Performance Meets Value – Core i7 vs. Penryn vs. Phenom II
3DMark06
3DMark06 still remains the number one utility used for a system benchmark. We find that it is mostly useful for tracking changes within a single system. There are four “mini-games” that it uses for benchmarking graphics, as well as two CPU tests. The scores are weighed and added together to give an overall “score” and there is a further frame rate breakdown possible with these mini-games that we are charting for you.
Above is a scene from 3DMark06. These tests will still give your PC a real workout even though its default resolution is only 1280×1024. Here are the results of our 3DMark06 benchmark comparison using the benchmark at its default settings:
Well, if the synthetics are anything to go by, Core i7 “wins”. Now let’s check the mini-games which are used to benchmark graphics performance:
As though we were ‘playing’ the 3DMark06 mini-games, we note the frame rate rankings and note that all three of our CPUs scale with the core clock increase. If they were games, they would all be quite playable and they would be indistinguishable from each others platform. So, let’s move on to our second synthetic benchmark, Vantage.
very thorough and informative, i glanced over it but i will read it later. looking at the graphs and conclusion good stuff look forward to seeing more cpu’s put to the test.
The almost constant flat-lining from the different processors yet again proves the GPU is by far the most important factor for gaming.
I agree that the cpu bottlenecks that people talk about so much are very very overblown.
But they still do matter in gaming. Of course not as much as a video card but they are still very important.
The games you tested are older games. They don’t take use of more than 2 cores decently.
Just about every recent release however is coded to use more than 4 cores. And there are some very LARGE performance differences even when playing at good resolutions and high settings. Recent Source games, Capcom games will make use of more cores because the engines they use have been updated for multi core support.
I’m going to show a couple of examples.
Reisdent Evil 5
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,690488/Processor-benchmarks-with-Resident-Evil-5-Core-i7-reigns-Phenom-strong-Update-Lynnfield-results/Practice/
A 2.4GHz Q6600 beats a 3.0GHz e8400
The 3.1GHz Phenom II X2 550 gets 54.2FPS and the Phenom II X4 945 @ 3.0GHz gets 81.5
The settings were at 1680 x 1050 all settings max.
DiRt 2
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,700780/Dirt-2-CPU-benchmarks-with-DirectX-9-and-DirectX-11-Phenom-doing-well-quad-cores-rule/Practice/
Max Details @ 1680 x 1050
62% increases for Quad Cores over Dual Cores
e8400 @ 3.0GHz gets 37FPS
Q9650 @ 3.0GHz gets 63FPS
Dragon Age Origins
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,698761/Dragon-Age-Origins-CPU-benchmarks-75-percent-boost-for-quad-cores/Practice/
e6600 @ 2.4GHz gets 28FPS vs the Q6600 @ 2.4GHz that gets almost double the fps at 49FPS.
The infamous Grand Theft Auto 4
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,669595/GTA-4-PC-CPU-benchmark-review-with-13-processors/Reviews/?page=2
Prototype
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,688240/Prototype-CPU-Benchmarks-System-Requirements-and-Screenshots/Practice/
Left 4 Dead 2
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,699110/Left-4-Dead-2-CPU-benchmarks-Phenom-II-very-strong/Practice/
ARMA 2
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,687620/ArmA-2-tested-Benchmarks-with-18-CPUs/Practice/
Batman Arkham Asylum
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/batman-arkham-asylum,2465-9.html
All of these games has been tested with high settings at decent and very common gamer resolutions like 1680 x 1050.
There are lots and lots more but I don’t feel like posting any more links. I think that I’m able to make show my point with these games. Just about every recent release comes with great quad core support. I’d be more surprised if a recent game didn’t come out with quad core support.
Thanks for you comments. Let’s look, one at a time at each of your examples:
RE5, they do not test with AA or AF and only at 16×10. Of course, the bottleneck is shifted to the CPU.
Dirt 2, same issues. I test everything with 4xAA/16xAF. The author agrees with me:
” In most systems, especially with DirectX 11, the graphics card is the limiting factor. ”
Prototype. Ph II 940-X4 is barely 3 FPS behind i7. Watch that difference disappear at 19×12 and with faster clocks.
L4D. As with with all Source engine games, the practical difference is minimal. Again, they do not test with AA/AF – which is silly.
ARMA2, I also test; except that I use the highest details and with different results.
Batman AA. Here is what THG concludes:
“We now see that a dual-core Phenom II CPU at 2.5 GHz can handle a minimum frame rate of over 40 FPS. This means that even a sub-$100 CPU should be able to deliver excellent performance with Batman: Arkham Asylum.” Dropping the CPU core speed to 2.0 GHz; why don’t they go to 1 GHz to make a point?
GTA4. They test at 10×12. Ridiculous. Enough said.
You may like Part 2 of my review. It is greatly expanded to include the same 3 CPUs and also now with Ph II 550 X2 and Ph II 955 X4. I am also now testing with HD 4870-X2 and HD 4870-X3 TriFire to up the graphics ante.
It takes me a few weeks to run over 1,000 benchmarks on 17 games for 5 CPUs at three clock speeds and at two resolutions for my upcoming article. –Look for it December 21st.
My test games are certainly not old. However, look for me to add Dragon’s Age: Origins, Left4Dead, Wolfenstein, Borderlands, Dirt2, and CoD MW2 in the coming weeks.
Quad core is becoming more useful for brand new games. Eventually it will be necessary. But not yet.