Benchmark Results: PCMark Vantage

Three Sandy Bridge-based CPUs top the Overall chart, followed by the Core i7-875K, which benefits from its ability to Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz.

Although Intel’s Core i7-950 runs at a faster base clock rate and enjoys the throughput of a triple-channel DDR3 memory interface, its highest official memory data rate is 1066 MT/s (compared to Lynnfield’s 1333 MT/s). And it probably doesn’t help that the 900-series processor can only Boost to 3.33 GHz.

A lack of software able to fully utilize six cores and a lower base clock rate hurts AMD’s Phenom II X6 1100T overall. You do see that, in certain disciplines, like TV and Movies and Communications, the hexa-core chip’s standing improves. Meanwhile, the Phenom II X4 970 sees a comparative advantage thanks to its fixed 3.5 GHz clock rate.

This won’t be the first time I say this in my benchmark analysis: if Phenom II were living in a Core 2 world, it’d be sitting pretty. Up against Nehalem, it simply gets outclassed. Compared to Sandy Bridge, it’s just not close. But then again, PCMark Vantage is technically a synthetic. Let’s keep moving and see if more specific workloads change the story our data tells.