Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3GHz (333MHz x 9)

Cooling: Corsair Nautilus500 (Supplied by Corsair) with Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound (Supplied by Arctic Cooling)

Motherboard(s): ASUS Blitz Extreme (Supplied by ASUS)

Memory: 2 X 1GB Corsair XMS3 DDR-3 1066MHz 7-7-7-21 (Supplied by Corsair)

Hard Disk(s): Hitachi 80GB 7200RPM SATA-2

Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP2, Windows Vista

Drivers: Catalyst 7.10, Forceware 169.01, Forceware 169.06 (8800GTS 512MB)

Going into the arena with our Palit 8800GT Sonic is a stock clocked 8800GT from ASUS and the older HD 2900 XT from MSI which is also stock clocked.

We'll run through all the normal benchmarks, resolutions and operating systems and we will finish up with our thoughts on the Palit 8800GT Sonic and see if they continue to impress us like they have in the past.

3DMark05

Version and / or Patch Used: Build 130

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark05/

Buy It Here

3DMark05 is now the second latest version in the popular 3DMark "Gamers Benchmark" series. It includes a complete set of DX9 benchmarks which tests Shader Model 2.0 and above.

For more information on the 3DMark05 benchmark, we recommend you read our preview here.

We can see the overclocked core and memory really give it the jump when compared to the stock clocked offering from ASUS.