Benchmark Testing

Gaming benchmark tests were run against the GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0 graphics card in single card and dual-card SLI mode using HeatKiller GPU-X3 GPU water block in stock and overclocked configurations. The SLI mode testing was also done with the system running at stock CPU speeds as well as overclock CPU speeds to gage the affects of processor speed on SLI card performance.

FutureMark 3DMark

FutureMark Corporation’s 3DMark is one of the most grueling benchmark tests on the market for determining system graphics performance. The Fire Strike benchmark measures both graphics-based and PhysX-based system capabilities. The Fire Strike benchmark was run in default mode (1080p resolution (1920×1080)) and Ultra mode (4k resolution (3840×2160)) three times per mode with the highest reproducible 3DMark scores recorded.

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Performance scales as expected between single card and SLI mode when running the system at default CPU speeds with graphics performance increasing by about 70% for the SLI systems. Things get a bit odd when performance was measuring with an overclocked CPU. PhysX performance for the benchmark increased with an overclocked CPU, as expected. However, pure graphics performance decreased with an overclocked CPU in comparison with the stock CPU numbers. This could be indicative of performance throttling caused by an overburdened PSU, or quirks in the benchmark test itself.

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Running in Ultra mode, the Fire Strike benchmark exhibits similar performance scaling as seen with the default mode tests. SLI performance scales as expected over single card mode with greater than 70% performance increase. However, CPU overclocking seems to have minimal, if any, impact on system performance in comparison to direct graphics card overclocking.

Unigine Heaven 4.0

The Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark is one of the more strenuous methods to determine a video card's performance. The Heaven benchmark was run a 1920×1080 resolution with all graphics settings set to High, On, or Normal with the following exceptions: 8x Anti-aliasing and DX11 API selected. The benchmark tests were run three times with the highest reproducible FPS scores recorded.

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SLI performance again scales as expected with the CPU running at stock speeds, for a gain of over 80% in comparison to single card mode. With an overclocked CPU, SLI performance gains remained below 5%.

Batman: Arkham Origins

The Batman: Arkham Origins in-game benchmark was used to determine approximate real-world performance with the card under test. The benchmark test was run at a 1920×1080 resolution with all graphics settings set to High, On, or Normal with including the following settings: GeForce TXAA High Anti-aliasing, DX11 Enhanced mode enabled where applicable, and Hardware Accelerated PhysX High. The benchmark tests were run three times with the highest reproducible FPS scores recorded.

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With dual cards working in SLI, system performance improved by a bit over 33% with the CPU running at stock speeds. We again see lackluster gains with SLI performance when paired the SLI'd GPUs with an overclocked Haswell-E.

Metro: Last Light

The Metro: Last Light in-game benchmark was used to determine approximate real-world performance with the card under test. The benchmark test was run at a 1920×1080 resolution with all graphics settings set to High, On, or Normal with the following exceptions: SSAA enabled, 16x Anisotropic Filtering, and Advanced PhysX disabled. The benchmark tests were run three times with the highest reproducible FPS scores recorded.

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With the Metro: Last Light in-game test, the stock speed SLI configuration saw a 50% performance increase over the single card running at stock. The SLI cards' performance scaled as expected when overclocked, but saw minimal gains with an overclocked CPU.

Grid 2

The Intel AVX-enhanced version of the Grid 2 in-game benchmark was used to determine approximate real-world performance with the card under test. The benchmark test was run at a 1920×1080 resolution with all graphics settings set to Ultra, High, On, or Normal with the following exceptions: 8x MSAA Multisampling. The benchmark tests were run three times with the highest reproducible FPS scores recorded.

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The Grid 2 benchmark test results were a pleasant surprise with SLI performance scaling much more in-line with expectations. The only oddity in the results was the matching performance between GPU stock and overclocked performance at default CPU speeds. This points to the game being CPU-limited, a theory that is further supported by the 20% performance gain seen between the stock CPU and overclocked CPU performance numbers. At stock settings, the SLI configuration saw a 50% performance gain over single card stock settings with a 75% gain realized by overclocking both the GPUs and the CPU.

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