Results: Content Creation
I should probably preface the next several pages of benchmarks with a caveat: nobody who runs taxing workloads is going to look first to a dual-core Pentium (or even a Core i3/Athlon). 3ds Max is a workstation-class app. And if you read my Core i7-4790K review, you know that even a still-mainstream Core i7 can finish our workloads in half the time of what’s reflected here.
Nevertheless, it’s remarkable that Intel’s Pentium G3258 jumps from last place to second with a 1.3 GHz tailwind. Similarly, AMD’s Athlon X4 750K jumps ahead of the pricier (and multiplier-locked) Core i3-4330 after a 900 MHz overclock.
The results are largely the same in Blender, though this time, Hyper-Threading helps Intel’s Core i3 score a second-place berth. Impressively, overclocking really propels the Pentium and Athlon processors into another level of performance.
Sony’s Vegas Pro is a little different in that it leverages OpenCL acceleration to offload some processing to the GeForce GTX Titan. However, CPU performance still matters, and our overclocks help both the Athlon and Pentium improve their standing quite a bit. The Pentium G3258 pulls up just shy of the Core i3-4330 for $65 less.
Granted, if you’re serious about video work, even an unmodified Core i5-4690K should be proof that Intel’s quad-core offerings are in another league entirely.
