Test Settings And Benchmarks

Test System Configuration
Intel CPU	Intel Core i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge): 3.5 GHz, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache, LGA 1155 Overclocked to 4.4 GHz at 1.25 V
Intel Motherboard	Asus Sabertooth Z77, BIOS 1504 (08/03/2012)
Intel CPU Cooler	Thermalright MUX-120 w/Zalman ZM-STG1 Paste
AMD CPU	AMD FX-8350 (Vishera): 4.0 GHz, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache, Socket AM3+ Overclocked to 4.4 GHz at 1.35 V
AMD Motherboard	Asus Sabertooth 990FX, BIOS 1604 (10/24/2012)
AMD CPU Cooler	Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer w/Zalman ZM-STG1 Paste
RAM	G.Skill F3-17600CL9Q-16GBXLD (16 GB) DDR3-2200 CAS 9-11-9-36 1.65 V
AMD Graphics	2 x MSI R7970-2PMD3GD5/OC: 1,010 MHz GPU, GDDR5-5500
Nvidia Graphics	2 x Gigabyte GV-N680OC-4GD: 1,137 MHz GPU, GDDR5-6008
Hard Drive	Mushkin Chronos Deluxe DX 240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD
Sound	Integrated HD Audio
Network	Integrated Gigabit Networking
Power	Seasonic X760 SS-760KM: ATX12V v2.3, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold
Software
OS	Microsoft Windows 8 Professional RTM x64
AMD Graphics	AMD Catalyst 12.10
Nvidia Graphics	Nvidia GeForce 310.90

Great performance and quick installation keep Thermalright’s MUX-120 and Sunbeamtech’s Core Contact Freezer in my inventory of favorite testing components. The brackets that come with these older samples make them non-interchangeable, however.

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G.Skill’s F3-17600CL9Q-16GBXLD has a remarkable DDR3-2200 CAS 9 rating, using Intel XMP technology for semi-automatic configuration. As a non-Intel platform, the Sabertooth 990FX configures XMP values through Asus' DOCP setting.

Seasonic’s X760 provides the consistent efficiency required to assess platform power differences.

Keeping the benchmark set from our previous round cut back testing time, though it also meant utilizing older drivers. The thing to remember is that we aren't trying to compare the performance of AMD's and Nvidia's graphics cards, and we're breaking each GPU vendor into separate charts to prevent this. Rather, we're interested in how each configuration behaves attached to AMD- and Intel-based platforms.

3D Game Benchmarks
Aliens vs Predator	Using AvP Tool v 1.03, SSAO/Tesselation/Shadows On Test Set 1: High Textures, No AA, 4x AF Test Set 2: Very High Textures, 4x AA, 16x AF
Battlefield 3	Campaign Mode, "Going Hunting" 90-Second Fraps Test Set 1: Medium Quality Defaults (No AA, 4x AF) Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Defaults (4x AA, 16x AF)
F1 2012	Steam version, In-game benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Update 1.7, Celedon Aethirborn Level 6, 25-Second Fraps Test Set 1: DX11, High Details No AA, 8x AF, FXAA enabled Test Set 2: DX11, Ultra Details, 8x AA, 16x AF, FXAA enabled
Metro 2033	Full Game, Built-In Benchmark, "Frontline" Scene Test Set 1: DX11, High, AAA, 4x AF, No PhysX, No DoF Test Set 2: DX11, Very High, 4x AA, 16x AF, No PhysX, DoF On