Test Setup And Benchmarks
For comparison, we squared off Intel’s Core 2 Quad Q8200 (2.33 GHz), Core 2 Quad Q9550 (2.83 GHz), and the Core 2 Duo E8600 (3.33 GHz) against AMD’s Phenom II X2 550 (3.1 GHz) and the Phenom II X4 965 BE (3.4 GHz). For more comprehensive processor comparisons, please have a look at our 2009 Desktop CPU Charts.
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| System Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Hardware | Details |
| Performance Benchmarks | |
| Motherboard (Socket AM3) | Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P (Rev. 1.0) Chipset: AMD 790GX, SB750 BIOS: 5c (04/01/2009) |
| RAM DDR3 (Dual) | 2 x 2GB DDR3-1600 (Corsair CM3X2G1600C9DHX) 2 x 1GB DDR3-1600 (Crucial BL12864BA1608.8SFB) |
| Power Benchmarks | |
| Motherboard (Socket AM3) | MSI 770-C45 (Rev. 1.1) Chipset: AMD 770GX, SB710 BIOS: 1.2 |
| RAM DDR3 (Dual) | 2 x 2GB DDR3-1600 (Corsair TR3X6G-1600C8D 8-8-8-24) |
| Common Hardware | |
| CPU AMD I | AMD Phenom II X4 965 (45nm, 3.4 GHz, 4 x 512KB L2 and 6MB L3 Cache, TDP 140W, Rev. C2) |
| CPU AMD II | AMD Phenom II X2 550 (45nm, 3.1 GHz, 2 x 512KB L2 and 6MB L3 Cache, TDP 80W, Rev. C2) |
| CPU AMD III | AMD Athlon II X4 620 (45nm, 2.6 GHz, 4 x 512KB L2 Cache, TDP 95W, Rev. C2) |
| Graphics | Zotac GeForce GTX 260² GPU: GeForce GTX 260 (576 MHz) Graphics RAM: 896MB DDR3 (1998 MHz) Stream Processors: 216 Shader Clock: 1242 MHz |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital VelociRaptor, 300GB (WD3000HLFS) 10,000 RPM, SATA/300, 16MB Cache |
| Blu-Ray Drive | LG GGW-H20L, SATA/150 |
| Power supply | PC Power & Cooling, Silencer 750EPS12V 750W |
| System Software and Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Enterprise Version 6.0 x64 Service Pack 2 (Build 6000) |
| Drivers and Settings | |
| AMD Chipset Drivers | Catalyst 9.4 |
| Intel Chipset Drivers | Chipset Installation Utility Ver. 9.1.0.1012 |
| Intel Storage Drivers | Matrix Storage Drivers Ver. 8.8.0.1009 |
We used an efficient motherboard for our power testing, the MSI 770-C45, since we wanted to be sure that the power consumption levels of our comparison would reflect everyday use. In other words, hardly anyone will purchase the $100 Athlon II X4 processor and run it on a high-end motherboard. Our Gigabyte’s MX790FXT-UD5P remained the platform for all performance benchmarks.
Benchmarks
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| 3D Games Benchmarks and Settings | |
|---|---|
| Benchmarks | Details |
| Far Cry 2 | Version: 1.0.1 Far Cry 2 Benchmark Tool Video Mode: 1280x800 Direct3D 9 Overall Quality: Medium Bloom activated HDR off Demo: Ranch Small |
| GTA IV | Version: 1.0.3 Video Mode: 1280x1024 - 1280x1024 - Aspect Ratio: Auto - All options: Medium - View Distance: 30 - Detail Distance: 100 - Vehicle Density: 100 - Shadow Density: 16 - Definition: On - Vsync: Off In-game Benchmark |
| Left 4 Dead | Version: 1.0.0.5 Video Mode: 1280x800 Game Settings - Anti Aliasing none - Filtering Trilinear - Wait for vertical sync disabled - Shader Detail Medium - Effect Detail Medium - Model/Texture Detail Medium Demo: THG Demo 1 |
| Audio Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Benchmarks | Details |
| iTunes | Version: 8.1.0.52 Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min. Convert to AAC audio format |
| Lame MP3 | Version 3.98 Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min convert WAV to MP3 audio format Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kbps) |
| Video Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Benchmarks | Details |
| TMPEG 4.6 | Version: 4.6.3.268 Video: Terminator 2 SE DVD (720x576, 16:9) 5 Minutes Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, 6-Kanal, English Advanced Acoustic Engine MP3 Encoder (160 Kbps, 44.1 kHz) |
| DivX 6.8.5 | Version: 6.8.5 == Main Menu == default == Codec Menu == Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading Enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search == Video Menu == Quantization: MPEG-2 |
| XviD 1.2.1 | Version: 1.2.1 Other Options / Encoder Menu - Display encoding status = off |
| Mainconcept Reference 1.6.1 | Version: 1.6.1 MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264) MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2) Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16 Bit, 224 kbps) Codec: H.264 Mode: PAL (25 FPS) Profile: Settings for eight threads |
| Adobe Premiere pro CS4 | Version: 4.0 WMV 1920x1080 (39 sec) Export: Adobe Media Encoder == Video == H.264 Blu-ray 1440x1080i 25 High Quality Encoding Passes: one Bitrate Mode: VBR Frame: 1440x1080 Frame Rate: 25 == Audio == PCM Audio, 48 kHz, Stereo Encoding Passes: one |
| Application Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Benchmarks | Details |
| Grisoft AVG Anti Virus 8 | Version: 8.5.287 Virus base: 270.12.16/2094 Benchmark Scan: some compressed ZIP and RAR archives |
| Winrar 3.9 | Version 3.90 x64 BETA 1 Compression = Best Benchmark: THG-Workload |
| Winzip 12 | Version 12.0 (8252) WinZIP Commandline Version 3 Compression = Best Dictionary = 4096 KB Benchmark: THG-Workload |
| Autodesk 3D Studio Max 2009 | Version: 9 x64 Rendering Dragon Image Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (frame 1-5) |
| Adobe Photoshop CS4 (64-Bit) | Version: 11 Filtering a 16MB TIF (15000x7266) Filters: Radial Blur (Amount: 10; Method: zoom; Quality: good) Shape Blur (Radius: 46 px; custom shape: Trademark symbol) Median (Radius: 1px) Polar Coordinates (Rectangular to Polar) |
| Adobe Acrobat 9 professional | Version: 9.0.0 (Extended) == Printing Preferenced Menu == Default Settings: Standard == Adobe PDF Security - Edit Menu == Encrypt all documents (128 bit RC4) Open Password: 123 Permissions Password: 321 |
| Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 | Version: 2007 SP2 PPT to PDF Powerpoint Document (115 Pages) Adobe PDF-Printer |
| Deep Fritz 11 | Version: 11 Fritz Chess Benchmark Version 4.2 |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Benchmarks | Details |
| 3DMark Vantage | Version: 1.02 Options: Performance Graphics Test 1 Graphics Test 2 CPU Test 1 CPU Test 2 |
| PCMark Vantage | Version: 1.00 PCMark Benchmark Memories Benchmark |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2009 | Version: 2009 SP3 Processor Arithmetic, Cryptography, Memory Bandwith |
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