by Rob Williams on November 10, 2010 in Graphics & Displays
NVIDIA launched its first Fermi-based GPU earlier this year in the form of the GeForce GTX 480, and it was met with mixed reception. Until now, it’s been the fastest single-GPU offering on the market, but certain downsides kept it from being the first-choice of many. Does NVIDIA’s first proper follow-up fix all that was wrong?
Of all the games we test, it might be this one that needs no introduction. Back in 1998, Blizzard unleashed what was soon to be one of the most successful RTS titles on the planet, and even as of today, the original is still heavily played all around the world – even in actual competitions. StarCraft II of course had a lot of hype to live up to, and it did, thanks to its intense gameplay and superb graphics.
Manual Run-through: The portion of the game we use for testing is part of the Zero Hour mission, which has us holding fort until we’re able to evacuate. Our saved game starts us in the middle of the mission, and from the get-go, we build a couple of buildings and concurrently move our main units up and around the map. Total playtime lasts about two minutes.
StarCraft II is a good-looking game, but it doesn’t require a powerhouse to run. In fact, at most resolutions, cards like the GTX 580 just can’t be touched. It’s the higher resolutions when that card begins to strut its stuff, settling in beside our HD 6870 CrossFireX configuration.
|
|
|
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AMD HD 5970 2GB (Reference)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
55
|
89.972
|
NVIDIA GTX 580 1280MB (Reference)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
40
|
82.005
|
AMD HD 6870 1GB (CrossFireX)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
48
|
81.989
|
NVIDIA GTX 480 1536MB (Reference)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
25
|
72.674
|
AMD HD 6850 1GB (CrossFireX)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
40
|
71.905
|
AMD HD 5870 1GB (Sapphire)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
31
|
57.28
|
NVIDIA GTX 470 1280MB (EVGA)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
20
|
55.961
|
NVIDIA GTS 450 1GB (SLI)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
32
|
52.565
|
AMD HD 6870 1GB (Reference)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
34
|
52.115
|
AMD HD 5850 1GB (ASUS)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
32
|
48.787
|
AMD HD 6850 1GB (Reference)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
26
|
44.456
|
NVIDIA GTX 460 1GB (EVGA)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
25
|
41.306
|
AMD HD 5830 1GB (Reference)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
20
|
32.986
|
NVIDIA GTS 450 1GB (ASUS)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
19
|
32.561
|
AMD HD 5770 1GB (Reference)
|
2560×1600 – Ultra Detail, 0xAA
|
17
|
30.515
|
AMD HD 5750 1GB (Sapphire)
|
2560×1600 – High Detail, 0xAA
|
23
|
37.297
|
NVIDIA GTS 450 1GB (ASUS)
|
2560×1600 – High Detail, 0xAA
|
22
|
33.331
|
It goes without saying, on a card like the GTX 580, you can run any settings you please, at any resolution. If only more games were like this!