Test System & Benchmarks
Now that we've looked at our choices and justifications in detail, let's recap one more time:
| SBM Mid-Range PC System Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6700, 2.66 GHz, 1066 FSB, 8 MB Cache |
| Motherboard | Asus P5N-T Deluxe, BIOS 0903 (03/06/2008) |
| RAM | Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400, 4x 1024 MB, CAS 4.0-4-4-12 |
| Hard Drive | 1x Western Digital Raptor 150 GB1x Western Digital Caviar 500 GB |
| Networking | NVIDIA nForce onboard Gigabit Ethernet NIC |
| Graphics Cards | EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX, 768 MB RAM575 MHz GPU, 1800 MHz RAM Data Rate |
| Power Supply | PC Power & Cooling Silencer S75Q (750W, ATX12V) |
| System Software & Drivers | |
| OS | Windows Vista Ultimate 6.0.6000 (Vista Retail) |
| DirectX Version | DirectX 10.0 |
| Platform Driver | nVIDIA nForce Version 9.46 |
| Graphics Driver | nVIDIA ForceWare 169.25 |
Building the mid-range system went well, but we had to deal with a boot issue.
The problem we had with booting only occurred when we first configured the system; we could not boot to the OS because the PC would shut down in pre-boot. This also prevented us from installing Vista, and occurred when idling in the BIOS or running testing applications such as KillDisk.
After some quick research online we found out that this is a common problem with the ASUS P5N-T motherboard, and that it can be resolved with a BIOS update. Once we flashed the new BIOS, everything was smooth sailing and we had no other stability issues.
We have completely revamped our test suite this time, so unfortunately we won't be comparing results with the previous builds until the next system builder marathon.
Below are the test settings we've used for our myriad benchmarks and tests.
| Benchmarks and Settings | |
|---|---|
| 3D-Games | |
| Crysis | Version: 1.1Video Quality 1: High Details No Anti-AliasingVideo Quality 2: Very High Details, 4x Anti-AliasingBenchmark: Benchmark_CPU.bat |
| Prey | Version: 1.3Video Quality 1: Default (No AA, 8x AF)Video Quality 2: High Quality, 4x AABenchmark: THG-Demo |
| Supreme Commander | Version: 3.220Video Quality 1: DefaultVideo Quality 2: High Fidelity, High Shadow, 4x AABenchmark: Real 60 Game |
| Unreal Tournament 3 | Version: RetailTexture Detail: 5World Detail: 5Field of View: 100Benchmark: Botmatch (WAR-Torlan, 12 bots, 1 Minute) |
| Warhammer Mark of Chaos | Version: 1.6Video Quality:Default (Highest Settings)Demo: THG Timedemo (1 Minute) |
| Audio | |
| iTunes 7.2 | Version: 7.1.1.5Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 minHigh Quality (160kb/s) |
| Lame MP3 | Version: 3.98 Beta 3 (05-22-2007)Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 minwave to MP3160kb/s |
| Video | |
| TMPEGEnc 4.0 Xpress | Version: 4.2.10.211Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (2 Minutes)Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, 6-Channel, EnglishAdvanced Acoustic Engine MP3 Encoder (160kb/s) |
| DivX 6.6 | Version: 6.6.1Profile: Home Theater Profile (720 x 576)1-pass, 780 kb/sEncoding mode: Insane QualityEnhanced multithreading |
| XviD 1.1.2 | Version: 1.1.2Target quantizer: 1.00 (maximum quality) |
| Applications | |
| Adobe Photoshop CS3 | Version: 10.0x20070321Filtering 69 MB TIF PhotoBenchmark: Tom's Guide-Benchmark V1.0.0.4 |
| Autodesk 3D Studio Max | Version: 9.0Rendering One Video FrameQuality: HTDV 1920x1080 & 1280x720 |
| Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus | Version: 7.5.467Virus Base: 269.6.1/776Benchmark: Scanning 3.82 GB Application Folder |
| Maxon Cinema 4D | Version: 10.008Resolution: 1280 x 1024Benchmark: Rose Drop, 8-bits (50 Frames) |
| Rarlab Winrar | Version 3.70 BETA 8Compression = BestDictionary = 4096 kBUncompressed Folder Size: 642 MB |
| Synthetics | |
| SPECviewperf 9 | Version: 9.0.3 |
| PCMark05 Pro | Version: 1.1.0System, CPU and Memory TestsWindows Media Player 11.0.6000.6324Windows Media Encoder 9.00.00.2980 |
| Futuremark 3DMark 2006 | Version 1.10System Test Only |
| SiSoftware Sandra XII | Version 2007.5.11.40CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic, MultimediaMemory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
Once again, we will be looking at the results in isolation and conclusions will be difficult to draw in some cases. However, later in the week we will be comparing all of the systems in the marathon against each other for a more meaningful analysis.
