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Test Settings

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$3,000 Performance PC Test Settings
 Standard SpeedOverclocked
MotherboardGigabyte GA-X58A-UD7
Chipset: Intel X58-Express
 Unchanged 
ProcessorIntel Core i7-920 2.66 GHz
Four Cores, 8MB L3 Cache
 4.3 GHz at 1.36V, 205 MHz Base Clock 
MemoryCrucial 6.0GB DDR3-1333 Triple-Channel Kit
3x 2GB (6GB Total), CAS 9-9-9-28
 DDR3-1640 at 1.64V,
CAS 8-8-8-18 
GraphicsPowerColor LCS AX5970
2GB GDDR5-4200; Radeon HD 5970 Dual GPUs at 750 MHz
 GDDR5-4880
980 MHz GPU x2 
System
Hard Drives
2x Crucial CT64M225 SSD (RAID 0)
64GB x2 (128GB Total), SATA 3.0 Gb/s
 Unchanged 
OpticalLite-On DH-4B1S-08 SATA Blu-ray Burner
4X BD-R, 2X BD-RE, 12X DVD±R, 4X BD-ROM
 Unchanged 
CaseCooler Master Cosmos-S RC-1100-KKN1-GP Unchanged 
PowerSilverStone ST1000-P 1,000W Modular
ATX12V 2.2, EPS12V 2.91, 80-Plus Silver
 Unchanged 
CPU CoolerSwiftech H20-220 Ultima XT Liquid Kit
2x 120mm Radiator
 Unchanged 
Software
OSMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
GraphicsATI Catalyst 10.2
ChipsetIntel INF 9.1.1.1020
Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Campaign, Act III, Second Sun (45 sec. FRAPS)
Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AA
Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool
Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA
Test Set 2: Very High Quality, 8x AA
Dirt 2 DemoIn-game benchmark
Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA
Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call Of PripyatCall Of Pripyat Benchmark version
Test Set 1: High Preset, DX11 EFDL, No AA
Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, DX11 EFDL, 4x MSAA
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunesVersion:9.0.2.25 x64
Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min
Default format AAC
Handbrake 0.9.4Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob file from The Last Samurai (1.0GB) to .mp4, High Profile
TMPEGEnc 4.0 XPressVersion: 4.7.3.292
Import File: "Terminator 2" SE DVD (5 Minutes)
Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX Codec 6.9.1Encoding mode: Insane Quality
Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4
Quarter-pixel search
XviD 1.2.2Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.6.1MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Adobe Photoshop CS4Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7MB TIF Image
Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 9.0Version: 9.0.663, Virus base: 270.14.1/2407, Benchmark: Scan 334MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
WinRAR 3.90Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334MB)
7-ZipVersion 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8
Benchmark: THG-Workload (334MB)
Synthetic Benchmarks
3DMark VantageVersion: 1.0.1, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark VantageVersion: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2010Version 2010.1.16.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
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mi1ez 16/03/2010 11:43
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-0+

RAID SSDs? No TRIM support there then!

ch1llboy 17/03/2010 08:10
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-3+

920? really tomshardware! I do look to you for advice often and to see you recommend a chip that has been replaced by the 930 kind shocks and disappoints me. I have confidence that you will make good and update your article. It is 2% more expensive and 5% higher clocked at stock. It overclocks better because it has the 21x multiplier. It removes the cpu blk wall for those of us on air buying 300+ motherboards that can take the blk to 215. It is what I'm buying because 4.4 ghz is better than 4.1.

BlackKnight7891 18/03/2010 23:13
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-2+

It would be Nice to see some CPU\GPU temps through the testing especially when when testing the overclock against Crysis

LePhuronn 19/03/2010 15:29
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-1+

Samsung SpinPoint F3s surely?

Anonymous 13/07/2010 16:14
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-0+

hey all am looking for special desktop specs for animation design with high quality

mi1ez 13/07/2010 18:02
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-0+

try the forums then rather than article comments...

LePhuronn 13/07/2010 18:19
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-0+

Looking at it now, I'd also tweak things to run 2 5870s in Crossfire and drop the PSU to a 850W - games that don't benefit from Crossfire (i.e. GTA 4) will see better single-GPU performance from a full fat 5870 instead of the underclocked 5870 on the dual-GPU card, assuming of course that the 5970 is detected as an internal Crossfire setup by these games.

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