Test Methodology
Comparison Processor Configurations |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel |
AMD |
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Core i7-4770K |
Core i7-3770K |
Core i5-3570K |
Core i3-3225 |
Core i7-2700K |
Core i5-2500K |
A10-6800K |
A10-6700 |
A10-5800K |
A10-5700 |
|
| Motherboard | Gigabyte Z87-D3HP |
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H |
Gigabyte F2-A85X-UP4 |
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| BIOS | F4 |
F14 |
F4 |
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| Chipset Driver | Intel Inf 9.4.0.101 and IMEI 9 |
AMD Catalyst 13.6 |
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| DDR3 Memory | G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2 x 4GB) |
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| Memory Timings | 11-11-11-30-2T @ 2,133MHz |
11-11-11-30-2T @ 1,866MHz |
11-11-11-30-2T @ 2,133MHz |
11-11-11-30-2T @ 2,133MHz |
11-11-11-30-2T @ 1,866MHz |
11-11-11-30-2T @ 2,133MHz |
11-11-11-30-2T @ 1,866MHz |
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| Integrated Graphics | HD 4600 |
HD 4000 |
HD 4000 |
HD 4000 |
HD 3000 |
HD 3000 |
HD 8670D |
HD 8670D |
HD 7660D |
HD 7660D |
| Discrete Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 3GB (ForceWare 320.18) |
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| Disk Drive | Samsung 840 Pro 250GB |
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| Optical Drive | Sony AD-7263S |
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| Chassis | Corsair Graphite 600T |
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| Power Supply | Corsair AX750 |
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| Operating System | Windows 8 64-bit |
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CPU and Memory Benchmarks |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| Power Consumption | While idling and when running wPrime and DiRT Showdown | |||||||||
Notes
All 10 CPUs in our line-up are equipped with IGPs and are tested from the grounds-up on Windows 8 using the latest available drivers. Examining the sub-£150 market, we're focussing today on how the A10-6700 compares to other AMD APUs and Intel's similarly-priced Core i3-3225.
Aside from required motherboard changes, all platforms were tested using the same hardware and reference coolers, though please note that the AMD A10-5700 and Intel Core i3-3225 had to be run with memory reduced to 1,866MHz - they simply wouldn't boot with the G.Skill RAM set to its default XMP profile of 2,133MHz.
