We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASRock, Kingston, Western Digital, Noctua and Thermaltake.

What we've done today is tested our normal PhysX line-up. We're comparing the GTX 470 with a GTX 260+ which would set you back between $450 - $500. We've also tested the GTX 480 on its own working as the PhysX card, which would set you back around $500.

What we want to find out today is if you're looking at the GTX 480, because PhysX is your main priority there may well be a better option for your $500; the GTX 470 with a dedicated card for PhysX.

Let's get started!

3DMark Vantage

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.1
Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com
Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmarkvantage/
Buy It Here

3DMark Vantage is the new industry standard PC gaming performance benchmark from Futuremark, newly designed for Windows Vista and DirectX10. It includes two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, and support for the latest hardware.

3DMark Vantage is based on a completely new rendering engine, developed specifically to take full advantage of DirectX10, the new graphics API from Microsoft.

PhysX doesn't help heaps under 3DMark Vantage and for that reason we see the GTX 470 setup still scales behind the single HD 5870.