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): GIGABYTE X48-DQ6 (Supplied by GIGABYTE) Memory: 2 X 1GB Kingston PC6400 DDR-2 3-3-3-10 (KHX6400D2ULK2/2G) (Supplied by Kingston) Hard Disk(s): Seagate 250GB 7200RPM SATA-2 7200.10 (Supplied by Seagate) Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP2, Windows Vista SP1 Drivers: Catalyst 8.3, Forceware 174.53 (9 Series), Forceware 169.32 (8 Series)
Since we’re not 100% sure where the card should go, we’ve included the 9600GT, 8800GT and HD 3870 today to get a gauge on where the card sits in the market. Let’s check it out!
3DMark06 is the very latest version of the “Gamers Benchmark” from FutureMark. The newest version of 3DMark expands on the tests in 3DMark05 by adding graphical effects using Shader Model 3.0 and HDR (High Dynamic Range lighting) which will push even the best DX9 graphics cards to the extremes.
3DMark06 also focuses on not just the GPU but the CPU using the AGEIA PhysX software physics library to effectively test single and Dual Core processors.
Straight away our suspicions are confirmed with the card performing just behind the 9600GT under 3DMark06.
