Test Configuration
When we reviewed the previous generation of workstation cards, we were faced with an unsatisfying situation. Although Widows Vista had been on the market for quite a while at that point, we were forced to fall back on Windows XP for testing. After consulting with several contacts in the CAD sector, the reason became clear, though. Due to instability and security concerns, only very few professionals were willing to make the switch to Windows Vista. Over the past year, this situation has changed.
Windows 7 has received a much warmer welcome than Vista. On top of that, most professional users are making the big switch, upgrading not only to Microsoft’s newest OS but choosing its 64-bit version at the same time. This promises better performance, as well as improved memory management.
At any rate, we‘re quite happy to move our OpenGL test platform to the new OS so that we’ll be using the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Enterprise in this review. There are already some scripts for 64-bit apps available for download at www.spec.org, although they seem to be appearing only very slowly.
| System Hardware | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-965 Extreme |
| Motherboard | Asus P6T (rev 1.01G) with Intel X58 Chipset |
| System Memory (RAM) | 6 GB (3 x 2 GB) Corsair DDR3 1600 MHz @ 8-8-8-24 |
| Optical Drive | Samsung SH-D163A , SATA 1.5 Gb/s |
| Power Supply | Zalman, ATX 2.01, 510 W |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital WD1500ADFD 150 GB |
| System Software And Tests | |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit |
| DirectX | DirectX 11.0 |
| Intel Chipset Software | Version 9.1.2.1007 |
| ATI FirePro Driver | Catalyst 8.723 |
| Nvidia Quadro Driver | Quadro 258.98 |
| SPEC Benchmark Settings | Application settings according to SPEC Project Group Rules, driver using application optimizations if available |
| SPEC Benchmarks Being Used | SPECViewperf 11 SPECapc Autodesk Maya 2009 v1.0 SPECapc Newtek LightWave 9.6 SPECapc Autodesk 3D Studio Max 9 1.2 |