Test system specifications and Methodology
Our Core i7 test system was provided as a complete system by Intel, indicative of a typical high end enthusiast class system. We updated the BIOS and used our own Kingston SSD in lieu of the installed WDC 500GB Black HDD
| Processor | Intel 2nd Generation Core i7-3960X 3.3GHz |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | INTEL Extreme Series Desktop Board DX79SI SIX7910J.86A.0380.2011.1128.1456 BIOS |
| Memory | 8 GB - 4x 2GB GEIL Value RAM DDR3-1333 CL9 |
| Cooling |
CPU: INTEL RTS2011LC Liquid Cooling Solution Chassis: Two front intake fans and two top exhaust fans |
| Graphics |
AMD HD7970 3GB - AMD Radeon HD7970 Reference Card @ 925/1375MHz. Video Bios Version 015.12.000.004 NVIDIA GTX460 768MB - 2x Gigabyte 460OC-768GI @ 715/1804MHz Video BIOS Version 70.04.1B.00.01 |
| Disk Drive | KINGSTON HyperX SH100S3120G 120GB SATA 6Gbit/s Solid State Drive |
| Optical Drive | None |
| Chassis | ANTEC P280 Performance Medium Tower |
| Power | ANTEC HCP-850 High Current Pro 850 Watts Power Supply |
| Display | DELL Ultrasharp U2412M 24" LED backlit LCD Monitor |
| Operating System | MICROSOFT Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1 64bit. Latest updates as of Dec 2011 |
| Graphics Driver |
AMD HD7970 Press Driver [Based on Catalyst 11.12] NVIDIA GeForce 290.53 Beta Driver |
| Storage Driver | INTEL Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise 3.0.0.3020 |
We were unable to enable PCI Express 3.0 in our Intel i7/X79 Platform as it not supported by the most recent public BIOS for the Intel DX79SI motherboard.
All software was patched to their latest builds. For games, we list our settings below.
All game, web and professional graphics benchmarks conducted at 1920x1200 resolutions. V-sync was disabled where possible.
| Software | Version | Test Settings @ 1920x1200 resolution. |
|---|---|---|
| Cyberlink MediaEspresso | 6.5.2119_41281 |
Hardware Encoding and Decoding Enabled for GPU, disabled for CPU. Test Video: big_buck_bunny_1080p_h264.mov |
| Dirt2 / Dirt 3 | 1.1 / 1.2 | Ultra Pre-set, 4x MSAA |
| Trackmania Nations Forever | 2.11.26 | VHQ Pre-set, 4x AA, 16x AF |
| HAWX 2 | Benchmark v1.04 | Maximum details, 4x AA With Tessellation. DirectX 11 |
| Grand Theft Auto IV | Title Update 7 |
Maximum details, 16x AF, Detail distances 50,50,100 Settings Override switch used to launch game |
| Just Cause 2 | Demo 1.0.0.2 |
Maximum details on NVIDIA, Maximum Details on AMD 4x AA, 16x AF. |
| Deus Ex Human Revolution | 1.3.643.1 |
MLAA, 16x AF, Soft Shadows, High SSAO, High DOF Triple Buffering, Post Processing, Tessellation |
| Alien V Predator Bench | Benchmark V1.03 |
Texture Quality 3, Shadow Quality 3, Anisotropic 16, SSAO 1 Tessellation 1, Advanced Shadows 1, MSAA 4. DirectX 11 |
| Lost Planet 2 | Benchmark | Maximum details Including Motion Blur, 4x AA. DirectX 11 |
| Resident Evil 5 | Benchmark 1.0.0.29 | Maximum details Including Motion Blur, 4x AA. DirectX 10 |
| Street Fighter IV | Benchmark 1.0.0.1 | Maximum details except Ink,4x AA, 16x AF |
| World In Conflict | Demo 1.0 | Maximum details, 4x AA, 16x AF. DirectX 10 |
| SPEC viewperf | 11 | 4x AA |