Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Page 3 of 5:

How We Test

Benchmark Suite

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Benchmark Settings
Synthetic Benchmarks & Settings
PCMark 8	Version 2.7.613Home, Creative, Work, Storage, Applications (Adobe & Microsoft)
SiSoftware Sandra	Version 2016.03.22.21CPU Arithmetic, Multimedia, Cryptography, Memory Bandwidth
DiskSPD	4k Random Read, 4k Random Write128k Sequential Read, 128k Sequential Write
Cinebench R15	Build RC83328DEMOOpenGL Benchmark
CompuBench	Version 1.5.8Face Detection, Optical Flow, Ocean Surface, Ray Tracing
3D Tests & Settings
3DMark 13	Version 4.47.597.0 Test Set 1: Skydiver, 1920x1080, Default Preset Test Set 2: Firestrike, 1920x1080, Default Preset Test Set 3: Firestrike Extreme, 2560x1440 Default Preset
Application Tests & Settings
LAME MP3	Version 3.98.3Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
HandBrake CLI	Version: 0.9.9Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19 GB 4k mkv to x265 mp4
Blender	Version 2.68aBMW 27 CPU Render Benchmark, BMW 27 GPU Render Benchmark
7-Zip	Version 16.02THG-Workload (7.6 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=9"
Adobe After Effects CC	Release 2015.3.0, Version 13.8.0.144PCMark driven routine
Adobe Photoshop CC	Release 2015.5.0. 20160603.r.88 x64PCMark driven routine (light and heavy)
Adobe InDesign CC	Release 2015.4, Build 11.4.0.90 x64PCMark driven routine
Adobe Illustrator	Release 2015.3.0, Version 20.0.0 (64-bit)PCMark driven routine
Game Tests & Settings
Ashes of Singularity	Version 1.31.21360 High Preset - 1920x1080, Mid Shadow Quality, 1x MSAA Crazy Preset - 1920x1090, High Shadow Quality, 2x MSAA High Preset - 4k ~3460x1920, Mid Shadow Quality, 1x MSAA Crazy Preset - 4k ~3460x1920, High Shadow Quality, 2x MSAA
F1 2015	2015 Season, Abu Dhabi Track, Rain 1920x1080 - UltraHigh Preset, 16x AF 4k ~3460x1920 - UltraHigh Preset, 16x AF
Metro Last Light Redux	Version 3.00 x64 High Quality, 1920x1080, High Tesselation Very High Quality, 1920x1080, Very High Tesselation High Quality, 4k ~3460x1920, High Tesselation Very High Quality, 4k ~3460x1920, Very High Tesselation
The Talos Principle	Version 267252 1920x1080 - Medium Preset, High Quality, High Tesselation, 4x AF 1920x1080 - Ultra Preset, VeryHigh Quality, VeryHigh Tesselation, 16x AF 4k ~3460x1920 - Medium Preset, High Quality, High Tesselation, 4x AF 4k ~3460x1920 - Ultra Preset, VeryHigh Quality, VeryHigh Tesselation, 16x AF

I finally bit the bullet and purchased a proper 4K monitor. The LG 27UD58-B is well reviewed and was on sale for $300 at my local California-inspired, big-box electronics vendor. With that in mind, we will start putting out data for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K for this test setup. With the cryptocurrency craze driving up the prices for GPUs, I’m hesitant to drop the coin on a GTX 1080 to properly drive this panel. But, if any vendors out there want to support my dire need for bleeding edge tech, help me out!

Otherwise, my “Tumbler PC” still hosts all of our components, including the Ryzen 7 1700X, Toshiba R400 NVMe SSD, and Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming. We are installing the Noctua NH-U12S for its final official test experiment and will not be substituting its overweight brother for our overclocking escapades. G.Skill is still our preferred RAM set for this Ryzen test bench, having the broadest support and highest settings we’ve achieved across all of the motherboards to date. HyperX’s memory will receive adequate screen time and will be covered only in the overclocking portion of the review.