HP Blackbird 002: Back in Black
by Jarred Walton on September 12, 2007 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Gaming Performance
This is obviously the area where we expect the Blackbird to excel, and as we will see shortly it doesn't disappoint. As mentioned, we did encounter difficulties with 3DMark and F.E.A.R., with the former refusing to run at all and the latter generating wildly fluctuating performance. We also tested Bioshock, one of the best single player FPS games to come out in recent memory. Bioshock runs quite well at most resolutions with all detail settings maxed, but with the shipping drivers CrossFire support was not enabled. We will be testing out the latest Catalyst 7.9 drivers shortly to see if they address any of the difficulties mentioned here.
Besides testing at the overclocked 3.67 GHz and underclocked 2.33 GHz CPU speeds, we also conducted testing with and without CrossFire enabled. We will start with the actual performance scaling charts, but on the next page we will summarize the average performance increases users get from overclocking as well as CrossFire. When looking at the charts below, keep in mind that a relatively flat line indicates that the game is becoming CPU limited, whereas a steeply sloped line shows that the graphics subsystem is the primary bottleneck.
We tested exclusively in widescreen resolutions, and we included the four most common options. However, we feel it's reasonably safe to conclude that anyone purchasing the Blackbird 002 - or any system similar to this - will likely be running at a minimum 1920x1200 native resolution. In fact, if you have over $5,000 to spend on a new computer, we would definitely recommend picking up a 30" LCD to go along with the graphics hardware. Barring that, one of the large 1080p HDTVs would be a good option. What that means is that while we are often CPU limited at the lower resolutions in the above charts, most games are still primarily graphics card limited at high resolutions.
Where we have results from the Dell XPS 720 H2C, it often performs better than the Blackbird 002. While the graphics subsystem in the Blackbird is probably more expensive, the added DDR4 memory really doesn't seem to matter much. S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Company of Heroes, and Far Cry in particular have the SLI setup performing much better than the CrossFire configuration, and testing with older versions of Quake 4 indicates that NVIDIA continues to hold an advantage in that title, particularly under Windows Vista. In other titles, however, performance is a bit more of a tossup. The Half-Life 2 engine for example favors the ATI graphics cards without antialiasing, and performance also generally goes to the CrossFire solution with 4xAA.
Unfortunately, we don't have any Dell XPS results for Battlefield 2142 or Bioshock, and we would also like to rerun some of the other tests just to make sure the XPS numbers are correct. In other words, take the Dell numbers with a grain of salt as they are over two months old and we are unable to verify performance with the latest drivers under Windows Vista.
This is obviously the area where we expect the Blackbird to excel, and as we will see shortly it doesn't disappoint. As mentioned, we did encounter difficulties with 3DMark and F.E.A.R., with the former refusing to run at all and the latter generating wildly fluctuating performance. We also tested Bioshock, one of the best single player FPS games to come out in recent memory. Bioshock runs quite well at most resolutions with all detail settings maxed, but with the shipping drivers CrossFire support was not enabled. We will be testing out the latest Catalyst 7.9 drivers shortly to see if they address any of the difficulties mentioned here.
Besides testing at the overclocked 3.67 GHz and underclocked 2.33 GHz CPU speeds, we also conducted testing with and without CrossFire enabled. We will start with the actual performance scaling charts, but on the next page we will summarize the average performance increases users get from overclocking as well as CrossFire. When looking at the charts below, keep in mind that a relatively flat line indicates that the game is becoming CPU limited, whereas a steeply sloped line shows that the graphics subsystem is the primary bottleneck.
We tested exclusively in widescreen resolutions, and we included the four most common options. However, we feel it's reasonably safe to conclude that anyone purchasing the Blackbird 002 - or any system similar to this - will likely be running at a minimum 1920x1200 native resolution. In fact, if you have over $5,000 to spend on a new computer, we would definitely recommend picking up a 30" LCD to go along with the graphics hardware. Barring that, one of the large 1080p HDTVs would be a good option. What that means is that while we are often CPU limited at the lower resolutions in the above charts, most games are still primarily graphics card limited at high resolutions.
Where we have results from the Dell XPS 720 H2C, it often performs better than the Blackbird 002. While the graphics subsystem in the Blackbird is probably more expensive, the added DDR4 memory really doesn't seem to matter much. S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Company of Heroes, and Far Cry in particular have the SLI setup performing much better than the CrossFire configuration, and testing with older versions of Quake 4 indicates that NVIDIA continues to hold an advantage in that title, particularly under Windows Vista. In other titles, however, performance is a bit more of a tossup. The Half-Life 2 engine for example favors the ATI graphics cards without antialiasing, and performance also generally goes to the CrossFire solution with 4xAA.
