Review: Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 - An Affordable, Future-Proof Graphics Card That Runs Latest Games

Real-world gaming

As we mentioned above we use both synthetic and real-world testing to give you the full picture of any product. For GPUs the best real world test is in-game testing. Time Demos and benchmarking tools with render engines cannot come close to showing what a graphics card can really do once it is in you system. As such we have chosen five games two DX9, two DX10 and two DX11.

These games are Metro 2033, Just Cause 2, Bioshock 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2, FarCry2, and Modern Warfare 2. We played a specific level of each of these and used FRAPS 3.0.3 to measure the ability of our test subjects to render each game. All of the charts below are sorted based on the minimum frames per second each card was able to achieve. We have also pulled out the DX10 based GTX 285 from all of the DX11 games.

Modern Warfare 2 (DX9)

The final sequel is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. This game brings the stress and chaos of modern combat to life. It is a very short but very intense game, in it you take on multiple roles as you move through different locations around the globe and engage in all forms of combat. For testing I ran from after you are selected until the liberation of the school. Settings are shown below.

Modern Warfare 2 is an excellent game. It is one that still gets play time even with the issue over dedicated servers. We keep it around for now just for this reason. In terms of performance the GTX570 shows up a little behind the EAH 5870 V2 from Asus (by two FPS). In other words you would not be disappointed if you bought one of these and Modern Warfare was your thing.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 (DX11)

Another game in the BF franchise this one takes a stab at a more modern form of warfare. You do start off toward the end of WWII but soon are in the future (present?) for the single player campaign. The game features some decent AI (more mob style than anything) and has some great weapons. Our test run is the entire first mission. Settings are shown below.

With Bad Company 2 the GTX570 does pull out a little in front of the EAH5870. Granted it is only by 6 FPS. This is right on the threshold of what you would be able to notice at these speeds.

FarCry2 (DX10)

Farcry 2 is the third of the sequels we used for testing. It is a large sandbox game that does not truly have levels like most first person shooters. For testing I played from after you wake up until you free the hostage. Settings are shown below.

Oddly enough we did not see the performance we would have thought with FarCry2. In fact we see performance that is behind the GTX480. We will have to check into this one but we have a feeling it is a driver issue as the ones we used are fairly new.