Test Setup And Benchmarks
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| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte X79-UD5 (LGA 2011) X79 Express Chipset, BIOS F8 |
| Memory | G.Skill 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600, F3-12800CL9Q2-32GBZL @ 9-9-9-24 and 1.5 V |
| Hard Drive | Intel SSDSC2MH250A2 250 GB SATA 6Gb/s |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon HD 7950 3 GB |
| Row 5 - Cell 0 | AMD Radeon HD 7970 3 GB |
| Row 6 - Cell 0 | AMD Radeon HD 6990 4 GB |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 | AMD Radeon HD 6970 2 GB |
| Row 8 - Cell 0 | AMD Radeon HD 6950 2 GB |
| Row 9 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 3 GB |
| Row 10 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5 GB |
| Row 11 - Cell 0 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1.25 GB |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master UCP-1000 W |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Graphics Driver | AMD 8.921.2 RC11 (For Radeon HD 7970 and 7950) |
| Row 17 - Cell 0 | AMD 11.12 CAP3 (For CrossFire Configurations) |
| Row 18 - Cell 0 | AMD Catalyst 11.12 |
| Row 19 - Cell 0 | 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.
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| Games | |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Crysis 2 | DirectX 9 / DirectX 11, Ultra System Spec, vsync off, 1680x1050 / 1920x1080 / 2560x1600, No AA / No AF, Central Park, High-Resolution Textures: On |
| 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 |
| DiRT 3 | Ultra High Settings, No AA / No AF, 8x AA / No AF, 1680x1050 / 1920x1080 / 2560x1600, Steam version, Built-In Benchmark Sequence, DX 11 |
| 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 |
| 3DMark 11 | Version 1.03, Extreme Preset |
| HAWX 2 | Highest Quality Settings, 8x AA, 1920x1200, Retail Version, Built-in Benchmark, Tessellation on/off |
| 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 |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2012 | Sandra Tech Support (Engineer) 2012.SP1c, GP Processing and GP Bandwidth Modules |
| CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 | 449 MB 1080i Video Sample to Apple iPad 2 Profile (1024x768) |
| LuxMark | 64-bit Binary, Version 1.0 |
| MotionDSP vReveal 3 | 1080i Video Sample Playback, Apply One-Click Fix |
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