Unfortunately, we don't have any Dell XPS results for Battlefield 2142 or Bioshock, and we would also like to rerun some of the other tests just to make sure the XPS numbers are correct. In other words, take the Dell numbers with a grain of salt as they are over two months old and we are unable to verify performance with the latest drivers under Windows Vista.
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rsvdhd - Thursday, September 13, 2007 - link
Hi guys, there is a known bug with Crossfire 2900XTX and 3D Mark. There is a patch you can download to fix this issue.Thanks for the review, for more info check out http://www.hp.com/blackbird">http://www.hp.com/blackbird
rs
ddarko - Thursday, September 13, 2007 - link
Raul,Why not offer a broader ranger of CPU choices for the Blackbird? The only quad core processor offered is the most expensive one, the QX6850. Why not also offer the Q6600 and overclock it? I dislike the tendency of only offer the most expensive part. Being a gamer doesn't mean you should have to spend the most money; price/performance is an important consideration, especially when, as this review demonstrates, increasing CPU speed produces diminishing returns. I don't mean the Blackbird should be offered with Celeron processors but when an option exists like the Q6600 that is economical AND offers great performance, why is HP ignoring it? I'm disappointed that the Blackbird seems designed to wrestle the most money out of the buyer's pocket.
rsvdhd - Thursday, September 13, 2007 - link
Good question,We are offering a series of choices, including a full line of Intel processors. We are also offering both Nvidia and ATI video cards (depending on your preference). Right now we have the "dedication edition" for sale starting Saturday - but if you want to create your own configuration then go to www.hp.com/blackbird and you can hook it up in early October.
Thanks again, look forward to some big things -
mcnabney - Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - link
72 pounds?!?!And a $6500 computer without a monitor included?
DigitalFreak - Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - link
The Blackbird was originally dubbed the RS-71. So how did it become the SR-71? Well as it turns out, it's Lyndon Johnson's fault. In a speech where he advocated the funding to finish development and purchase of this line of airplanes, he flubbed his lines and repeatedly referred to it as the "SR-71 Blackbird" instead of its proper designation of "RS-71 Blackbird." In order to avoid embarrassing the President, the good folks at Lockheed and the Pentagon decided to quietly change the designation.The pilot's manual for the SR-71 has been declassified and is available online. Maximum speed is Mach 3.3.
strikeback03 - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
Where is the manual? That would be interesting to see.yyrkoon - Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - link
Heh, I remember reading about the Blackbirds maximum speed when I was a kid, and I am now 41 . . . and no, no one I know works/worked for Lockheed Martin. Where did I read about it you ask ? In an illustrated Aircraft book bought from a local bookstore. This book also insinuated that mach 3.3 was its maximum *safe* speed, and that it actually could go faster.JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - link
The rumors are that it routinely broke Mach 3.6 and possibly even got near Mach 4.0 in certain tests. Maximum official altitude and speed records belong to the SR-71, but it's reasonable to say that the official records are likely lower than the actual maximums the plane achieved. Some feel that the SR-71 could have probably been pushed quite a bit further (rumor mongers and former pilots seem to think Mach 4.0 wasn't out of reach), but that this was never done because you pretty much don't mess around playing games with an expensive plane.yyrkoon - Thursday, September 13, 2007 - link
Supposedly this aircraft also leaked fuel while on the ground when fueled to full capacity. According to random 'literature' on the web, there were two reason why the Blackbird normally would not go faster than mach 3.2. First was shock waves which would narrow enough between mach 3.6-3.8 that could potentially narrow enough off of the nose to travel through the engines, thus stalling the aircraft. Second was heat, which would increase above mach 3.5 enough to effect the glass/windshield center divider.Inkjammer - Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - link
Y'know, it seems like these "high end gaming machines" are becoming more and more expensive with each company's new iteration, the high end edition always more expensive than the previous. The Dell 720HC, the HP Blackbird 002, Alienware's ALX. They're all good machines, but at a price points that get more and more ridiculous.My home machine has two 8800 GTX in SLI, 4GB of RAM and an OC'd E6600 to 3.2Ghz. Sure, it won't detonate charts and graphs, but it'll come close with even the baddest boys thes companies can throw out. I still have yet to run into a game that does NOT play smoothly at 1920x1200. And it cost about $2,800. Everything is OC'd just fine, too. A Freezone, 7 Scythe SFlex fans... and I still have room to grow.
Yeah, yeah, it's always cheaper to build it yourself, that's an established fact. But these machines are coming out at 2 to 3x the cost of their components, and for what? Overclocked machines that use off-the-shelf Coolit Freezones and some fancy cable management? How much are you paying for design and name alone? For the cost of this machine I'd expect Mr. Freeze to personally hook up the cooling units himself and gaurantee absolute zero thermals. But not, y'know, before putting on a show and fighting Batman in my living room. For $6,500, I expect a show.