Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8GHz (190MHz x 20)
Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P (Supplied by Noctua)
Motherboard(s): GIGABYTE EX58-UD5 (Supplied by GIGABYTE)
Memory: 3 X 2GB Kingston Hyper X PC3-16000 2000MHz DDR CL9 (Supplied by Kingston)
Hard Disk(s): Western Digital 640GB SATA 2.0 HDD (Supplied by Western Digital)
Operating System: Windows 7
Drivers: ATI Catalyst 9.11 and AMD Catalyst Hemlock Beta Driver

As we mentioned we'll be using the whole ATI Radeon HD 5000 series line up to test the DX 11 capabilities of DiRT2. We'll be starting with the Gigabyte HD 5750 and going to the Sapphire HD 5770.

Moving up higher in the chart we'll be checking out how the game performs with the HIS HD 5850 and Sapphire HD 5870 before we round it all off with the dual GPU video card that is the HD 5970 from Gigabyte.

We'll be testing the game at 1680 x 1050, 1920 x 1200 and 2560 x 1600 in a combination of the high and ultra preset. Depending on the power of the video card will depend on what resolution we test up to when ultra mode is selected.

DiRT2 at 1680 x 1050

Version and / or Patch Used: Demo
Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com
Product Homepage: http://au.codemasters.com/games/index.php?gameid=2958/

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 features a roster of contemporary off-road events, taking players to the most diverse and challenging real-world environments. This World Tour has players competing in aggressive multi-car and intense solo races at extraordinary new locations, from canyon racing and jungle trails to city stadium-based events.

Powered by the third generation of the EGO™ Engine's award-winning racing game technology, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 benefits from tuned-up car-handling physics system and new damage engine effects. It also showcases a spectacular new level of visual fidelity, with cars and tracks twice as detailed as those seen in Race Driver: GRID.

We can see that the HD 5750 doesn't struggle to get over 30 FPS in the minimum department, which means none of our other cards that sit above it run into any trouble.

Changing to the Ultra preset we can see that the HD 5750 minimum falls below the 30 FPS minimum that we require. Fortunately the HD 5770 is able to break it, which means that the models above it also don't have any trouble breaking the important 30 FPS minimum.