Test Settings
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| Test Hardware Configurations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | New $2000 PC | Previous $2000 PC |
| Motherboard (Overclock) | Asus P8P67 WS Revolution LGA 1155, Intel P67 ExpressNo BCLK Overclock | Gigabyte X58A-UD3R Intel X58 Express, ICH10RO/C to 176 MHz BCLK |
| Processor (Overclock) | Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40 GHz, Four Physical CoresO/C to to 4.80 GHz, 1.40 V | Intel Core i7-950 3.06 GHz, Four Physical CoresO/C to to 4.05 GHz, 1.40 V |
| Memory (Overclock) | 8 GB G.Skill DDR3-1600 CAS 8-8-8-24, O/C at 1.60 V to DDR3-1866 CL 8-9-8-24 | 6 GB Kingston DDR3-1600 CAS 7-8-7-20, O/C at 1.65 V to DDR3-1760 CL 8-9-8-24 |
| Graphics (Overclock) | 2 x XFX Radeon HD 6950 2 GB 800 MHz GPU, GDDR5-5000O/C to 840 MHz, GDDR5-5300 | 2 x Gigabyte HD 6870 1 GB 900 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4200O/C to 975 MHz, GDDR5-4680 |
| Hard Drive | 2 x A-Data S599 SSD, Striped 64 GB x2 (128 GB Combined) MLC, SATA 3Gb/s | 2 x A-Data S599 SSD, Striped 64 GB x2 (128 GB Combined) MLC, SATA 3Gb/s |
| Optical | Lite-On iHBS212 BD-RE 12x BD-R, 16x DVD±R | Lite-On iHBS212 BD-RE 12x BD-R, 16x DVD±R |
| Case | Antec Three Hundred Illusion | Corsair Graphite Series 600T |
| Power | Seasonic SS-850HT: 850 W, ATX12V v2.31, 80 PLUS Silver | Seasonic SS-850HT: 850 W, ATX12V v2.31, 80 PLUS Silver |
| CPU Cooler | Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B (SCMG-2100) | Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CM R4-BMBS-20PK-R0 120 mm |
| Software | ||
| OS | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 | |
| Graphics | AMD Catalyst 11.2 | AMD Catalyst 10.12 |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.2.0.1021 | Intel INF 9.1.2.1007 |
We compared today’s $2000 machine to our most recent prior $2000 build, to gauge how much further its new hardware would take us up the performance ladder.
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| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| 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 |
| F1 2010 | V1.01, Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA |
| Just Cause 2 | Version 1.0.0.2, Built-In Benchmark "Concrete Jungle" Test Set 1: Medium Details, No AA, 8x AF Test Set 2: Highest Details, 8x AA, 16x AF |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat | Call Of Pripyat Benchmark version Test Set 1: High Preset, DX11 EFDL, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, DX11 EFDL, 4x MSAA |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version:9.0.2.25 x64 Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes Default format AAC |
| Handbrake 0.9.4 | Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob file from The Last Samurai (1 GB) to .mp4, High Profile |
| TMPEGEnc 4.0 XPress | Version: 4.7.3.292 Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes) Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9 |
| DivX Codec 6.9.1 | Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search |
| Xvid 1.2.2 | Display encoding status = off |
| MainConcept Reference 1.6.1 | MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 (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), Mode: PAL (25 FPS) |
| Productivity | |
| Adobe Photoshop CS4 | Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 | Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV) |
| WinRAR 3.90 | Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
| 7-Zip | Version 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32 KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8 Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark 11 | Version: 1.0.1.0, Benchmark Only |
| PCMark Vantage | Version: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2011 | Version 2011.1.17.15, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
