Gaming In 64-Bit: Tom's Tests, Microsoft Weighs In
Setting Up An In-Depth Look At Performance
In order to take a closer look at the effects of running in a 64-bit environment, we set up three different platforms, all Core i7 965 Extreme-based. One ran a 32-bit version of Vista Ultimate with 3 GB of memory. One ran a 64-bit version of Vista Ultimate with 3 GB. And one ran a 64-bit version of Vista Ultimate with 6 GB.
The goal here wasn’t to evaluate the benefit of adding memory—we have a story coming later this month that specifically addresses memory scaling. Rather, we ran the three configurations in order to analyze performance altering one variable at a time. Jumping from 32-bit/3GB to 64-bit/6GB would have made it more difficult to pinpoint the source of performance changes.
Test Hardware | |
---|---|
Processor | Intel Core i7 965 Extreme (Bloomfield) 3.2 GHz, 6.4 GT/s, 8 MB L3 Cache, power-saving settings disabled |
Motherboard | Asus P6T (X58/ICH10) |
Graphics Card | Zotac GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 |
Memory | Corsair Dominator 6 GB (3 x 2 GB) DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 @ 1,066 MHz / 7-7-7-20 |
Row 4 - Cell 0 | Qimonda 3 GB (3 x 1 GB) DDR3-1066 7-7-7-20 |
Hard Drive | Western Digital VelociRaptor 300 GB 10,000 RPM SATA 3 Gb/s HDD |
Power Supply | Cooler Master UCP 1100 W |
CPU Cooler | Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme |
System Software And Drivers | |
Operating System | Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition x64 Service Pack 1 |
Row 10 - Cell 0 | Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition x32 Service Pack 1 |
Graphics Driver | Nvidia GeForce 182.08 |
Benchmark | Configuration |
---|---|
World in Conflict | Very High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, Patch 1009, DirectX 10 |
Row 1 - Cell 0 | Very High Quality Settings, 4x AA / 16x AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, Patch 1009, DirectX 10 |
Far Cry 2 | High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, Steam Version |
Row 3 - Cell 0 | High Quality Settings, 4x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, Steam Version |
Crysis | High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit/32-bit Executable |
Row 5 - Cell 0 | High Quality Settings, 4x AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit/32-bit Executable |
Left 4 Dead | Highest Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, DirectX 10, Steam Version |
Row 7 - Cell 0 | Highest Quality Settings, 4x AA / 8x AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, DirectX 10, Steam Version |
Grand Theft Auto IV | Highest Quality Settings, No AA / "High" AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, Patch #2 |
Row 9 - Cell 0 | Highest Quality Settings, 4x AA / "High" AF, vsync off, 1680x1050/1920x1200, Patch #2 |
3DMark Vantage | Performance Default, High Quality |
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