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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Sabresiberian - Monday, October 8, 2007 - link
Hewlett-Packard used to be synonymous with high quality small computing and scientific gear, but have become something less than that. It is nice to see them produce something that is once again aimed at the high-end market.I can understand why they didn't go with 64-bit, it's still early for that, but I agree it should have had 4GB ram. Easy to fix, but why should you have to fix anything in a $5500 system?
I'd buy one just to support HP's efforts if I could afford one :)
strikeback03 - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
No idea how great this encoder is (video isn't my thing) but http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html">Super claims to convert to H.264JarredWalton - Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - link
Seems to work fine, except it definitely doesn't support quad-core and possibly not even fully dual-core. :(Zak - Saturday, September 15, 2007 - link
Since when Radeon HD X2900 XT 1GB is the fastest card on the market? I'm confused. All reviews I read say that it's about as fast as 8800GTS 640MB. Because all that super fast memory doesn't give it any benefit since the GPU is lagging behind. It was beaten by 8800GTX and Ultra in all reviews, except for one game, I forgot which one. Can someone elaborate? I'm going to buy a new video card soon and I was intrigued by this card: 1GB of GDDR4 sounds impressive and the price is right. But then I started reading reviews and they cooled me off, this card is competing against 8800GTS, it's not even close to GTX or Ultra speed.Z.
wolfman3k5 - Saturday, September 15, 2007 - link
Regardless of what reviews say, because many reviewers are biased, I can tell you that I've tested a Sapphire HD2900XT 1GB GDDR4 and it's performance lies between a 8800 GTS 640MB and a 8800 GTX 768MB. Never mind touching the Ultra. Best bang for the buck is the MSI 8800 GTX, Anand will agree with me. Take care and good luck.JarredWalton - Saturday, September 15, 2007 - link
I'm not sure that I ever intended to give the impression that the HD 2900 XT 1GB is the fastest card on the market - in fact, at several points I specifically say the opposite. However, I'm sure that AMD CrossFire is merely an option and is not required. Obviously, the Dell 720 H2C comes out ahead in quite a few of the gaming tests, even with older drivers.
Also, a https://h20435.www2.hp.com/Default.aspx">"special edition" Blackbird went on sale today for $5500, and only 518 (don't ask me why 518!) will be made. That version includes dual 8800 Ultra cards and the Half-Life 2 "Orange Box" bundle, plus pretty much everything seen here. Not a bad price for the components, really, but still more than most people are willing to spend.
Zak - Sunday, September 16, 2007 - link
Thanks. I was just confused. I thought I missed something. Also, thanks to the other poster who replied. I will most likely get the 8800GTX then. 8800Ultra seems like a waste of money at $100 more. But I just got a 24" monitor, I may need all the graphics power I can get. SLI is out of question though, too expensive.Z.
JarredWalton - Saturday, September 15, 2007 - link
Apparently I messed up the link. Let's try that again:https://h20435.www2.hp.com/Default.aspx">HP Blackbird 002 Dedication Edition
Zak - Saturday, September 15, 2007 - link
I have to say I'm shocked to see this come out of HP, the most boring computer maker on the planet. The price is prohibitively high, but if I was on the market for computer of this grade I would very seriously consider this vs Dell or Alienware.Z.
Toronto699 - Thursday, September 13, 2007 - link
Blackbird Tech Support will be handled by Voodoo PC in Calgary Alberta Canada, Canadas Oil Capitol