| ||
| by MAC | March 10, 2010 | ||
| Test Setups & Methodology Test Setups & MethodologyFor this review, we have prepared four different test setups, representing all the popular platforms at the moment, as well as most of the best-selling processors. As much as possible, the four test setups feature identical components, memory timings, drivers, etc. Aside from manually selecting memory frequencies and timings, every option in the BIOS was at its default setting. Intel Core i7 "Gulftown" Test Setup  Intel Core i7 "Bloomfield" Test Setup  *The 1802 BIOS was only used for the Everest, ScienceMark, and Power Consumption tests. Intel Core i5 & Core i7 "Lynnfield" Test Setup  Intel Core i5 "Clarkdale" Test Setup  Intel Core 2 Test Setup  AMD Phenom II AM3 Test Setup  For all of the benchmarks, appropriate lengths are taken to ensure an equal comparison through methodical setup, installation, and testing. The following outlines our testing methodology: A) Windows is installed using a full format. B) Chipset drivers and accessory hardware drivers (audio, network, GPU) are installed followed by a defragment and a reboot. C)To ensure consistent results, a few tweaks were applied to Windows Vista and the NVIDIA control panel:
D) Programs and games are then installed & updated followed by another defragment. E) Windows updates are then completed installing all available updates followed by a defragment. F) Benchmarks are each run three times after a clean reboot for every iteration of the benchmark unless otherwise stated, the results are then averaged. If they were any clearly anomalous results, the 3-loop run was repeated. If they remained, we mentioned it in the individual benchmark write-up. Here is a full list of the applications that we utilized in our benchmarking suite:
That is about all you need to know methodology wise, so let's get to the good stuff! | ||
| |
| Latest Reviews in Processors | |||||||||
|
