[Eszajer]

Hello everyone, can someone please explain how the G3D Mark works(http://www.videocard...h_end_gpus.html) and if its an accurate reflection of a video cards performance?

I notice in the link provided that an Nvidia GeForce 570 has a higher passmark than a 590, but the 590 is nearly $400 more... can someone please explain how this works and if its an accurate way to determine which card is better?

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If you note, it says the graph is made up of results from their Performance Test benchmarking program. Understand that no one benchmarking program shows the true performance of any card with a given program. Every bench mark program developer keys in on what they think is important. It may not be what you think is important and not what the next benchmark developer thinks is important. So you always need to take each benchmark result with a grain of salt and really should go by the results of many benchmarking programs and not just one.

Note that many review sites do just that. And also note, in the case of games, for example, this game maker may focus on this graphics protocol when coding the game while that game maker may focus on that protocol. This means that this graphics card gives better game-play with this game while that graphic card may give better game-play with that game. For this reason, many review sites test graphics cards on games, not benchmarking programs.

Think of benchmarks as "theory" and an actual game as "real-world" - and everyone knows that theory and real-world don't always see eye-to-eye.

[Digerati]

If you note, it says the graph is made up of results from their Performance Test benchmarking program. Understand that no one benchmarking program shows the true performance of any card with a given program. Every bench mark program developer keys in on what they think is important. It may not be what you think is important and not what the next benchmark developer thinks is important. So you always need to take each benchmark result with a grain of salt and really should go by the results of many benchmarking programs and not just one.

Note that many review sites do just that. And also note, in the case of games, for example, this game maker may focus on this graphics protocol when coding the game while that game maker may focus on that protocol. This means that this graphics card gives better game-play with this game while that graphic card may give better game-play with that game. For this reason, many review sites test graphics cards on games, not benchmarking programs.

Think of benchmarks as "theory" and an actual game as "real-world" - and everyone knows that theory and real-world don't always see eye-to-eye.

[Eszajer]

If you note, it says the graph is made up of results from their Performance Test benchmarking program. Understand that no one benchmarking program shows the true performance of any card with a given program. Every bench mark program developer keys in on what they think is important. It may not be what you think is important and not what the next benchmark developer thinks is important. So you always need to take each benchmark result with a grain of salt and really should go by the results of many benchmarking programs and not just one.

Note that many review sites do just that. And also note, in the case of games, for example, this game maker may focus on this graphics protocol when coding the game while that game maker may focus on that protocol. This means that this graphics card gives better game-play with this game while that graphic card may give better game-play with that game. For this reason, many review sites test graphics cards on games, not benchmarking programs.

Think of benchmarks as "theory" and an actual game as "real-world" - and everyone knows that theory and real-world don't always see eye-to-eye.

Ah ok thanks very much for the clarification! Are there any particular websites that you or anyone can reference that provide a little more information when it comes to benchmarks and certain games? A few friends of mine are fairly biased when it comes to cards, so when I told them I was interested in purchasing a Sapphire 6950 they instantly huffed and puffed claiming that Nvida was always the better choice (regardless of price) because they update the drivers more frequently and provide better performance with most games.

[Digerati]

What I do and recommend is just enter the card brand and model number, and the word "review" (with the "") into your favorite search engine and read what is said at the hardware review sites. Don't pay much attention to "user reviews" at places like Newegg - unless all the users are complaining about the exact same thing. Real hardware reviews sites don't generally have the embedded biases demonstrated by your friends. Certainly nVIDIA has a good reputation, but to say "always the better choice" is, like virtually all blanket statement, false.

If you have a favorite game, you might add that to your search parameters. No card plays all games equally.

[Eszajer]

What I do and recommend is just enter the card brand and model number, and the word "review" (with the "") into your favorite search engine and read what is said at the hardware review sites. Don't pay much attention to "user reviews" at places like Newegg - unless all the users are complaining about the exact same thing. Real hardware reviews sites don't generally have the embedded biases demonstrated by your friends. Certainly nVIDIA has a good reputation, but to say "always the better choice" is, like virtually all blanket statement, false.

If you have a favorite game, you might add that to your search parameters. No card plays all games equally.

True, just wasnt sure if there was a "goto-site" when it comes to reviews/tests so I figured I would ask. I plan on running Crysis 2 and BF3, but ill make sure to see what I can find, thanks again for the input!

[Digerati]

There are several good HW review sites - to name a few:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/
http://www.anandtech.com/
http://www.hardocp.com/
http://www.tweaktown.com/
http://www.tomshardware.com/

And Toms Hardware has a monthly best card for the money article which I refer folks to all the time. The most recent: Toms Hardware, Best Cards for the Money - January 2012.