Operating System: Windows Vista Enterprise
We have recently switched to a different version of Windows for our benchmarks. Now, all benchmarks at THG are run on Windows Vista Enterprise. While this version is not available in stores, its performance results are identical to Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate. However, we were forced to make this switch, since this is the only version that offers an Open License. This License allows us to activate Windows Vista over the Internet repeatedly, without having to make calls to Microsoft’s activation hotline each time.
Hardware Configuration
We have updated our testbed system with new components, such as the graphics card, sound card and hard drive, in order to offer our readers results based on a platform that is both current and practical.
Hardware Setup
| System Hardware | |
|---|---|
| AMD Platform AM2 (Nvidia Nforce 5) | Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe, Rev.1.03G NVIDIA nForce5, BIOS: 1001 (03/13/2007) |
| Intel Platform S775 (Intel P35) | Gigabyte P35C-DS3R, Rev. 1.0 Intel P35, BIOS: F2o (05/11/2007) |
| Intel Platform S775 (Intel X38) | Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6, Rev. 1.0 Intel X38, BIOS: F4 (09/19/2007) |
| Memory | 2x 1GB A-Data DDR2-1066+ Vitesta Extreme Edition |
| DVD-ROM | Samsung SH-D163A , SATA150 |
| Graphics Card | Foxconn Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX GPU: 575 MHz Shader: 1350 MHz Video Memory: 786 MB DDR4 (900 MHz, 384 Bit) |
| Sound Card | Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer |
| Power Supply | Zalman, ATX 2.01, 510 Watt |
- Intel's Next Top Model - QX9770 at 3.2 GHz
- TDP of up to 136 Watts
- X48 Chipset Required
- Up Close and Personal with the QX9770 - 12 MB L2 Cache and 3.2 GHz
- QX9770 is 5 % Faster - Overlocking to 4 GHz
- Models and Pricing
- Test Setup
- Software Configuration
- Benchmarks and Settings
- 3D-Games - UT2004, Prey
- 3D-Games - Quake 4, Warhammer
- 3D-Games - Supreme Commander, Serious Sam 2
- 3D-Rendering - Cinema 4D, 3D-Studio Max
- Applications - AVG, WinRAR
- Applications - Photoshop, PDF
- Applications - Deep Fritz
- Audio Encoding - iTunes, Lame
- Synthetic - Sandra CPU
- Synthetic - Sandra Memory
- Synthetic - Sandra Multimedia
- Synthetic - PC-Mark
- Synthetic - 3DMark
- Video Encoding - Xvid, Pinnacle Studio
- Video Encoding - Premiere, Mainconcept
- Video Encoding - HDTV, DivX
- Video Encoding - CloneDVD
- Cocnlusion: Core 2 QX9770 with 3.2 GHz - Top Performer, but not Before 2008




