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TEST METHODOLOGY
Common Test Platform:
- Corsair
XMS3 memory 2x2GB, DDR3-1600 @ 1333MHz, 9-9-9-24 (1066 MHz,
8-8-8-20 for LGA775)
- Asus EN9400GT Silent Edition
graphics card - 512MB
- Western Digital VelociRaptor
hard drive - 300GB, 10,000RPM, 16MB cache
- Western
Digital Scorpio Blue notebook hard drive - 500GB, 5,400RPM,
8MB cache (for IGP testing)
- Asus
BC-1205PT Blu-ray drive (for IGP testing)
- Seasonic
SS-400ET ATX power supply
- Microsoft
Windows Vista SP1 operating system - Home Premium, 32-bit
AMD AM3:
Intel LGA775:
Intel LGA1156:
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Device listing (CPU test platform).
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Measurement and Analysis Tools
- CPU-Z
to monitor CPU frequency and voltage.
- CPUBurn
processor stress software.
- Prime95
processor stress software.
- ATITool
artifact scanner to stress the integrated GPU.
- FurMark
stability test to stress the integrated GPU.
- Cyberlink
PowerDVD to play H.264/VC-1/Blu-ray video.
- Eset NOD32 as
an anti-virus benchmark.
- WinRAR as an
archiving benchmark.
- iTunes
an audio encoding benchmark.
- TMPGEnc
Xpress as a video encoding benchmark.
- PCMark05
as a general system benchmark.
- 3DMark05
as a 3D benchmark.
- 3DMark06
as a 3D benchmark.
- Seasonic
Power Angel AC power meter, used to measure the power consumption
of the system.
- Custom-built, four-channel variable DC power supply, used to power
and regulate the CPU fan.
Estimating DC Power
The following power efficiency figures were obtained for the
Seasonic SS-400ET used in our test system:
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Seasonic SS-400ET Test Results
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DC Output (W)
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AC Input (W)
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Efficiency
|
|
21.2
|
32.0
|
66.3%
|
|
41.6
|
58.0
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71.7%
|
|
60.2
|
78.0
|
77.1%
|
|
81.9
|
102.0
|
80.3%
|
|
104.7
|
128.0
|
81.8%
|
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124.1
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150.0
|
82.8%
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145.2
|
175.0
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83.0%
|
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165.3
|
195.0
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84.8%
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193.2
|
227.0
|
85.1%
|
|
222.7
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261.0
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85.3%
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This data is enough to give us a very good estimate of DC demand in our
test system. We extrapolate the DC power output from the measured AC power
input based on this data. We won't go through the math; it's easy enough
to figure out for yourself if you really want to.
Testing Procedures
Our IGP testing procedure is to run the system through a video test suite featuring
a variety of high definition clips. During playback, a CPU usage graph is created
by the Windows Task Manger for analysis to determine the average CPU usage.
High CPU usage is indicative of poor video decoding ability. If the video (and/or
audio) skips or freezes, we conclude the IGP (in conjunction with the processor)
is inadequate to decompress the clip properly.
Our CPU testing procedure is designed to determine the overall system power
consumption at various states (measured using a Seasonic Power Angel). To stress
CPUs we use Prime95 (large FFTs setting) or CPUBurn, whichever produces the
higher power draw. We also perform a short series of benchmarks featuring real-world
timed tests and synthetics detailed below.
Cool'n'Quiet and/or Intel SpeedStep were enabled (unless otherwise noted).
The following features/services were disabled during testing to prevent spikes
in CPU/HDD usage that are typical of fresh Vista installations:
- Windows Sidebar
- Indexing
- Superfetch
CPU Benchmark Details
- Eset NOD32: In-depth virus scan of a folder containing 32 files of
varying size with many of them being file RAR and ZIP archives.
- WinRAR: Archive creation with a folder containing 68 files of varying
size (less than 50MB).
- iTunes: Conversion of an MP3 file to AAC (256kbps).
- TMPGEnc Xpress: Encoding a 1-minute long XVID AVI file to VC-1 (1280x720,
30fps, 20mbps).
Video Test Suite
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