Test Setup And Benchmarks
Test Hardware |
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Processors | Intel Core i7-3960X (Sandy Bridge-E) 3.3 GHz at 4.2 GHz (42 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011, 15 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled |
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Motherboard | Gigabyte X79-UD5 (LGA 2011) X79 Express Chipset, BIOS F8 |
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Memory | G.Skill 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600, F3-12800CL9Q2-32GBZL @ 9-9-9-24 and 1.5 V |
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Hard Drive | Intel SSDSC2MH250A2 250 GB SATA 6Gb/s |
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Graphics | AMD Radeon HD 7950 3 GB |
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| AMD Radeon HD 7970 3 GB |
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| AMD Radeon HD 6990 4 GB |
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| AMD Radeon HD 6970 2 GB |
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| AMD Radeon HD 6950 2 GB |
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| Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 3 GB |
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| Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5 GB |
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| Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1.25 GB |
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Power Supply | Cooler Master UCP-1000 W |
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System Software And Drivers |
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Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit |
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DirectX | DirectX 11 |
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Graphics Driver | AMD 8.921.2 RC11 (For Radeon HD 7970 and 7950) |
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| AMD 11.12 CAP3 (For CrossFire Configurations) |
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| AMD Catalyst 11.12 |
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| Nvidia GeForce Release 285.62 |
We've transitioned our test platform for graphics to a Sandy Bridge-E-based Core i7-3960X overclocked to 4.2 GHz. You'll notice that, in some cases, that's still not enough processing power to let some of our more demanding two- and four-GPU configurations really stretch their legs. I also made the call to swap from an Asus motherboard to a Gigabyte platform after discovering, last year during a Z68 Express motherboard round-up, that certain settings in Asus' BIOS would alter Turbo Boost behavior in an undesirable way.
Games |
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Battlefield 3 | Ultra Quality Settings, No AA / 16x AF, 4x MSAA / 16x AF, vsync off, 1680x1050 / 1920x1080 / 2560x1600, DirectX 11, Going Hunting, 90-second playback, Fraps |
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Crysis 2 | DirectX 9 / DirectX 11, Ultra System Spec, vsync off, 1680x1050 / 1920x1080 / 2560x1600, No AA / No AF, Central Park, High-Resolution Textures: On |
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Metro 2033 | Very High Quality Settings, AAA / 4x AF, 4x MSAA / 16x AF, 1680x1050 / 1920x1080 / 2560x1600, Built-in Benchmark, Depth of Field filter Disabled, Steam version |
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DiRT 3 | Ultra High Settings, No AA / No AF, 8x AA / No AF, 1680x1050 / 1920x1080 / 2560x1600, Steam version, Built-In Benchmark Sequence, DX 11 |
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | High Quality (8x AA / 8x AF) / Ultra Quality (8x AA, 16x AF) Settings, FXAA enabled, vsync off, 1680x1050 / 1920x1080 / 2560x1600, 25-second playback, Fraps |
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3DMark 11 | Version 1.03, Extreme Preset |
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HAWX 2 | Highest Quality Settings, 8x AA, 1920x1200, Retail Version, Built-in Benchmark, Tessellation on/off |
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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm | Ultra Quality Settings, No AA / 16x AF, 8x AA / 16x AF, From Crushblow to The Krazzworks, 1680x1050 / 1920x1080 / 2560x1600, Fraps, DirectX 11 Rendering |
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SiSoftware Sandra 2012 | Sandra Tech Support (Engineer) 2012.SP1c, GP Processing and GP Bandwidth Modules |
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CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 | 449 MB 1080i Video Sample to Apple iPad 2 Profile (1024x768) |
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LuxMark | 64-bit Binary, Version 1.0 |
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MotionDSP vReveal 3 | 1080i Video Sample Playback, Apply One-Click Fix |