Originally posted by: ronnn
Very nice review. My only quibble is that, who buys a 5770 to use at 2560 x 1600? Still some lower resolutions were used on occasion and it was all well thought out!
Originally posted by: Painman
Cool it on the 2560 res benchies, OK?
Generally speaking, the settings I pick for each game are based on settings I?d use if gaming on one of the tested cards. That is to say, at least one of the tested cards must produce half decent scores at my chosen settings.
For example, the entire 1920x1200 page uses the settings I use on a GTX285 when I play those games, minus TrAA which I didn?t test. Sometimes there are small adjustments required to ensure highest common denominator settings (e.g. disabling TrAA/AAA), but most of the time they?re my actual gaming settings.
I do this because I don?t like throwing up wave after wave of theoretical settings, neither do I like putting up scores that are consistent slideshows, or scores that are so high they?re meaningless.
That and lowering the settings too far for the benefit of slower cards runs the risk of introducing CPU limitations for the faster cards. To me if I?m testing graphics cards, I should be straining them as much as possible while ensuring a playable score on at least one of them.
Additionally, by mixing up the settings I?m more likely to break drivers if they?re only optimized around common settings like 1920x1200 with 4xAA. This is also one of the reasons why I like benchmarking older titles too.
Anyway, that?s my benchmarking ideology.
These methods are somewhat unorthodox, but then I?ve never tried to create mainstream reviews. There are plenty of those around, so I always try to put up something a little different to the standard fare to get both myself and the readers thinking more.
Also even if the 5770 was my primary card, I?d still be using 2560x1600 in many games.