Benchmarks: System and Gaming
The power of Intel's hexa-core processor is clear to see in multi-threaded, CPU-specific benchmarks, and the bandwidth advantage of DDR4 is huge in specialised memory benchmarks such as AIDA. But the real-world advantage isn't anywhere near as clear cut. PCMark, 3DMark and Aliens vs. Predator don't really benefit from the new tech in any meaningful way.
1080p Gaming Performance (Full-HD, Average FPS) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Image Preset | Scan 3XS X99 Micro |
|||
(EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti SC ACX) |
(EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti SC ACX) |
(MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti Gaming) |
(EVGA GeForce GTX 780 SC ACX) |
||
| BioShock Infinite | Medium Quality | 230.3 |
236.7 |
230.6 |
214.9 |
| High Quality | 208.5 |
214.6 |
209.4 |
191.9 |
|
| Max Quality | 126.4 |
127.6 |
125.5 |
112.2 |
|
| Total War: Rome II | Medium Quality | 271.7 |
256.5 |
260.4 |
232.0 |
| Very High Quality | 137.9 |
134.0 |
134.1 |
118.9 |
|
| Extreme Quality | 73.7 |
74.7 |
72.6 |
63.2 |
|
Will a hexa-core processor and DDR4 memory revolutionise your gaming experience? No, or at least, not yet. Developers may eventually make better use of the 12 available threads and the generous dollop of memory bandwidth, but with today's games, the onus is on the graphics card.
At high quality settings, the two GeForce GTX 780 Ti machines deliver practically identical performance, meaning the hexa-core CPU gives gamers little incentive to upgrade. What's really needed is next-generation graphics - let's not forget, 780 Ti will soon be year-old technology.
2160P Gaming Performance (4K, Average FPS) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Image Preset | Scan 3XS X99 Micro |
||
(EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti SC ACX) |
(MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti Gaming) |
(EVGA GeForce GTX 780 SC ACX) |
||
| BioShock Infinite | Medium Quality | 78.6 |
74.8 |
65.4 |
| High Quality | 71.2 |
68.3 |
59.9 |
|
| Max Quality | 43.1 |
42.2 |
36.8 |
|
| Total War: Rome II | Medium Quality | 94.6 |
93.3 |
81.7 |
| Very High Quality | 47.7 |
47.7 |
40.7 |
|
| Extreme Quality | 23.4 |
23.4 |
19.8 |
|
The same is true at 4K. The extra CPU cores don't translate to extra gaming performance, but with a high-end, current-generation graphics card at the helm, the 3XS X99 Micro remains a powerful gaming machine. Tone the quality settings down a notch or two, and it'll maintain smooth framerates at a demanding 3,840x2,160 resolution.
