Test Settings And Overclocked Configurations
Test Settings And Overclocked Configurations
Swipe to scroll horizontally
| Test Hardware Configurations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | $650 Gaming PC | $1300 Enthusiast PC | $2500 Performance PC |
| Processor (Overclock) | Intel Core i3-3220, 3.3 GHz, Two Physical CoresNo O/C | Intel Core i5-3570K, 3.4 GHz, Four Physical CoresO/C to 4.3 GHz, 1.3 V | Intel Core i7-3770K, 3.5 GHz, Four Physical CoresO/C to 4.6 GHz, 1.3 V |
| Graphics (Overclock) | PowerColor PCS+ AX7870 2 GB: 925-975 MHz GPU, GDDR5-6000O/C to 1100 MHz GPU | Sparkle GeForce GTX 680 2 GB: 1006-1059 MHz GPU, GDDR5-6008O/C to 1153 MHz GDDR5-6408 | Asus GTX690-4GD5: 915-1019 MHz GPU, GDDR5-6008O/C to 1200 MHz GDDR5-6400 |
| Memory (Overclock) | 4 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600 CAS 8-8-8-24, No O/C | 8 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866 CAS 11-11-11-28 1T, O/C at 1.5 V to DDR3-1866 CL 8-9-9-24 2T | 16 GB Crucial DDR3-1600 CAS 8-8-8-24, O/C at 1.5 V to DDR3-2133 CL 9-9-9-24 |
| Motherboard (Overclock) | ASRock B75M-ITX: LGA 1155, Intel B75 Express | MSI Z77IA-E53: LGA 1155, Intel Z77 Express | Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe: LGA 1155, Intel Z77 Express |
| Optical | None | Lite-On iHAS124 24x DVD±R | Asus BW-14D1XT: 14x BD-R |
| Case | Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced | Lian Li PC-Q08B | BitFenix Prodigy w/Mesh Front |
| CPU Cooler | Intel Boxed Heat Sink And Fan | Antec Kuhler H2O 620 | NZXT Kraken X40 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital WD5000AAKX: 500 GB, SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive | Adata XPG ASX900S3-64GM-C: 64 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD | Mushkin Chronos Deluxe DX 240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD |
| Power | Corsair CX500: 500 W, ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS Bronze | Corsair CX750M: 750 W Modular, ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Bronze | Seasonic SS-660XP2: 660 W Modular, ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS Platinum |
| Software | |||
| OS | Microsoft Windows 8 Professional x64 | ||
| Graphics | AMD Catalyst 13.4 | Nvidia GeForce 314.22 | Nvidia GeForce 314.22 |
| Chipset | Intel 7-series Inf v. 9.3.1025 | Intel INF 9.3.0.1026 | Intel INF 9.3.0.1026 |
Rather than manually overclock his memory, Don decided to run it at SPD defaults for baseline measurements and XMP defaults for overclocked tests. I managed to push my DDR3-1600 to DDR3-2133 by adding one cycle to its timings, while Paul’s non-overclockable platform remains locked into its defaults.
Don’s Core i5 system appears to have hit a barrier at 4.3 GHz, which is slightly lower than the 4.4 GHz I’ve grown to expect from Intel's lower-binned quad-core chips. Conversely, my Core i7 offered a better-than-expected 4.6 GHz at the same voltage setting.
GPU overclocking will likely make a far more consistent performance difference in all three systems, but only in games and perhaps the occasional OpenCL-boosted application.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Battlefield 3 | Campaign Mode, "Going Hunting" 90-Second Fraps Test Set 1: Medium Quality Defaults (No AA, 4x AF) Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Defaults (4x AA, 16x AF) |
| F1 2012 | Steam Version, In-Game Test Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Update 1.5.26, Celedon Aethirborn Level 6, 25-Second Fraps Test Set 1: DX11, High Details No AA, 8x AF, FXAA enabled Test Set 2: DX11, Ultra Details, 8x AA, 16x AF, FXAA enabled |
| Far Cry 3 | V. 1.04, 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 |
| Adobe Creative Suite | |
| Adobe After Effects CS6 | Version 11.0.0.378 x64: Create Video which includes three Streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneosly |
| Adobe Photoshop CS6 | Version 13 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Adobe Premeire Pro CS6 | Version 6.0.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version 10.4.1.10 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) |
| HandBrake CLI | Version: 0.98: Video from Canon Eos 7D (1920x1080, 25 FPS) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile) |
| TotalCode Studio 2.5 | Version: 2.5.0.10677: MPEG-2 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 |
| Productivity | |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version 10.0.102.95: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
| Adobe Acrobat X | Version 10.0.0.396: Print PDF from 115 Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encryption |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 | Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080 |
| Blender | Version: 2.64a, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1 |
| Visual Studio 2010 | Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted |
| File Compression | |
| WinZip | Version 17.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| WinRAR | Version 4.2: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.28: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark 11 | Version: 1.0.3, Benchmark Only |
| PCMark 7 | Version: 1.0.4 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2013 | Version Version 2013.01.19.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Cryptography, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
