Predator Benchmark DX11
Battleforge DX11
Cryostasis Tech Demo DX10
Crysis Warhead DX10
Far Cry 2 DX10
HAWX 2 Benchmark DX11
Lost Planet Benchmark DX10
Lost Planet 2 Benchmark DX11
Mafia 2 Demo DX9
Metro 2033 DX11
Napoleon: Total War DX9
Necrovision DX10
Resident Evil 5 Benchmark DX10
Stalker Call of Pripyat Benchmark DX11
By default, Asus Crosshair iv does not support nvidia SLI. Fortunately, it is not difficult to go around this issue. An unofficial SLI patch readily available on the internet enables SLI and TRI SLI capabilities :
On the next page we will discuss the system settings in more detail.
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