Test Procedures And Test Systems
We run the below benchmarks, tests and calculations as part of our CPU reviews. All the methods settings and procedures detailed below are held constant for all CPUs included in the graphs. This means all results are comparable and the only changed testing parameters are the CPU and motherboard.
- Cinebench R11.5 Single and Multi-Threaded Benchmarks
- Super Pi V1.1 4Million Calculation
- WinRar V5 Beta 8 Benchmark – 500MB average
- AIDA 64 Extreme Edition – Memory and Cache, CPU Queen, CPU PhotoWorxx and CPU Hash tests
- 3DMark 11 – Performance And Extreme pre-set tests
- 3DMark 13 – Performance And Extreme FireStrike Pre-set tests
- PCMark7 V1.4 – PCMark Suite only
- BioShock Infinite – Benchmarking utility; settings 3 then 2 (read: Ultra) and at 1920 x 1080
- Metro Last Light – Benchmarking utility; settings (DX11/1920×1080/Very High/ AF4X/ Normal Shadows/ Normal Tessellation/ No SSAA/ Sequence D6/ Runs 1/ No PhysX)
- Power consumption – Idle power consumption is measured with 0% system usage at the Windows 7 desktop over a 5 minute period. Load power consumption is measured with AIDA 64’s Extreme Edition CPU Stress test running for 5 minutes. The power is measured at system-level at the wall via a killawatt meter. By holding the power consumption of all other components to a stable low level CPU power consumption can be derived from the system results.
- Temperatures – Are measured after 5 minutes of system idle at the Windows 7 desktop. Load temperatures are measured after 5 minutes of AIDA 64 Extreme Edition CPU stress test. These temperatures are converted into deltas when inserted into the graphs (Delta temperature = Actual recorded temperature – ambient room temperature). The ambient temperature recorded with digital thermometer in fixed location.
We have three test systems for each of the main sockets of comparison in this review; LGA 2011, AM3+ and LGA 1150.
Intel LGA 2011 Test System
- Motherboard – Asus Rampage IV Extreme X79
- Processor – Intel Core i7 3960X (at stock with Turbo enabled and OC at 4.6GHz with 1.375 volts) and Intel Core i7 4960X (at stock with Turbo enabled and OC at 4.5GHz with 1.4 volts)
- RAM – Corsair Vengeance Pro 1866MHz 9-10-9-27-2T (4 X 8GB) (four DIMMs necessary for quad channel)
- Graphics Card – Reference AMD HD 7950 (Non-Boost variant @ stock clocks)
- CPU Cooler – Corsair H100i with Quiet Fan Profile and Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste
- Power Supply – Corsair HX1050W
- Main Storage Drive – Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD over SATA III interface
- Chassis – Lian Li T60 Test Bench
- Displays – Dell U2711 Ultra Sharp
- Operating System – Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Intel LGA 1150 Test System
- Motherboard – Asus Maximus VI Formula Z87
- Processor – Intel Core i7 4770K (Stock with Turbo enabled and OC at 4.5GHz with 1.3 volts)
- RAM – Corsair Vengeance Pro 1866MHz 9-10-9-27-2T (2 X 8GB)
- Graphics Card – Reference AMD HD 7950 (Non-Boost variant @ stock clocks)
- CPU Cooler – Corsair H100i with Quiet Fan Profile and Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste
- Power Supply – Corsair HX1050W
- Main Storage Drive – Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD over SATA III interface
- Chassis – Lian Li T60 Test Bench
- Displays – Dell U2711 Ultra Sharp
- Operating System – Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
AMD AM3+ Test System
- Motherboard – Asus Crosshair V Formula 990FX
- Processor – AMD FX-8350 (Stock with Turbo enabled and OC at 4.8GHz with 1.5 volts)
- RAM – Corsair Vengeance Pro 1866MHz 9-10-9-27-2T (2 X 8GB)
- Graphics Card – Reference AMD HD 7950 (Non-Boost variant @ stock clocks)
- CPU Cooler – Corsair H100i with Quiet Fan Profile and Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste
- Power Supply – Corsair HX1050W
- Main Storage Drive – Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD over SATA III interface
- Chassis – Lian Li T60 Test Bench
- Displays – Dell U2711 Ultra Sharp
- Operating System – Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
We would like to thank Asus, Intel, AMD, Corsair, Kingston, Lian Li, Dell, Noctua and all our other partners who supplied us with test equipment and hardware. Their generosity makes our testing possible and without them we wouldn’t be able to produce the reviews we do, so thank you!
As you say it’s something that an everyday user doesn’t need and those who do buy them, will all be about willy waving. The price of the chip coupled with the archaic X79 chipset renders it redundant anyway.
I agree to an extent, the lack of SATA III and USB 3.0 isn’t ideal. But then PCIe goes through the CPU so thats up to date. Board vendors can add marvell/asmedia SATA III/USB 3.0 implementations so its not really redundant.
It is useable but for the price you’re expected to pay, it really requires a new chipset. Marvell & Asmedia chips are just stopgaps at best.
For the price you’re expected to pay it should come with a Butler who sets the new CPU up for you and provides you with free ice cold beer.
That being said, It could be a cheaper, more cost effective alternative to Intel’s Xeon’s.
Why use a $200 AMD cpu against a $1000 intel one? why not use a 9590? or even a 12 core socket G34 AMD cpu for similar price?
The FX-8350 at 4.8GHz is better than an FX-9590. Why? Because the FX-9590 is 4.7GHz base clock and 5GHz turbo. It only goes to 5GHz turbo on one module, maybe you’ll get two if you’re lucky. Most of the time when all four modules are used the clock speed is 4.7GHz. As far as the socket G34 goes they are industrial/business grade CPUs. Not meant for consumers, it would be a pointless venture. Plus we’ve already established that anything more than four cores is barely utilised except in productivity. So 12 cores at 2.3GHz (on the top of the line Opteron 12 core model) will probably fare worse than 8 cores at 4.8GHz IMO.