Motherboard Testing Methodology

It's always interesting for us here at Benchmark Reviews to test a new processor/chipset combination, because normally we have no idea what to expect! The marketing and advertising press materials Intel included with this processor and motherboard promise unprecedented levels of performance...can these new parts really deliver?

I admit my hopes are high: the original Sandy Bridge processors raised the performance bar considerably, and their new 32nm fabrication process allowed amazing overclocks with relatively low voltages and heat production. The enthusiast chip adds two more cores, nearly double the cache, and drops the relatively unused integrated GPU. Intel's DX79SI motherboard includes what Intel calls an "Overclocking Assistant": you turn it on, select the clock speed you want from a pop-up menu, and the motherboard adjusts the "detailed settings" such as memory speed, voltage, and multiplier for you, which you can then use as a base for hand-tweaked improvements.

But just as with the last Intel motherboard I tested, the DX79SI was saddled with a "Beta" BIOS, and I wasn't able to achieve any significant overclocks (I don't consider a 200MHz overclock to be worth running a suite of benchmarks on). A newer BIOS is not available as of the time of this writing, but I'm sure the overclocking ability of the board will improve dramatically when a final BIOS becomes available.

To see how this processor/chipset performs against the best AMD offers and Intel's previous top-of-the-line setups, I included the systems listed below. Each test system used the same hard drive, memory (with the exception of the AMD system), and graphics card.

Intel X58 Test Platform

• Motherboard: ASUS Rampage Extreme III with BIOS 0901
• Processor: 3.33GHz (3.6GHz Turbo) Intel Core i7-980X
• System Memory: 3x4GB Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24)
• Primary Drive: Western Digital VelociRaptor 300G
• Graphics Adapter: AMD Radeon 6850

Intel P67 Test Platform

• Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 with BIOS 1305
• Processor: 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Intel Core i7-2600K
• System Memory: 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24)
• Primary Drive: Western Digital VelociRaptor 300G
• Graphics Adapter: AMD Radeon 6850

AMD 990FX Test Platform

• Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair V Formula with BIOS 0083
• Processor: 3.6GHz (3.9-4.2GHz Turbo) AMD FX-8150 "Bulldozer"
• System Memory: G. Skill F3-17066CL7D-4GBPIS DDR3-1866 (9-9-9-24)
• Primary Drive: Western Digital VelociRaptor 300G
• Graphics Adapter: AMD Radeon 6850

Intel X79 Express Test Platform

• Motherboard: Intel DX79SI BIOS SI0280B (beta BIOS)
• Processor: 3.3GHz Intel Core i7-3960X
• System Memory: 16GB (4 4GB DIMMs) Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24)
• Primary Drive: Western Digital VelociRaptor 300G
• Graphics Adapter: AMD Radeon 6850
• CPU cooler: Intel High Performance Liquid Cooling System RTS2011LC

Benchmark Applications

• Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
• SiSoft Sandra Lite 2011.SPS (1780)
• AIDA64 Extreme Edition v1.85.1600
• Futuremark PCMark Vantage v1.0.2.0 64-Bit
  • TV and Movies
  • Gaming
  • Music
• Maxon CINEBENCH R11.5 64-Bit
• Street Fighter IV benchmark
• PassMark PerformanceTest 7.0b1021
• x264Bench HD 3.0, including AMD-supplied variants using new FX instructions
• SPECviewperf-11:
  • Lightwave 9.6
  • Autodesk Maya 2009
  • Siemens Teamcenter Visualization Mockup
• SPECapc LightWave 3D v9.6
• Handbrake 0.95 video transcoding
• Blender 3D rendering
• POV-Ray 3D rendering

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