Test Methodology
Comparison Processor Configurations |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel |
AMD |
|||||
Core i7-4770K |
Core i7-3770K |
Core i5-3570K |
Core i7-2700K |
Core i5-2500K |
A10-5800K |
A10-5700 |
|
| Motherboard | Gigabyte Z87-D3HP |
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H |
Gigabyte F2-A85X-UP4 |
Gigabyte F2-A85X-UP4 |
|||
| BIOS | F4 |
F14 |
F4 |
F4 |
|||
| Chipset Driver | Intel Inf 9.4.0.101 and IMEI 9 |
AMD 13.5 beta 2 chipset drivers |
|||||
| DDR3 Memory | G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2 x 4GB) |
||||||
| Memory Timings | 11-11-11-30-2T @ 2,133MHz |
11-11-11-30-2T @ 1,866MHz |
|||||
| Integrated Graphics | HD 4600 |
HD 4000 |
HD 4000 |
HD 3000 |
HD 3000 |
HD 7660D |
HD 7660D |
| Discrete Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB (ForceWare 320.18) |
||||||
| Disk Drive | Samsung 840 Pro 250GB |
||||||
| Optical Drive | Sony AD-7263S |
||||||
| Chassis | Corsair Graphite 600T |
||||||
| Power Supply | Corsair AX750 |
||||||
| Operating System | Windows 8 64-bit |
||||||
CPU and Memory Benchmarks |
|||||||
| HEXUS PiFast |
Our number-crunching benchmark stresses a single core by calculating Pi to 10m places | ||||||
| CineBench | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses all cores | ||||||
| wPrime | Another number-crunching benchmark that stresses all available CPU cores/threads | ||||||
| AIDA64 |
Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency | ||||||
| SunSpider | A web-based benchmark that measures JavaScript performance on real-world tasks | ||||||
| LuxMark | An OpenCL rendering benchmark | ||||||
| PCMark 7 |
An all-encompassing test to evaluate system performance | ||||||
IGP Benchmarks |
|||||||
| 3DMark Vantage | DX10, run at the default performance preset | ||||||
| 3DMark 11 | DX11, run with the performance preset | ||||||
| 3DMark | DX11, Fire Strike benchmark | ||||||
| BioShock Infinite | DX9, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 medium quality | ||||||
| DiRT Showdown | DX9, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 medium quality | ||||||
| Just Cause 2 | DX9, 1,280x720 and 1,920x1,080 medium quality | ||||||
| Discrete GPU Benchmarks | |||||||
| 3DMark | DX11, Fire Strike benchmark | ||||||
| BioShock Infinite | DX11, 1,920x1,080 ultra quality | ||||||
| DiRT Showdown | DX11, 1,920x1,080 ultra quality | ||||||
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
|||||||
| Power Consumption | While idling and when running wPrime and DiRT Showdown | ||||||
Notes
We have seven of the best IGP-enabled CPUs from current and recent generations prepared for our comparison. All have been tested from the grounds up on Windows 8 using the latest drivers, providing a generational overview between Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge and Haswell.
Aside from required motherboard changes, all platforms were tested using the same hardware and reference coolers, though please note that the AMD A10-5700 had to be run with memory reduced to 1,866MHz - it simply wouldn't boot with the G.Skill RAM set to its default XMP profile of 2,133MHz.
We're looking forward to seeing what the Core i7-4770K can do, but for the first time, the top-of-the-range part isn't going to give a true feel of what Haswell is all about. Though we expect to see a performance improvement, the bigger benefits are likely to be felt in mobile computers, where the Iris IGP and power-saving enhancements will certainly make a difference.
