Test Setup And Benchmarks
Briefly, a couple of notes about our test bench. We have three basic configurations to compare. We wanted to include more, but simply didn't have enough time with stable, trouble-free Llano-based setups to include viable alternatives like AMD's Phenom II X3 720 and other popular, low-cost enthusiast setups. If there's interest, we'd be happy to do a follow-up with that, Intel's new low-cost Sandy Bridge-based Pentiums, and more.
We kept the memory subsystem of all three machines consistent with DDR3-1333 transfer rates. Llano gets a notable boost from more aggressive clocks and timings, though, so we've also made sure to dedicated an entire page to exploring the effects of faster memory, and we'll remind you where more bandwidth helps performance throughout the analysis.
The original plan was to test the Core i3 using a more value-oriented H67-based motherboard, but an overzealous lab tech bent processor interface pins in my one H67 platform right before benchmarking commenced, forcing me to go with Z68. The pricier motherboard won't effect the test results, though, as we're only using one graphics card, and Core i3 can't overclock anyway.
| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processors | AMD A8-3850 (Llano) 2.9 GHz (29 * 100 MHz) CPU, 600 MHz GPU (400 Shaders), Quad-core, Socket FM1, 4 MB L2 Cache, Power-savings enabled |
| Row 1 - Cell 0 | Intel Core i3-2105 (Sandy Bridge) 3.1 GHz (31 * 100 MHz), Dual-core, LGA 1155, 3 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled |
| Row 2 - Cell 0 | AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (Deneb) 3.4 GHz (17 * 200 MHz), Socket AM3, 6 MB Shared L3, Power-savings enabled |
| Motherboard | ASRock A75 Extreme6 (Socket FM1), AMD A75, BIOS A75EX61.11I |
| Row 4 - Cell 0 | Asus P8Z68-V Pro (LGA 1155) Intel Z68 Express, BIOS 0501 |
| Row 5 - Cell 0 | Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 (Socket AM3) AMD 890GX/SB850, BIOS 2201 |
| Memory | Kingston 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) DDR3-2133, KHX2133C9AD3W1K2/4GX @ DDR3-1333, 7-7-7-20 and 1.65 V |
| Hard Drive | Samsung Series 470 256 GB SSD, SATA 3Gb/s |
| Graphics | Radeon HD 6570 1 GB |
| Power Supply | OCZ ModXStream Pro 500 W |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Graphics Driver | AMD 8.862 RC1 |
| Row 14 - Cell 0 | AMD Catalyst 11.6 |
| 3D Games Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Benchmark | Details |
| Metro 2033 | Game Settings: Medium Quality Settings, PhysX: Off, AAA, 4x AF, Wait for vertical sync: disabled, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1680x1050, Demo: Built-in Benchmark Utility (Frontline) |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | Game Settings: Ultra Quality Settings, Anti Aliasing: Disabled/4xAA, Anisotropic Filtering: Disabled, Sync Every Frame: No, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1680x1050, Demo: Second Sun, 45 seconds, Fraps |
| World of Warcraft Cataclysm | Game Settings: Good Quality Settings, Anti Aliasing: Disabled/4x AA, Anisotropic Filtering: 4x, Vertical Sync: Disabled, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1680x1050, Demo: Crushblow to The Krazzworks, Fraps |
| Audio Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Benchmark | Details |
| iTunes | Version: 10.3.1, 64-bit Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min., Convert to AAC audio 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) |
| Video Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Benchmark | Details |
| HandBrake CLI | Version: 0.94Video: Big Buck Bunny (720x480, 23.972 frames) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile) |
| MainConcept Reference v2 | Version: 2.0.0.1555 MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
| Application Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Benchmark | Details |
| WinRAR | Version 4.01 RAR, Syntax "winrar a -r -m3", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload |
| WinZip 14 | Version 14.0 Pro (8652) WinZIP Commandline Version 3, ZIPX, Syntax "-a -ez -p -r", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.2LZMA2, Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload |
| Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 | Video length 2min 21s, Export to H.264 Blu-raySource 960x720, Output 1280x720 |
| Adobe After Effects CS5 | Create Video which includes 3 StreamsFrames: 210, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously: on |
| Cinebench | Version 11.5 Build CB25720DEMOCPU Test single and multi threaded |
| Blender | Version: 2.54 beta Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, Resolution: 1920x1080, Anti-Aliasing: 8x, Render: THG.blend frame 1 |
| Adobe Photoshop CS 5 (64-Bit) | Version: 11 Filtering a 16 MB TIF (15000x7266), Filters:, Radial Blur (Amount: 10, Method: zoom, Quality: good) Shape Blur (Radius: 46 px; custom shape: Trademark sysmbol) Median (Radius: 1px) Polar Coordinates (Rectangular to Polar) |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version: 10 Professional Build (10.0.102.82) Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Benchmark | Details |
| PCMark 7 | Version: 1.0.4 |
| 3DMark Vantage | Version 1.1.0 |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2011 | Version: 2011.SP3 Processor Arithmetic, Multimedia, Cryptography, Memory Bandwidth, GP-GPU Cryptography |
