Test Settings
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| March 2010 SBM Test Configuration | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | $750 PC | $1,500 PC | $3,000 PC |
| Motherboard (Overclock) | Gigabyte MA790GPT-UD3H Socket AM3, 790GX Overclocked to 257 MHz HyperTransport Clock | ASRock X58 Extreme LGA-1366, X58 ExpressOverclocked to 195 MHz BCLK | Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 LGA-1366, X58 Express Overclocked to 205 MHz BCLK |
| Processor (Overclock) | AMD Athlon II X3 435 2.90 GHz at 3.60 GHz Fourth Core Unlocked, 1.49V | Intel Core i7-920 2.66 GHz at 3.90 GHzOverclocked 20x 195 MHz, +0.0V | Intel Core i7-920 2.66 GHz at 4.30 GHz Overclocked 21x 205 MHz, 1.36V |
| Memory (Overclock) | G.Skill DDR3-1600 CAS 9 CAS 9-9-9-24 at 1.60V Overclocked to 1,369 MHz, 7-8-7-15, 1.65V | Crucial DDR3-1333 CAS 9 CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50VOverclocked to 1,540 MHz, 8-8-8-18, 1.60V | 3 x Crucial DDR3-1333 2GB CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50V Overclocked to 1,640 MHz, 8-8-8-18, 1.65V |
| Graphics (Overclock) | 2 x Sapphire HD 4850 625 MHz, GDDR3-1986 Overclocked to 700/2,360 MHz | 2 x Visiontek HD 5850 725 MHz, GDDR5-4000Overclocked to 775/4,500 MHz | PowerColor HD 5970 750 MHz, GDDR5-4200 Overclocked to 980/4,880 MHz |
| System Hard Drives | WD WD6401AALS 640GB, 7,200 RPM, 32MB | WD WD7501AALS 750GB, 7,200 RPM, 32MB | 2 x Crucial CT64M225 SSD 64GB x2 (RAID 0) |
| Case | Antec Three Hundred | Cooler Master CM 690 | Cooler Master Cosmos-S |
| Power | Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W | Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W | SilverStone ST1000-P 1,000W Modular |
| CPU Cooler | Xigmatek HDT-SD964 92mm Tower | Rosewill FORT120 120mm Tower | Swiftech H20-220 Ultima XT Liquid Kit |
| Software | |||
| O/S | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 | ||
| Graphics | AMD Catalyst 10.2 | ||
| Chipset | AMD Catalyst 10.2 | Intel INF 9.1.1.1020 |
All three systems achieved at least somewhat-admirable clock speeds and the $1,500 build amazingly reached 3.90 GHz at stock voltage after it was determined that increased voltage wasn’t helping. Gone is the problematic Core i7-860 of last-month’s high-cost build, while the new system’s liquid-cooled i7-920 reached 4.30 GHz with ease. The $750 system builder was even able to unlock his processor’s fourth core without suffering a major loss in stability, although his memory couldn’t match the CAS 6 capability of equally-priced award-winning modules from our previous shootout.
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| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| 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 |
| 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, 8x AA |
| Dirt 2 Demo | In-game benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat | S.T.A.L.K.E.R: 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" (1GB) to .mp4, High Profile |
| 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 15.7MB 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 334MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files |
| WinRAR 3.90 | Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334MB) |
| 7-Zip | Version 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8 Benchmark: THG-Workload (334MB) |
| 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 |
Our new benchmark suite is working fairly well, although we’re still seeing somewhat temperamental results in AVG. We’re currently working on a new antivirus application.
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