GTX 780 Lightning VS. R9 290X Lightning @ 1080p
Rtsurfer and I decided to have a friendly Lightning vs. Lightning competition. Because of monitor/TV limitations we are only testing 1080p today. We also have different PC configurations, so we had to make some changes to make this as equal as we can. Rtsurfer disabled HT on his 4770K and dropped the cpu clocks to 4.6GHz. He also bumped his memory speeds down a little. We are using different operating systems as well, but the performance difference for the games we benched is negligible. We only benched games that have built-in benchmarks. This leaves very little room for variation between runs. See the system specs below.
Rtsurfer's Rig
Core i7 4770K @ 4.6GHz (HT Disabled)
GSkill Trident X @ 2133MHz 10-12-12-31 8GB
Asus Z87 Maximus VI Hero
Windows 8.1 Pro
MSI R9 290X Lightning 4GB – Stock cooler
Face2Face's Rig
Core i5 3570K @ 4.8GHz
Samsung 32nm @ 1866MHz 9-9-9-24 16GB
Gigabyte Z77X-UD4H
Windows 7 Pro
MSI GTX 780 Lightning 3GB – NZXT G10 bracket with TT Water 3.0
We benched all of the games below at three different clock speeds for each card.
Out of the box clock speeds
R9 290X Lighting stock boost clocks = 1080MHz core and 1250MHz memory
GTX 780 Lightning stock boost clocks = 1124MHz core and 1502MHz memory
We also wanted to measure clock per clock performance as well. Because of the memory interface differences the memory bandwidth is not equal.
R9 290X Lightning = 1189MHz core and 1603MHz on the memory
GTX 780 Lightning = 1189MHz core and 1603MHz on the memory
Last, we wanted to run both of our cards at their Max OC.
R9 290X Lighting = 1260MHz core and 1625MHz on the memory
GTX 780 Lightning = 1450MHz core and 1656MHz on the memory
Now the GTX 780 wasn’t blessed with Hynix or Samsung memory, so it’s scaling beyond 1300MHz+ on the core leaves little to be desired. I would also think its performance would be impacted more so as the resolution increases beyond 1080p. This is due to lack of memory bandwidth.
Here are the settings we used to run each game.
Tomb Raider
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 4% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 9% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 1% faster
Hitman Absolution
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 14% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 22% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 14% faster
Metro 2033
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 12% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 17% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 12% faster
Resident Evil 6
Stock vs. Stock = 780 is 8% faster
Clock per Clock = 780 is 2% faster
Max Overclock = 780 is 10% faster
Batman Arkham Origins
Going to run this bench again - - Results later tonight. Sorry folks.
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 12% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 23% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 11% faster
Metro Last Light
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 7% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 13% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 4% faster
Bioshock Infinite
Stock vs. Stock = 780 is 12% faster
Clock per Clock = 780 is 7% faster
Max Overclock = 780 is 14% faster
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 7% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 11% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 4% faster
Overall with all games tested.
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 5% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 11% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 3% faster
Thanks to Rtsufer for taking the time make all of this happen. If anyone wants proof of the actual runs, I can link them here in the OP.
Rtsurfer and I decided to have a friendly Lightning vs. Lightning competition. Because of monitor/TV limitations we are only testing 1080p today. We also have different PC configurations, so we had to make some changes to make this as equal as we can. Rtsurfer disabled HT on his 4770K and dropped the cpu clocks to 4.6GHz. He also bumped his memory speeds down a little. We are using different operating systems as well, but the performance difference for the games we benched is negligible. We only benched games that have built-in benchmarks. This leaves very little room for variation between runs. See the system specs below.
Rtsurfer's Rig
Core i7 4770K @ 4.6GHz (HT Disabled)
GSkill Trident X @ 2133MHz 10-12-12-31 8GB
Asus Z87 Maximus VI Hero
Windows 8.1 Pro
MSI R9 290X Lightning 4GB – Stock cooler
Face2Face's Rig
Core i5 3570K @ 4.8GHz
Samsung 32nm @ 1866MHz 9-9-9-24 16GB
Gigabyte Z77X-UD4H
Windows 7 Pro
MSI GTX 780 Lightning 3GB – NZXT G10 bracket with TT Water 3.0
We benched all of the games below at three different clock speeds for each card.
Out of the box clock speeds
R9 290X Lighting stock boost clocks = 1080MHz core and 1250MHz memory
GTX 780 Lightning stock boost clocks = 1124MHz core and 1502MHz memory
We also wanted to measure clock per clock performance as well. Because of the memory interface differences the memory bandwidth is not equal.
R9 290X Lightning = 1189MHz core and 1603MHz on the memory
GTX 780 Lightning = 1189MHz core and 1603MHz on the memory
Last, we wanted to run both of our cards at their Max OC.
R9 290X Lighting = 1260MHz core and 1625MHz on the memory
GTX 780 Lightning = 1450MHz core and 1656MHz on the memory
Now the GTX 780 wasn’t blessed with Hynix or Samsung memory, so it’s scaling beyond 1300MHz+ on the core leaves little to be desired. I would also think its performance would be impacted more so as the resolution increases beyond 1080p. This is due to lack of memory bandwidth.
Here are the settings we used to run each game.
Tomb Raider
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 4% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 9% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 1% faster
Hitman Absolution
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 14% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 22% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 14% faster
Metro 2033
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 12% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 17% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 12% faster
Resident Evil 6
Stock vs. Stock = 780 is 8% faster
Clock per Clock = 780 is 2% faster
Max Overclock = 780 is 10% faster
Batman Arkham Origins
Going to run this bench again - - Results later tonight. Sorry folks.
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 12% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 23% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 11% faster
Metro Last Light
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 7% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 13% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 4% faster
Bioshock Infinite
Stock vs. Stock = 780 is 12% faster
Clock per Clock = 780 is 7% faster
Max Overclock = 780 is 14% faster
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 7% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 11% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 4% faster
Overall with all games tested.
Stock vs. Stock = 290X is 5% faster
Clock per Clock = 290X is 11% faster
Max Overclock = 290X is 3% faster
Thanks to Rtsufer for taking the time make all of this happen. If anyone wants proof of the actual runs, I can link them here in the OP.
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