Test Setup

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

• 7 – Test Setup
  

  1. 1 – Intel's Next Top Model - QX9770 at 3.2 GHz
  2. 2 – TDP of up to 136 Watts
  3. 3 – X48 Chipset Required
  4. 4 – Up Close and Personal with the QX9770 - 12 MB L2 Cache and 3.2 GHz
  5. 5 – QX9770 is 5 % Faster - Overlocking to 4 GHz
  6. 6 – Models and Pricing
  7. 7 – Test Setup
  8. 8 – Software Configuration
  9. 9 – Benchmarks and Settings
  10. 10 – 3D-Games - UT2004, Prey
  11. 11 – 3D-Games - Quake 4, Warhammer
  12. 12 – 3D-Games - Supreme Commander, Serious Sam 2
  13. 13 – 3D-Rendering - Cinema 4D, 3D-Studio Max
  14. 14 – Applications - AVG, WinRAR
  15. 15 – Applications - Photoshop, PDF
  16. 16 – Applications - Deep Fritz
  17. 17 – Audio Encoding - iTunes, Lame
  18. 18 – Synthetic - Sandra CPU
  19. 19 – Synthetic - Sandra Memory
  20. 20 – Synthetic - Sandra Multimedia
  21. 21 – Synthetic - PC-Mark
  22. 22 – Synthetic - 3DMark
  23. 23 – Video Encoding - Xvid, Pinnacle Studio
  24. 24 – Video Encoding - Premiere, Mainconcept
  25. 25 – Video Encoding - HDTV, DivX
  26. 26 – Video Encoding - CloneDVD
  27. 27 – Cocnlusion: Core 2 QX9770 with 3.2 GHz - Top Performer, but not Before 2008
• Previous page Models and Pricing
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