3DMark performance is indicative of very little, really, yet many buyers look to its results as the definitive guide for hardware selection. We take its numbers with a grain of salt, and you might want to do the same.
We see a 39% average performance difference from overclocking, but hope the final tally of today’s benchmarks will be higher.
PCMark’s hard drive bias is so strong that this month’s dual SSD RAID 0 array should annihilate the results of less-expensive competitors. However, synthetic benchmarks are not counted in the value analysis.
Sandra’s CPU tests show a 52% gain from overclocking.
Previous reviews have shown limited benefit for triple-channel mode and high data rates in actual applications, but at least Sandra can detect the 24% improvement in memory throughput.
- Finally, A Forward-Looking Build
- Motherboard And CPU
- Graphics And RAM
- Cooling And Case
- Hard Drives And Accessories
- Optical Drive And Power Supply
- Hardware Installation
- Overclocking
- Test Settings
- Benchmark Results: CoD:MW2 And Crysis
- Benchmark Results: DiRT 2 And Call Of Pripyat
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- Conclusion
