Testing methodology
CPU comparisons |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Approx. pricing |
Default/Turbo frequency | Cores threads | Motherboard/BIOS | Chipset | Chipset driver | |||
| AMD FX-8350 | £150* | 4.0GHz/4.2GHz | 8/8 | ASUS Crosshair V Formula (1605) | 990FX | Cat 12.8 SB | |||
| AMD FX-8150 | £135 | 3.6GHz/4.2GHz | 8/8 | ASUS Crosshair V Formula | 990FX | Cat 12.8 SB | |||
| AMD Phenom II X6 1100T | NA | 3.3GHz/3.7GHz | 6/6 | ASUS Crosshair V Formula | 990FX | Cat 12.8 SB | |||
| AMD A10-5800K | £95 | 3.8GHz/4.2GHz | 4/4 | Gigabyte F2-A85X-UP4 (F3G) | A85 | Cat 12.8 SB | |||
| Intel Core i7-3770K | £250 | 3.5GHz/3.9GHz | 4/8 | Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H (F3C) | Z77 | Intel Inf 9.3.0.1021 | |||
| Intel Core i5-3570K | £170 | 3.4GHz/3.8GHz | 4/4 | Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H | Z77 | Intel Inf 9.3.0.1021 | |||
| Intel Core i3-3225 | £105 | 3.3GHz/NA | 2/4 | Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H | Z77 | Intel Inf 9.3.0.1021 | |||
| Intel Core i5-2500K | NA | 3.3GHz/3.7GHz | 4/4 | Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H | Z77 | Intel Inf 9.3.0.1021 | |||
| *Suggested retail price. Some parts may be unavailable now. | |||||||||
Common components |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discrete GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (306.97) | |||||||||||
| Memory | Patriot IEM 8GB (2x4GB) | |||||||||||
| Memory speed | 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1,600MHz | |||||||||||
| Power Supply | Corsair AX750 | |||||||||||
| Monitor | BenQ EW2430 | |||||||||||
| Disk drive(s) | Samsung Series 830 256GB | |||||||||||
| Chassis | Corsair Graphite 600T | |||||||||||
| Operating system | Windows 7 Ultimate, SP1, 64-bit | |||||||||||
Benchmarks |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | ||||||||||||
| AIDA64 | Useful application to test memory bandwidth and latency | |||||||||||
| HEXUS.PiFast | Using CPU power to crunch the constant to 10m places - light load | |||||||||||
| CINEBENCH R11.5 | Multi-CPU render - heavy load | |||||||||||
| TrueCrypt 7.0a | Encryption benchmark - heavy load | |||||||||||
| X264 HD 5.01 | Two-pass media encoding - heavy load | |||||||||||
| 7-zip 9.20 | Multi-threaded compression tool - heavy load | |||||||||||
| GPU | ||||||||||||
| 3Mark 11 | DX11 benchmark that stresses the GPU and CPU | |||||||||||
| Batman: Arkham City | 1,920x1,080, DX11, FXAA High, Extreme Quality | |||||||||||
| DiRT: Showdown | 1,920x1,080, DX11, 4x MSAA, High Quality | |||||||||||
| Aliens vs. Predator | 1,920x1,080, DX11, 4x MSAA, Very High Quality | |||||||||||
| Power-draw | Run at idle and 3D load (Batman: Arkham City) | |||||||||||
Notes
Another case of testing from scratch. We've used an ASUS Crosshair V motherboard flashed to the latest 1605 BIOS. We made sure that Windows 7 had all relevant hotfixes in place. It makes implicit sense to compare the Piledriver-based FX-8350's performance to Bulldozer's FX-8150. Adding some more AMD spice, a six-core Phenom II X6 1100T, based on Thuban technology, gives AMD's new architectures a run for their money.
Intel's four-core 'i5-3570K has already been identified as the natural competitor to FX-8350. It loses out in core count but ships with integrated HD 4000 Graphics. We've also included the last-gen Core i5-2500K and, shipping either side of the £150 price point, the Core i7-3770K and Core i3-3225 offer more context.
Want to know how well some of the above-mentioned chips perform in a Windows 8 environment? Stay tuned, we'll be providing all the answers in a forthcoming review.