Test Settings
| Test System Configuration | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-920 LGA 1366, 2.66 GHz, 8 MB L3 Cache |
| RAM | Kingston KHX16000D3ULT1K3/6GX (6 GB), DDR3-2000 at DDR3-1333 CAS 7-7-7-20 |
| Graphics | Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1 GB, 725 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4000 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Velociraptor WD3000HLFS, 300 GB, 10,000 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s, 16 MB cache |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Power | Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850 W Modular ATX12V v2.2, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold |
| Software | |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| Graphics | AMD Catalyst 10.6 |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.1.1.1020 |
Kingston’s DDR3-2000 allows us to check each motherboard’s memory overclocking capability, though faster modules might have been in order had we used a newer processor. Stock-speed benchmarks are generated at an easier-to-replicate DDR3-1333 CAS 7.
Sapphire’s Radeon HD 5850 is powerful enough to reveal any PCIe shortcomings.
Rosewill’s FORT120 might have been retired as a product, but its high cooling capacity and small footprint have kept it on this bench.
High thermal performance, quick set-in, and slow evaporation make Zalman’s ZM-STG1 thermal grease a great solution for bench testing. The company supplied two bottles for each tester.
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Crysis | Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Very High Quality, 4x AA |
| DiRT 2 Demo | In-game benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4x AA |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | Campaign, Act III, Second Sun (45 sec. FRAPS) Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AA Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat | Call Of Pripyat Benchmark version Test Set 1: High Preset, DX11 EFDL, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, DX11 EFDL, 4x MSAA |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version:9.0.2.25 x64 Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 min Default format AAC |
| Handbrake 0.9.4 | Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob file from The Last Samurai (1 GB) to .mp4, High Profile |
| TMPEGEnc 4.0 XPress | Version: 4.7.3.292 Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes) Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9 |
| DivX Codec 6.9.1 | Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search |
| XviD 1.2.2 | Display encoding status = off |
| MainConcept Reference 1.6.1 | MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS) |
| Productivity | |
| Adobe Photoshop CS4 | Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 | Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV) |
| Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 | Version: 9.0.663, Virus base: 270.14.1/2407, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files |
| WinRAR 3.90 | Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
| 7-Zip | Version 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32 KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8 Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark Vantage | Version: 1.0.1, GPU and CPU scores |
| PCMark Vantage | Version: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2010 | Version 2010.1.16.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |