Test Settings
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| Test System Configuration | |
|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Phenom X4 955 Black Edition 3.20 GHz, 6.0 MB Cache |
| RAM | Kingston KHX2133C9D3T1K2/4GX (4GB) DDR3-2133 at DDR3-1333 CAS 7-7-7-20 |
| Integrated Graphics | Radeon HD 4290 at default settings 128MB Sideport RAM, Automatic shared RAM allocation |
| Discrete Graphics | Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1GB 725 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4000 |
| System Hard Drive | Western Digital Velociraptor WD3000HLFS, 300GB 10,000 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s, 16 MB cache |
| Empty Hard Drive | Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB SATA 6Gb/s |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Power | Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850W Modular ATX12V v2.2, EPS12V, 80-Plus Gold |
| Software | |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| Graphics and Chipset | AMD Catalyst 10.3 Preview |
AMD’s release of an SATA 6Gb/s integrated controller put us on the hunt for a fast enough drive to test it. Crucial’s RealSSD C300 is the only model we could find to exceed the former 300 MB/s bandwidth limit, and we’re anxious to find out if AMD’s integrated controller can approach the performance levels already seen in discrete controller cards.
After a last-minute failure in this lab’s 790GX motherboard caused panic, Canadian contributor Don Woligroski stepped in with a few game tests using his trusty Asus M4A785TD-M EVO.
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| Integrated Controller Test | |
|---|---|
| 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 Low Quality, No AA, 1280x720 |
| Dirt 2 Demo | In-game benchmark Ultra Low Quality Preset, No AA, 1280x720 |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call Of Pripyat | Call Of Pripyat Benchmark version Minimum Preset, DX10 EFDL, No AA, 1280x720 |
| h2benchw 3.13 | Sequential Reads and Writes (KB/s) |
With integrated controller tests taken care of, our remaining benchmarks used Sapphire’s Radeon HD 5850 graphics card.
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| 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 (1.0 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 kbp/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=32KB, 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 |
A last-minute failure of this lab’s only 790GX board forced us to resort to a model with disabled integrated graphics for non-integrated graphics tests. Gigabyte’s 790XTA-UD4 filled the void.
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