System setup and notes
Hardware and Software
Test Platforms
| System | Evesham FX-62 AM2 system | SCAN FX-62 AM2 | HEXUS FX-62 AM2 system | HEXUS FX-60 S939 system | HEXUS Intel Presler 965 system |
| Processor(s) | AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 AM2 (2.8GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, dual-core) | AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 AM2 (2.8GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, dual-core) | AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 AM2 (2.8GHz, 2MiB L2 cache, dual-core) | AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 (2.6GHz, 2MB L2 cache, dual-core) | Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 965 (3.73GHz, 4MB L2 cache, dual-core) |
| Mainboard | Foxconn C51XEM2AA nForce 590 SLI | Foxconn C51XEM2AA nForce 590 SLI | Foxconn C51XEM2AA nForce 590 SLI | ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe | ASUS P5WD2E-Premium | BIOS revision | 12/05/2006 - (612W1P18) | 12/05/2006 - (612W1P18) | 01/05/2006 - (612W1P12) | 1103 | 17/04/2006 - 0501 | Chipset driver | ForceWare 9.32 | ForceWare 9.32 | ForceWare 9.32 | ForceWare 9.32 | Intel INF Update Utility 7.2.2.1006 |
| Memory | 2GBytes (2x1024MByte) Crucial PC6400 | 2GBytes (2x1024MByte) Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5 EPP DDR2 | 2GBytes (4x512MByte) Crucial Ballistix PC8000 DDR2 | 1GByte (2x512MByte)Corsair XMS 3200PRO DDR | 1GByte (2x512MB) Corsair XMS2-5400UL DDR2 | Memory speed and timings | 5-4-4-12 2T @ 800MHz | 5-5-5-15 2T @ 936MHz | 4-3-3-8 2T @ 800MHz | 2-2-2-5 1T @ 400MHz (DDR) | 3-2-2-8 2T @ 667MHz |
| Graphics Card(s) | 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX 512MiB SLI | 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX 512MiB SLI | 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX 512MiB SLI | GeForce 7900 GTX 512MiB | GeForce 7900 GTX 512MiB | Graphics Card Driver | NVIDIA ForceWare 91.27 | NVIDIA ForceWare 91.27 | NVIDIA ForceWare 91.27 | NVIDIA ForceWare 91.27 | NVIDIA ForceWare 91.27 | Disk drive(s) | Western Digital 500GB 500KS 16MB cache SATA | 2x WD 150GB Raptors (WD150ADFD) 10,000RPM, 16MB cache, in RAID0 | Seagate ST3160812AS 160GB SATA | Seagate ST3160812AS 160GB SATA | Maxtor 300GB SATA (6V300F0) | Monitor (tested with) | Dell 3007WFP Widescreen (2560x1600) | Dell 3007WFP Widescreen (2560x1600) | Dell 2405FPW Widescreen (1920x1200) | Dell 2405FPW Widescreen (1920x1200) | Dell 3007WFP Widescreen (2560x1600) | Operating system | Windows XP MCE 2005 | Windows XP Pro SP2 | Windows XP Pro SP2 | Windows XP Pro SP2 | Windows XP Pro SP2 |
Benchmark Software
ScienceMark 2.0 (21st March 2005)HEXUS Pifast Benchmark
HEXUS.in-house MP3 Encoding Benchmark using LAME 3.97a (Intel HT compiler) - 701MB WAV
HEXUS.in-house DivX encode using DivX 6.01 and VirtualDub on 416MB DV file CINEBENCH 2003 multi-CPU render
KribiBench v1.1
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory v1.05 - HEXUS custom benchmark
Quake 4 v1.04 HEXUS Custom Benchmark
Far Cry v1.33 - HEXUS custom benchmark
Notes
We'll be comparing the Evesham system to a SCAN SKU that uses the same CPU, motherboard and graphics cards. However, the SCAN's specified with Corsair's EPP memory that is dynamically overclocked to 936MHz while keeping the CPU at ~2.8GHz. Once activated by the BIOS, the EPP memory changes the CPU's configuration to 12x235MHz HTT, rather than the 14x200MHz HTT on the Evesham (well, 14x200.9MHz)We've also added in our own HEXUS-built FX-62 system that features the same graphics cards and motherboard, and we include numbers from our FX-60 S939-based and Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 965-based rigs, too, so that you can evaluate just where this system stands in the larger scheme of things.
Yes, that Windsor really is at 2.624V.
Only kidding. It's just CPU-Z throwing a wobbly. The AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 is only available in an AM2 form-factor. It ticks along at 2.8GHz, sports 2MB L2 cache, and has an integrated memory controller that can officially handle DDR2-800-rated DIMMs.
We had a brief look at overclocking and managed a stable 3GHz clock speed with default voltage on all lines.
