
Like it or not, Intel’s XMP technology provides overclocking modes for DRAM. Don left his system at its unconfigured defaults (SPD values) for baseline measurements and enabled XMP as his overclocked mode.
But unlike other overclocking options, XMP modes are part of the module’s rated performance. Paul and I chose to enable this feature for baseline measurements, and I was able to put my memory performance even higher using manual O/C methods.
| Test Hardware Configurations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| $800 Gaming PC | $1600 Enthusiast PC | $2400 Performance PC | |
| Processor (Overclock) | Intel Core i5-3570: 3.4 - 3.6 GHz, Four Physical Cores, O/C to 3.8 - 4.0 GHz 1.26 V | Intel Core i5-4670K: 3.4 - 3.8 GHz, Four Physical Cores, O/C to 4.30 GHz, 1.30 V | Intel Core i7-4930K: 3.4 - 3.90 GHz, Six Physical Cores O/C to 4.4 - 4.6 GHz, +140 mV |
| Graphics (Overclock) | Gigabyte R9 280X: 1100 MHz GPU, GDDR5-6000, O/C to 1115 MHz GPU, GDDR5-6400 | 2 x MSI GTX 770: 1089 MHz GPU, GDDR5-6008, O/C to 1212 MHz GDDR5-7512 | 2 x Asus R9 290: 947 MHz GPU, GDDR5-5000 O/C to 1100 MHz, GDDR5-5600 |
| Memory (Overclock) | 8 GB Team Vulcan DDR3-1600 CAS 9-9-9-24, No O/C | 8 GB Patriot DDR3-1600 CAS 9-9-9-24 1T, O/C to DDR3-1866 CL 9-10-9-27, 1.50 V | 16 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866 CAS 9-10-9-28, O/C to DDR3-2133 CL 10-11-10, 1.585 V |
| Motherboard (Overclock) | ASRock Z75 Pro3: LGA 1155, Intel Z75 Express Stock 100 MHz BCLK | Asus Z87-PLUS: LGA 1150, Intel Z87 Express Stock 100 MHz BCLK | ASRock X79 Extreme4: LGA 2011, Intel X79 Express Stock 100 MHz BCLK |
| Optical | Lite-On iHAS124-04: 24x DVD±R, 48x CD-R | Lite-On iHAS124-04: 24x DVD±R, 48x CD-R | Pioneer BDR-208DBK: 15x BD-R |
| Case | Xigmatek CCC-AE37BS-U02 | NZXT GAMA-001BK | Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl |
| CPU Cooler | Intel Boxed Cooler | Enermax ETS-T40-TB | Thermaltake CLW0217 Water 2.0 Extreme |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital WD10EZEX: 1 TB SATA 6Gb/s HDD | Samsung MZ-7PD128BW: 128 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD | SanDisk SDSSDHP-256G-G2 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD |
| Power | EVGA 100-B1-0500-KR: 500 W, ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS Bronze | CORSAIR TX750 V2: 750 W, ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS Bronze | Seasonic SS-850AM: 850 W, 80 PLUS Bronze |
| Software | |||
| OS | Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64 | ||
| Graphics | AMD Catalyst 13.11 Beta 9.4 | Nvidia GeForce R331.93 Beta | AMD Catalyst 13.12 |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.4.0.1017 | Intel INF 9.3.0.1026 | |
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Battlefield 4 | Version 1.0.0.1, DirectX 11, 100-Sec. Fraps "Tashgar" Test Set 1: Medium Quality Preset, No AA, 4X AF, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4X MSAA, 16X AF, HBAO |
| Grid 2 | Version 1.0.85.8679, DirectX 11, Built-in Benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 8x MSAA |
| Arma III | Version 1.08.113494, 30-Sec. Fraps "Infantry Showcase" Test Set 1: Standard Preset, No AA, Standard AF Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, 8x FSAA, Ultra AF |
| Far Cry 3 | V. 1.04, DirectX 11, 50-Sec. Fraps "Amanaki Outpost" Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA, Standard ATC, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 4x MSAA, Enhanced ATC, HDAO |
| Adobe Creative Suite | |
| Adobe After Effects CS6 | Version 11.0.0.378 x64: Create Video which includes Three Streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously |
| Adobe Photoshop CS6 | Version 13 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Adobe Premeire Pro CS6 | Version 6.0.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version 11.0.4.4 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format |
| LAME MP3 | Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s) |
| HandBrake CLI | Version: 0.99: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 FPS) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile) |
| TotalCode Studio 2.5 | Version: 2.5.0.10677: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, Two-Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
| Productivity | |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version 10.0.102.95: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
| Adobe Acrobat X | Version 11.0.0.379: Print PDF from 115 Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encryption |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 | Version 15.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080 |
| Blender | Version: 2.67b, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1 |
| Visual Studio 2010 | Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted |
| File Compression | |
| WinZip | Version 17.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| WinRAR | Version 4.2: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.28: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark 11 | Version: 1.0.3, Benchmark Only |
| PCMark 8 | Version: 1.0.0 x64, Full Test |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2013 | Version: 2013.01.19.50, Processor Arithmetic, Cryptography, Memory Bandwidth Benchmarks |
Previous
Next
Summary
- Let The (System Builder) Games Begin
- Benchmark And Overclocking Configurations
- Results: 3DMark And PCMark
- Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- Results: Battlefield 4
- Results: Arma III
- Results: Grid 2
- Results: Far Cry 3
- Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Results: Adobe Creative Suite
- Results: Productivity
- Results: File Compression
- Power And Heat
- Overall Performance And Efficiency
- Who Wins The Value Comparison?
Ask a Category Expert
The first one I can think of, being kind of boring as it might be, its the most obvious one to have: loading times. There are games that load a bazillion things on the fly and are some-what storage sensitive (MMOs basically) and we all hate waiting for everything to load, right? It can be clocked with a 10% error margin (thinking it usually takes around 200ms for human response).
I'm asking this, because RAID0 could become important if we see the value it adds to our builds. I know they're nowhere near SSDs, but Steam + other games take a LOT of space. My own Games folder racks up 410GB, where Steam is 300GB alone. You could slap 2x500GB HDDs in RAID 0 for half the value of a 240GB SSD if memory serves right and 2x1TB HDDs are just a tad more expensive. You can even use notebook HDDs if you want, haha.
Cheers!
Also, I would have cut the memory by half and remove the SSD for getting these 2 cards. Also... you really needs to change your SBM... it is ridiculous at this point.
1.) The $2400 PC was built with the entire benchmark set in mind, not just games
2.) The graphics cards were $400 at the time and nobody knew that they'd be capped in Far Cry 3
3.) Top-mounting the radiator would have further boxed-in the voltage regulator sink
4.) The NH-D14 had been found slightly-insufficient in the previous high-end build
What would you have liked to see changed?
Compression, dude! It's your best friend in digital gaming. And if all else fails, get an external drive. They're still pretty useful and cheap...
And I think the only thing I can disagree with the $1600 build is the case. OMG!! My eyes! Ughhhhh!
Whatever popular game your playing at the time, load it into the ram disk, when you grown tired of the game, unload it from RAM disk and back onto the HDD. Speed when you need it, storage when you dont.