Megatasking
But you'd hopefully engage in some real multitasking if contemplating a shiny, new quad-core chip.| StaxRip X264 + AAC encoding - pass one | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i7 950 | Intel Core i7 870 | Intel Core i7 920 | AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE | Intel Core i7 975 EE | Intel Core i5 750 | Intel Core i7 860 | Intel Core 2 Q9650 |
| 168 | 167.5 | 192.5 | 210 | 150.5 | 211 | 191 | 222 |
Here are the original results for the StaxRip encoding test, as shown on page eight.
| Megatasking 1 - StaxRip encoding + QT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i7 950 | Intel Core i7 870 | Intel Core i7 920 | AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE | Intel Core i7 975 EE | Intel Core i5 750 | Intel Core i7 860 | Intel Core 2 Q9650 |
| 182 | 180 | 208.5 | 241.5 | 161 | 238 | 206 | 258.5 |
The first 'megatasking' test takes in pass one of the encoding benchmark. Extra load is provided by running a 1080p clip on a looping basis.
Note that all CPUs take a little longer to encode, yet the £139 Core i5 750 continues to keep pace with the Core 2 Q9650 and AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE.
| Megatasking 2 - StaxRip encoding + ET:QW | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i7 950 | Intel Core i7 870 | Intel Core i7 920 | AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE | Intel Core i7 975 EE | Intel Core i5 750 | Intel Core i7 860 | Intel Core 2 Q9650 |
| 209.5 | 207.5 | 240 | 378 | 187 | 382 | 237.5 | 409 |
Here's the same encoding benchmark but with ET:QW (1,680x,1,050) looping in the background. This places a much larger load than QuickTime and, consequently, the HT-equipped CPUs - 860, 870, 920, 950, 975 EE - do really well.
Four-thread capable chips suffer to a far greater degree, and the hurt is consistent amongst the trio.
| Megatasking 3 - ET:QW + StaxRip encoding | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i7 950 | Intel Core i7 870 | Intel Core i7 920 | AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE | Intel Core i7 975 EE | Intel Core i5 750 | Intel Core i7 860 | Intel Core 2 Q9650 |
| 86.33 | 88.38 | 82.42 | 89.42 | 90.85 | 90.13 | 85.55 | 93.15 |
We also record the average fps for ET:QW in the above instance. All chips show excellent average frame-rates, although the scores are a touch misleading. Bringing the game to the fore, it runs smooth and fast on all chips other than Core i7 860 and Core 2 Q9650. The 860, we saw, was fast and just a little jerky in places, whilst the bandwidth-starved Q9650 was rather jerkier in certain areas.
