System setup , new benchmarks, and notes
| System name | PC Specialist Apollo Q260GTX | HEXUS E6700 GTS |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 (2.67GHz, 12MiB L2 cache, 1,333MHz, quad-core) | Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.67GHz, 4MiB L2 cache, 1066MHz, dual-core) |
| Motherboard | ASUS P5N-D (nForce 750i SLI) | Intel Bad Axe 2 (i975X) |
| Memory | 4GiB (2x 2GiB) Corsair CM2X1024-6400 | |
| Memory timings and speed | 5-5-5-15-2T @ 800MHz | |
| Graphics card(s) | ASUS GeForce GTX 260 896MiB | NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MiB |
| Disk drive(s) | Western Digital 750GiB Caviar SE, 7,200RPM 16MiB cache | 2x Seagate 500GiB Barracuda 7200.10, 7,200RPM, 8MiB cache |
| Optical drive(s) | Pioneer 110D DVD ReWriter | LG H20L combo drive |
| Graphics driver | ForceWare 177.41 | |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home 64-bit, SP1 | Windows XP Pro, SP3 |
| Benchmarks | HEXUS.boot - cold-boot time from power-on to Gadwin
PrintScreen pop-up HEXUS.power - idle, 2D, and 3D load measurements from the mains HEXUS.convert - DVD Shrink of Batman Begins HEXUS.transcode - 200MiB 1080p clip to iPhone (480x272, medium quality) HEXUS.optical - DVD Decrypter of Batman Begins DVD HEXUS.photofix - 152MiB photos auto-fixed - 25 images HEXUS.squash - 205MiB photos compressed into one file HEXUS.pro - CINEBENCH R10 multi-CPU render HEXUS.usb - 4GiB (180 files) transfer from USB drive to primary drive HEXUS.gaming - Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts - 1,920x1,200 4xAA 0xAF, DX9, VHQ |
|---|
Notes
We've completely re-jigged our testing suite to reflect task-based tests rather than isolated benchmarks such as ScienceMark 2.0 and Pov-ray.
The benchmarks, we hope, reflect real-world usage of what a consumer might want to do with their shiny, new machine.For example, we've hand-timed the boot sequence, from switch-on to usable Windows, because system integrators may forget to optimise the BIOS.
Another example is auto-fixing photographs in the free-to-use Adobe Photoshop Starter Edition 3.2 - correcting, say, 25 photographs is something most users would look towards doing.
In a similar vein, we've included an optical-drive benchmark, to see how quickly it can decrypt and pull the contents from a pre-recorded DVD, and we've then converted it down to 4.37GB using DVD Shrink 3.2.
Stacking on the hurt, a 1080p clip is compressed to 480x272 resolution and a codec, H.264, suitable for the Apple iPhone - another activity that's quite plausible.
File compression and USB transfer rates are evaluated with real-world apps rather than synthetic HD Tach, and we've tipped our hat towards the professional community by keeping CINEBENCH.
Long story short, a system is more than the sum of its parts and benchmarks should reflect real-world usage.
Reckon we're off our collective rockers or is this a step in the right direction? Feel free to commentate in the HEXUS.community.
The control (comparison) machine is a HEXUS rig that's seen a few days. The specification is indicative of a mid-range PC from last year, so it will be interesting to see how it compares against something a little newer.
Please note that the HEXUS machine is running a dual-core processor, albeit at the same clockspeed; Windows XP SP3 and two 500GiB hard drives.
All benchmarks are run three times and the scores averaged. If the benchmarks show a larger-than three per cent difference between slowest and fastest runs we keep running until the standard deviation is reduced.
Issues
Our sample system shipped with the graphics driver displaying at 1,280x1,024 on the 1,920x1,200-capable screen. Now, whilst this sounds trivial to most readers, first-time purchasers may not know the monitor is not running in its native glory.Further, the system would regularly refuse to go into standby mode, hanging with the power still running.
Let's run to the new benchmarks
