Test Settings
Reducing the component list to benchmarked parts shows that the biggest difference between systems is the choice of 3-way GTX 285 or two-way GTX 295 SLI configurations.
However, both companies also offer the competitor’s graphics and motherboard configuration as an option, and everyone expects four GTX 275 graphics processors (two go into each dual-GPU GeForce GTX 295) to beat three GTX 285s. Is this even a fair fight?
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| Test System Configuration | ||
|---|---|---|
| iBuyPower Paladin | Maingear PC EPHEX | |
| CPU | Intel Core i7 965 (3.20 GHz, 8.0 MB Cache) Overclocked to 3.73 GHz (28x 133.3) | Intel Core i7 920 (2.66 GHz, 8.0 MB Cache) Overclocked to 3.80 GHz (19x 200) |
| Motherboard | Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Intel X58/ICH10R Chipset, LGA-1366 | Asus P6T Intel X58/ICH10R Chipset, LGA-1366 |
| RAM | Corsair 6.0 GB DDR3-1600 CAS 9-9-9-24 (2T) | Kingston 6.0 GB DDR3-1600 CAS 8-8-8-20 (1T) |
| Graphics | 2x XFX GeForce GTX 295 1.8 GB SLI 576 MHz/1,242 MHz GPU/Shader, GDDR3-2484 | 3x EVGA GeForce GTX 285 1.0 GB, SLI 648 MHz/1,476 MHz GPU/Shader, GDDR3-2484 |
| Test Hard Drive | Intel X25-M 80 GB SATA 3.0 Gb/s SSD | Intel X25-M 80 GB SATA 3.0 Gb/s SSD |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio | Integrated HD Audio |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Software | ||
| OS | Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 | Windows Vista Home Premium x64 SP1 |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce 182.50 | Nvidia GeForce 182.08 |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.1.0.1007 | Intel INF 9.1.0.1007 |
iBuyPower also used a far more expensive processor, but its slightly lower overclock could tip the performance scale towards Maingear’s less-expensive part.
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| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Call of Duty: World at War | Patch 1.1, FRAPS/saved game High Textures, No AA / No AF, vsync off Ultra Textures, 4x AA / Max AF, vsync off |
| Crysis | Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Very High Quality, 8x AA |
| Far Cry 2 | DirectX 10, Steam Version, in-game benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra High Quality, 8x AA |
| World in Conflict | Patch 1009, DirectX 10, timedemo Test 1: High Details, No AA / No AF Test 2: Very HighDetails 4x AA / 16x AF |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes 8 | Version: 8.1.0.52 (x64) Audio CD ("Terminator II SE"), 53 min Default format AAC |
| Lame MP3 | Version: 3.98 64bits (07-04-2008) Audio CD "Terminator II SE," 53 min wave to MP3 |
| TMPGEnc 4.6 | Version: 4.6.3.268 Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes) Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9 |
| DivX 6.8.5 | Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search |
| Xvid 1.2.1 | Display encoding status = off |
| Mainconcept Reference 1.6 | 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 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS) |
| Productivity | |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 | Version: 11.0, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV) |
| Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 8 | Version: 8.0.134, Virus base: 270.4.5/1533, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files |
| WinRAR 3.80 | Version 3.80, WinZIP Commandline Version 3.0, Compression = Best, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
| WinZip 12 | Version 12.0, Compression = Best, Benchmark: THG-Workload (139 MB) |
| Sythetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark Vantage | Version: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores |
| PCMark Vantage | Version: 1.00, System, Memory, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646 |
| SiSoftware Sandra | Version 2008.5.14.24, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Multimedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
