How We Tested
The following tables include the stock and overclocked settings for this quarter's mainstream enthusiast system, followed by the configuration we put together earlier this year, which serves as our comparison point.
At the very bottom, you’ll find the programs and games used for benchmarking.
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| Q4 2014 Enthusiast PC Test Settings: $948 of Performance Hardware | ||
|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Default Configuration | Overclocked |
| Motherboard | ASUS Z87-A, LGA 1150, Intel Z87 Express | N/A |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4690K (Haswell): 3.5 GHz (3.9 GHz max. Turbo Boost), 6 MB Shared L3 Cache | N/A |
| Memory | 8 GB G.Skill Ripjaws-X (2 x 4 GB) F3-17000CL9D-8GBXM, 1600 MT/s, CAS 11-11-11-28 1T | N/A |
| Graphics | Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4 GB, 1076/1216 MHz base/typical GPU Boost, GDDR5-7012 | N/A |
| System Drive | Kingston V300 120 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD | Unchanged |
| Storage Drive | WD Blue WD10EZEX 1 TB, 7200 RPM, 64 MB Cache, SATA 6Gb/s | Unchanged |
| Optical | Asus DRW-24F1ST OEM DVD Burner | Unchanged |
| Case | DIYPC Adventurer 9601R Computer Case | Unchanged |
| Power | EVGA 500B 80 PLUS Bronze PSU | Unchanged |
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| Q3 2014 Enthusiast PC Test Settings: $1006 of Performance Hardware | ||
|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Default Configuration | Overclocked |
| Motherboard | ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer, LGA 1150, Intel Z97 Express | Unchanged |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4690K (Haswell): 3.5 GHz (3.9 GHz max. Turbo Boost), 6 MB Shared L3 Cache | 4.6 GHz (46 * 100 MHz), 1.335 V (Load) |
| Memory | 8 GB G.Skill Trident (2 x 4 GB) F3-2400C10D-8GTD, 1600 MT/s, CAS 11-11-11-28 1T | 2400 MT/s, 10-12-12-31 2T, 1.65 V |
| Graphics | Zotac AMP! Superclocked GeForce GTX 770 2 GB, 1150/1202 MHz base/typical GPU Boost, GDDR5-7200 | +30 MHz GPU, GDDR5-7800 |
| System Drive | Adata Premier Pro SP920 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD | Unchanged |
| Storage Drive | WD Blue WD10EZEX 1 TB, 7200 RPM, 64 MB Cache, SATA 6Gb/s | Unchanged |
| Optical | Asus DRW-24B1ST OEM DVD Burner | Unchanged |
| Case | Cooler Master HAF XM Computer Case | Unchanged |
| Power | In Win GreenMe 650 W 80 PLUS Bronze PSU | Unchanged |
And here are the benchmark details:
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| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Arma 3 | V. 1.20 Current PC, V.1.08 Q1 PC 30-sec. Fraps "Infantry Showcase" Test Set 1: Standard Preset, No AA, Standard AF Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, 8x FSAA, Ultra AF |
| Battlefield 4 | Version 1.0.0.1, DirectX 11, 100-sec. Fraps "Tashgar" Test Set 1: Medium Quality Preset, No AA, 4x AF, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4x MSAA, 16x AF, HBAO |
| Far Cry 3 | V. 1.05, DirectX 11, 50-sec. Fraps "Amanaki Outpost" Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA, Standard ATC, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 4x MSAA, Enhanced ATC, HDAO AMD/ HBAO NVidia |
| Grid 2 | Version 1.0.85.8679, Direct X 11, Built-in Benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 8x MSAA |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| HandBrake CLI | Version: 0.99, Video: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 frames) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds, Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile) |
| iTunes | Version 11.0.4.4 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC 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) |
| TotalCode Studio 2.5 | Version: 2.5.0.10677, MPEG2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, Two-channel, 16-bit, 224 Kb/s) Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
| Adobe Creative Suite | |
| Adobe After Effects CC | Version 12.0.0.404: Create Video, 3 Streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously |
| Adobe Photoshop CC | Version 14 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 | Version 6.0.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality |
| Adobe Acrobat XI | Version 11.0.0: Print PDF from 115 Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encyption |
| Productivity | |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version 10.0.102.95: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 | Version 15.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080 |
| Blender | Version 2.68a, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1 |
| Visual Studio | Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted |
| Compression | |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.30 alpha, LZMA2, Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012 (1.3 GB) |
| WinRAR | Version 5.0, RAR, Syntax "winrar a -r -m3" Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012 (1.3 GB) |
| WinZip | Version 18.0 Pro, Syntax "-a -ez -p -r" Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012 (1.3 GB) |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark Professional | Version: 1.2.250.0, Fire Strike Standard and Extreme |
| PCMark 8 | Version: 1.0.0 x64 Full Test |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2014 | Version: 2014.02.20.10, Processor Arithmetic, Cryptography, Memory Bandwidth Benchmarks |
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