Test Setup And Benchmark Suite
Test System Specs
Synthetic and gaming tests are performed on the MSI GX60, Razer Blade R2, and Alienware M18x. The Blade uses Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 660M mobile GPU, while the M18x employs an Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M. The 7970M and GTX 680M represent the fastest mobile graphics modules currently available. Both comparison machines have 8 GB of RAM, and their CPUs and GPUs run at factory clock rates.
We perform our productivity-oriented benchmarks on systems equipped with the previous-gen Core i7-2720QM quad-core and -2640M dual-core processors. In addition, we're adding a 45 W Core i7-3720QM quad-core chip to show the difference an extra 10 W makes up against the GX60’s 35 W APU. While we did not have any other gaming notebooks on-hand with these specs, we did have several Dell Latitude E6520s and a Latitude E6530 available. The Latitudes are primarily used as business notebooks, but seeing as how these tests are CPU-only, we don’t have an issue using them.
All productivity benchmarks were run on an optimized image of Windows 7 loaded on a 180 GB Intel SSD 520 drive, which we installed ourselves. Compression tests were run on a RAM drive to minimize the impact of storage hardware on each machine.
| Dell Latitude E6520 | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i7-2640M |
| Platform | Intel QM67 Express |
| Memory | 8 GB |
| Dell Latitude E6520 | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-2720QM |
| Platform | Intel QM67 Express |
| Memory | 8 GB |
| Dell Latitude E6530 | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-37820QM |
| Platform | Intel QM77 Express |
| Memory | 8 GB |
| MSI GX60 | |
| Processor | AMD A10-4600M APU (Trinity) Dual-Module/Quad-Core @ 2.3 GHz, 35 W TDP |
| Platform | AMD A70M (Hudson-D3/M3) |
| Memory | 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600 MT/s |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon HD 7970M 2 GB GDDR5 |
| Storage | 64 GB SSD + 64 GB SSD in 128 GB RAID 0 Array |
| Razer Blade (2nd-Gen) | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-3632QM (Ivy Bridge) Quad-Core @ 2.2 GHz, 35 W TDP |
| Platform | Intel HM77 Express |
| Memory | 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600 MT/s |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 660M 2 GB GDDR5 |
| Storage | 64 GB SSD + 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD |
| Alienware M18x | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-3940XM (Ivy Bridge) Quad-Core @ 3.0 GHz, 55 W TDP |
| Platform | Intel HM77 Express |
| Memory | 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600 MT/s |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M 2 GB GDDR5 |
| Storage | 180 GB Intel 520 Series SSD + 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD |
Benchmark Suite
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
|---|---|
| HandBrake CLI | Version 0.98: Video From Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 FPS) 1 Minute 22 SecondsAudio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile) |
| Adobe Creative Suite | |
| Premiere Pro CS6 | Version 6.0.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality |
| Photoshop CS6 | Version 13 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| File Compression | |
| WinZip | Version 17.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| WinRAR | Version 4.2: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.28: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to 7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" |
| 3D Gaming | |
| Call Of Duty: Black Ops II | Campaign Mode, "Celerium" Mission 2-Minute FrapsTest Set 1: Extra Quality, High Filtering, 8x MSAA, Ambient Occlusion, High Depth of FieldTest Set 2: High Quality, Medium Filtering, 2x MSAA, Ambient Occlusion, Medium Depth of FieldTest Set 3: Normal Texture Quality, Low Texture Filtering, Low Depth of Field |
| Battlefield 3 | Campaign Mode, "Going Hunting" Mission 90-Second FrapsTest Set 1: Ultra Quality SettingsTest Set 2: High Quality SettingsTest Set 3: Medium Quality Settings |
| Sniper Elite V2 | Built-in BenchmarkTest Set 1: Ultra Quality PresetTest Set 2: High Quality PresetTest Set 3: Medium Quality PresetTest Set 4: Low Quality Preset |
| Hitman: Absolution | Built-in BenchmarkTest Set 1: Ultra Quality SettingsTest Set 2: High Quality SettingsTest Set 3: Medium Quality Settings |
| DiRT: Showdown | Built-in BenchmarkTest Set 1: Ultra Quality SettingsTest Set 2: High Quality SettingsTest Set 3: Medium Quality Settings |
| Batman: Arkham City | Built-in BenchmarkTest Set 1: Ultra Quality SettingsTest Set 2: High Quality SettingsTest Set 3: Medium Quality Settings |
| World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria | Honeydew Village, Between Guards In The Rain, 60-Second FrapsTest Set 1: Ultra PresetTest Set 2: High PresetTest Set 3: Medium Preset |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Riverwood, Walking Around 60-Second FrapsTest Set 1: Ultra Quality, 8x AA, 16x AFTest Set 2: High Quality, 8x AA, 8x AFTest Set 3: Medium Quality, 4x AA |
| Total War: Shogun 2 | Built-in BenchmarkTest Set 1: High Graphics @ 1920x1080, FXAATest Set 2: Very High Preset @ 1920x1080Test Set 3: Balanced Graphics @ 1280x720 |
A Note on FPS
We realize that acceptable frame rates are debatable on a per-game and per-vendor basis, which is why we're simply listing averages. As long as we're getting smooth game play, we typically choose higher-quality visuals over higher frame rates. After all, we want to see all of the work that game designers put into making a game visually appealing. Typically, we find that 20 FPS is the absolute minimum we’re willing to call acceptable, with 30 FPS a more ideal minimum. In multi-player games we favor higher frame rates and low lag.
