Test Settings And Benchmarks
| Test System Configuration | |
|---|---|
| CPU | AMD A10-5800K (Trinity): 3.8 GHz Base, Up to 4.2 GHz via Turbo Core, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache, Socket FM2 |
| CPU Cooler | Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer w/Zalman ZM-STG1 Paste |
| RAM | Kingston KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX: 8 GB DDR3-1600 CAS 9-9-9-27 |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon HD 7660D: 800 MHz GPU, DDR3-1600 |
| Hard Drive | Samsung 470 Series MZ5PA256HMDR, 256 GB SSD |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Power | Seasonic X760 SS-760KM: ATX12V v2.3, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold |
| Software | |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 |
| Graphics | AMD Catalyst 12.11 |
| Chipset | AMD Platform Driver 8.947.0.0 |
We used the Windows 7 software configuration from our recent Bulldozer performance story for today’s benchmarks, updating only the drivers and one game. We altered our game settings by one quality level as well to help maintain more playable performance from the A10's on-die graphics engine.
Our G.Skill DDR3-2200 memory kit defaults to DDR3-1600 CAS 9. Unfortunately, both the Sapphire and ECS boards wouldn't boot with those modules installed. We were instead forced to use an older, slower DDR3-1600 CAS 9 kit for our benchmarks, which those two boards defaulted down to DDR3-1333. Manual configuration gave us the proper performance we were expecting, but you can be sure we're going to take compatibility into consideration at the end.
ECS and Sapphire didn’t have the same compatibility issues with our G.Skill DDR3-2666 kit, probably because this kit defaults to DDR3-1333 settings. Lacking SPD values for DDR3-1600, this second set of memory was reserved exclusively for our overclocking tests.
We also threw our full range of keyboards and mice at these boards to make sure that they all worked in UEFI and required no special attention in Windows. After watching every board pass that test, we tried DOS mode through a boot disk and discovered mouse issues on the Asus and ECS platforms. In DOS mode, our Logitech mouse would only move vertically, while our Razer mouse moved inconsistently, switching randomly between normal and reverse movements.
The need for DOS mode compatibility is mostly limited to old DOS mode-based games. We’re not sure how many readers are affected, but those who do should take note of the issues we're seeing, which often take firmware updates to rectify.
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Battlefield 3 | Campaign Mode, "Going Hunting" 90-Seconds Fraps Test Set 1: Medium Quality Defaults (No AA, 4x AF) Test Set 2: High Quality Defaults |
| F1 2012 | In-Game Benchmark using Adrenaline Tool 1.0.0.12 Test Set 1: Medium Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: High Quality Preset, 4x AA |
| Skyrim | Update 1.5.26, Celedon Aethirborn Level 6, 25 Seconds Fraps Test Set 1: Medium Details Defaults Test Set 2: High Details Defaults |
| Adobe Creative Suite | |
| Adobe Photoshop CS6 (64-bit) | Version 13 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Adobe After Effects CS 6 | Version: CS5.5: Tom's Hardware Workload, SD project with three picture-in-picture streams, source video at 720p, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously |
| Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5.5 | Video length 2min 21s, Export to H.264 Blu-ray Source 960x720, Output 1280x720 |
| Adobe Acrobat X Professional | V10.0.0, PDF Creation from PowerPoint 2010 Presentation (3.6 MB) |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version 10.4.1.10 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format |
| Lame MP3 | Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s) |
| HandBrake CLI | Version: 0.98, Video: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 frames) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds, Audio: PCM-S16, 48 000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile) |
| MainConcept Reference | Version: 2.2.0.5440: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, Two-Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
| Productivity | |
| Blender | Version: 2.62: Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, Resolution: 1920x1080, Anti-Aliasing: 8x, Render: THG.blend frame 1, Cycles renderer and internal tile renderer (9x9) |
| Visual Studio 2010 | Compile Chrome project (1/31/2012) with devenv.com /build Release |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 | V14.1.0.328 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, Frame 248, 1440x1080 |
| WinZip | Version 16.5 Pro: THG-Workload (1.30 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| WinRAR | Version 4.20.0.0: THG-Workload (1.30 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.28: THG-Workload (1.30 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version 10.0.102.82: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
