AMD Value Platform Analysis Part 2: The Performance

MrK · **Joined:** Sat Aug 23, 2008 9:08 pm **Posts:** 1674

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In Part 1 we took a look at the components used in this analysis and the reasoning behind it. If you read the conclusion, you must have been excited at the little overclocking teaser that I left there. In this part, we are going to cover the overclocking in detail on this platform and take a look at the performance. The tests have been carefully selected to represent some of the most widely used synthetic benchmarks such as Everest, 3DMark and gaming benchmarks.
In this part, I will be testing the following configurations as far as the gaming tests go
AMD Athlon II X2 250 @3.0 GHz + HD 4650 512MB GDDR3 600/667 MHz @ 1280×1024
AMD Athlon II X2 250 @3955 MHz + HD 4650 512MB GDDR3 770/955 MHz @ 1280×1024 (Overclocked Configuration)
AMD Athlon II X2 250 @3.0 GHz + HD 4770 512MB GDDR5 750/800 MHz @ 1280×1024
AMD Athlon II X2 250 @3.0 GHz + HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 750/900 MHz @ 1280×1024 & 1920×1200
AMD Athlon II X2 250 @3.0 GHz + HD 4890 1GB GDDR5 925/1050 MHz @ 1280×1024 & 1920×1200 (HD 4890 is Diamond XOC version)
The reasoning behind only testing the HD 4870 and the HD 4890 at a high resolution like 1920×1200 is that the power in these cards is limited by the CPU at a low resolution like 1280×1024. In some of the games, the GPU is not even being used 100%. So if you are going to spend money on such beefy cards, it is wise to invest in a higher resolution monitor. Additionally other cards used in this analysis won’t be able to provide a smooth experience at such a high resolution.

Quote:

Here at ABT, we believe in delivering the cleanest results to the best of our ability. As a result, I will be adding videos of gaming benchmarks running on the CPU + GPU overclocked configuration to show proof of what this low cost platform can do when overclocked. Another new feature that I am adding is a screenshot from Rivatuner showing the CPU and GPU usage while the benchmark is running. This comes in addition to the standard bar graph and line graphs that I feature in my reviews. All these extra features take a lot of time to make so I hope you appreciate them. Please leave a comment or suggestion even if you don’t like them.

Thoughts, comments & Suggestions ?

gstanford · Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 1:02 am

Very good and professionally presented review, as good as anything you would see from major sites.

BFG10K · Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 4:12 am

Well done.

cusideabelincoln · **Joined:** Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:33 am **Posts:** 77

I think I would have preferred seeing what an overclocked Athlon 250 would do with the stock clock HD4650. This way we see what purely CPU speed does for gaming performance for a card as "lowly" as the 4650. However, if you are doing another part in which you test the same video cards and configurations with the Phenom II 550, then I think this would suffice. It would be interesting to see, for example, what the extra money for the 550 gets you over the 250 if both were paired with the HD4890. You will use the same game settings and configs so that we can compare the next article with this article, right?

Specifically I'm a bit interested in the TF2 results. Going from 1280x1024 to 1920x1200 didn't really affect the minimum framerates very much. I wonder what a stock and overclocked PhII 550 is going to bring to the table.

apoppin · Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:54 am

cusideabelincoln wrote:

It would be interesting to see, for example, what the extra money for the 550 gets you over the 250 if both were paired with the HD4890.

i think i covered that with GTX 280 with both Ph II 550 X2 and Athlon II 250 X2 - GTX 280 and HD 4890 are very close in performance.
- you do get a little more with the Phenom II architecture over the Athlon II (no L3 cache) - especially when they are both at stock. Overclocking both of them to 3.9 GHz narrowed the performance gap a bit.

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=10085

cusideabelincoln · **Joined:** Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:33 am **Posts:** 77

Ah, if I'm reading it right you just tested the 250 with the 4870x2 and not the GTX280 in most of your tests, although by using the 4870x2 you still got some good results. Karan did use some different games, too, and I am most interested in TF2 performance. His CPU graph is very similar to mine: One of the cores is pegged the entire time and the other core is is not, bouncing from 50-100%.

apoppin · Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 11:26 pm

Yes, i only had the Athlon for a limited time and then it had to go back to Karan for his testing because i take a long time. :blush:

- it was a surprise that we got it from AMD at all.

3 CPUs - Ph II X2, Ph II X3 and Q9550s got tested with 4870-X2 and with GTX 280
1 CPU - Athlon X2 only got tested with 4870-X2 but not with GTX.

i preferred to test Athlon II 250 X2 with 4870-X2 over a single GPU as CF magnifies the differences; so since i had to leave one out, i left out the GTX testing

i expect to repeat some of this - but it will be mostly Phenom II X2/X3/X4 vs. C2Q and i5 or i7 - before i retire my Penryn system and send on my Q9550s to another editor who has a fast dual core.
:good:

i don't expect to keep testing Athlon II; maybe the Athlon II X4s that are coming out
. . . i mean "value" is one thing; but i would not "save" $20 on a CPU .. i would look to trim my budget elsewhere - especially if i am using a 280/275/4890 class of videocard or better.
:doh:

AMD Value Platform Analysis Part 2: The Performance

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