Our testing methods
As ever, we did our best to deliver clean benchmark numbers. Tests were run at least three times, and the results were averaged.

Our test systems were configured like so:

Processor Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz
System bus 1066MHz (266MHz quad-pumped) 1066MHz (266MHz quad-pumped)
Motherboard Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Asus P5W DH Deluxe
BIOS revision 0305 0801
North bridge nForce4 SLI X16 Intel Edition 975X MCH
South bridge nForce4 MCP ICH7R
Chipset drivers ForceWare 6.86 INF Update 7.2.2.1007
Intel Matrix Storage Manager 5.5.0.1035
Memory size 2GB (2 DIMMs) 2GB (2 DIMMs)
Memory type Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5
DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz		 Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5
DDR2 SDRAMat 800MHz
CAS latency (CL) 4 4
RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) 4 4
RAS precharge (tRP) 4 4
Cycle time (tRAS) 15 15
Hard drive Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB SATA 150 Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB SATA 150
Audio Integrated nForce4/ALC850
with Realtek 5.10.0.6200 drivers		 Integrated ICH7R/ALC882M
with Realtek 5.10.00.5345 drivers
Graphics GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB PCIe
with ForceWare 93.71 drivers		 Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB PCIe + Radeon X1950 CrossFire
with Catalyst 7.1 drivers
Dual GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB PCIe
with ForceWare 93.71 drivers		 Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB PCIe
with Catalyst 7.1 drivers
Dual GeForce 7950 GX2 1GB PCIe
with ForceWare 93.71 drivers
GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB PCIe
with ForceWare 97.92 drivers
Dual GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB PCIe
with ForceWare 97.92 drivers
GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB PCIe
with ForceWare 97.92 drivers
Dual GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB PCIe
 with ForceWare 97.92 drivers
OS Windows XP Professional (32-bit)
OS updates Service Pack 2, DirectX 9.0c update (December 2006)

Thanks to Corsair for providing us with memory for our testing. Their quality, service, and support are easily superior to no-name DIMMs.

Our test systems were powered by OCZ GameXStream 700W power supply units. Thanks to OCZ for providing these units for our use in testing.

Unless otherwise specified, image quality settings for the graphics cards were left at the control panel defaults.

The test systems' Windows desktops were set at 1280x960 in 32-bit color at an 85Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests.

We used the following versions of our test applications:

The tests and methods we employ are generally publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.