System setup and notes
| System | AMD Phenom AM2+ system | AMD Phenom AM3 system | Intel Core 2 system | Intel Core i7 system |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processors | AMD Phenom II X4 940 BE (3.00GHz, 2MB L2, 6MB L3, AM2+, quad-core, £131.55*) |
AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE (3.40GHz, 2MB L2, 6MB L3, AM3, quad-core, £190.50*) |
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 (3.0GHz, 12MB L2 cache, quad-core, £238.56*) |
Intel Core i7 920(2.66GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 8MB L3, quad-core, £204.90*) |
AMD Phenom II X4 920 (2.80GHz, 2MB L2, 6MB L3, AM2+, quad-core, £N/A) |
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE (3.20GHz, 2MB L2, 6MB L3, AM3, quad-core, £145.92*) |
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 (2.83GHz, 12MB L2 cache, quad-core, £164.39*) |
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Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 (2.50GHz, 6MB L2 cache, quad-core, £128.94*) |
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| Motherboard | Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H (790GX + SB750) |
ASUS M4A79T Deluxe (790FX + SB750) |
Foxconn P45A-S (Intel P45 + ICH10R) |
Gigabyte EX58UD5 |
| BIOS revision | F3 (13/01/2009) |
0066 beta (30/06/2009) |
P05 (27/08/2008) |
F5d |
| Memory | 4GB (2 x 2GB) Corsair DOMINATOR 8500 DDR2 |
4GB (2 x 2GB) Corsair XMS3 DHX PC-10,666 DDR3 |
4GB (2 x 2GB) Corsair DOMINATOR 8500 DDR2 |
6GB (3 x 2GB) Crucial DDR3-1,333 CL9 DDR3 |
| Memory timings and speed | 5-5-5-15-2T @ 1,069MHz |
9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,337.6MHz |
5-5-5-15-2T @ 1,066.6MHz |
9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,333MHz |
| Graphics card | Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 512MB |
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| Hard disk drive | Seagate 500GB SATAII (ST3500320AS) |
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| Optical drive | Sony DW-Q30A |
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| Motherboard software | Standard Vista SP1 drivers + AHCI 3.1.1540.64 |
Standard Vista SP1 drivers + AHCI 3.1.1540.64 |
Intel Inf 9.1.0.1008 |
Intel Inf 9.1.0.1008 |
| Graphics driver | ATI Catalyst 8.12 |
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| Operating system | Windows Vista Business, SP1 64-bit |
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| Power supply | Corsair HX1000W |
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| Monitor | Dell 2405FPW |
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*pricing at the time of writing, August 12th 2009 |
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Software
| Benchmarks | ScienceMark memory latency Sandra 2009 SP2 (15.72), float buffered HEXUS.PiFast calculation to 10m places HEXUS DivX 6.8.3 + Lame encoding enhanced multithreading on + SSE4 search off CINEBENCH R10 multi-CPU render 64-bit POV-Ray 3.7.0 beta 25a 64-bit Company of Heroes: OF v2.103, DX9, 1,024x768 - low and high quality ET: QW, v1.5, 1,024x768 and 1,680x1,050 - high-detail settings. DivX 6.8.3 + Lame + QuickTime 7.5.5 (multitasking) DivX 6.8.3 + Lame + ET: QW, v1.5, 1,680x1,050 smp off (multitasking) Power-draw at idle and load, as a platform |
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Notes
AMD lists the U.S. price of the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition as $245, and early indications suggest an asking price of around £190 here in the UK. What's interesting is that the Phenom II 955 Black Edition, which is also multiplier unlocked, is now retailing at under £150, making it immediately more appealing for a low-cost gaming system.
You won't need us to tell you what's surely inevitable - a 3.2GHz Phenom II is quicker than a 3.0GHz Phenom II - but to make it interesting we're throwing a handful of Intel systems into the mix to see how AMD fares. Is a 3.2GHz Phenom II able to get closer to Intel's cheapest Core i7? Let's see.
