AMD Launches 125W Phenom II X4 965 CPU

Test Setup, Methodology, and Benchmarks Used

Too keep things consistent and try to maintain and "apples to apples" comparison, we try to use as much common hardware across the board. Each system's BIOS was set to "Optimized Defaults", with a verification of CPU & Memory speeds and timings.


We started out with a clean install of Vista and performed all the Windows updates to bring it up to current levels as of when this review was written. Then we installed all out benchmark programs and ran a disk defrag. Afterwards we disabled some un-needed Vista features that could affect results such as SuperFetch, System Restore, Defrag, Indexing, and Remote Assistance. Furthermore we ran the Bapco Auto-Configuration Tool and used its "Level 3" settings which disables a bunch more stuff:

* Disables screen saver
* Disables Windows Update
* Disables Desktop Cleanup Wizard
* Disables User Account Control (UAC)
* Disables the Sidebar
* Disables Windows Security Center warning messages
* Disables Windows Firewall
* Disables incoming Remote Desktop connections
* Disables Windows Error Reporting to Microsoft
* Prevents the Welcome Center from running at startup
* Disables Windows Defender

Each of the benchmarks were run at least five times, with the average being reported.



The following tests were performed:

* Synthetic Benchmarks:
o SiSoftware Sandra - 2009 SP1 (15.60)
o Lavalys Everest Ultimate Edition - v4.60
o WinRAR - 3.80
* 3D Rendering Performance:
o POV-Ray - 3.7 beta 29
o MAXON CINEBENCH - R10
* Video Encoding Performance:
o Tech ARP's x264 Benchmark - v2.0
o Windows Media Encoder 9 (x64 Edition)
o Divx Encoder - 6.6.1 (Codec 6.8.5)
* Math Calculation Performance:
o Wolfram Research Mathematica - v7
o wPrime - v2.00
o PiFast - 4.3
o HyperPi - 0.99b (Contains Super-Pi Mod v1.5)
* Gaming Performance:
o Lost Planet: Colonies Edition
o Far Cry 2
o Crysis Warhead
o Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
o Valve Particle Simulation Benchmark
o Valve VRAD map compilation tool
* Miscellaneous:
o Notfred Folding @ Home Benchmark

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AMD Launches 125W Phenom II X4 965 CPU

AMD Launches 125W Phenom II X4 965 CPU

Everest CPU Queen's Problem

Everest CPU Queen's Problem:

This simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic "Queens problem" on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard.

At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. For example -- with HyperThreading disabled -- the Intel Northwood core processors get higher scores than the Intel Prescott core based ones due to the 20-step vs 31-step long pipeline. However, with enabled HyperThreading the picture is controversial, because due to architectural bottlenecks the Northwood core runs out of internal resources and slows down. Similarly, at the same clock speed AMD K8 class processors will be faster than AMD K7 ones due to the improved branch prediction capabilities of the K8 architecture.

CPU Queen test uses integer MMX, SSE2 and SSSE3 optimizations. It consumes less than 1 MB system memory and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

Everest CPU PhotoWorxx Processing:

This integer benchmark performs different common tasks used during digital photo processing.

It performs the following tasks on a very large RGB image:

* Fill
* Flip
* Rotate90R (rotate 90 degrees CW)
* Rotate90L (rotate 90 degrees CCW)
* Random (fill the image with random coloured pixels)
* RGB2BW (color to black & white conversion)
* Difference
* Crop

This benchmark stresses the integer arithmetic and multiplication execution units of the CPU and also the memory subsystem. Due to the fact that this test performs high memory read/write traffic, it cannot effectively scale in situations where more than 2 processing threads used. For example, on a 8-way Pentium III Xeon system the 8 processing threads will be "fighting" over the memory, creating a serious bottleneck that would lead to as low scores as a 2-way or 4-way similar processor based system could achieve.

CPU PhotoWorxx test uses only the basic x86 instructions, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

Everest CPU ZLib Compression:

This integer benchmark measures combined CPU and memory subsystem performance through the public ZLib compression library Version 1.2.3.

CPU ZLib test uses only the basic x86 instructions, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

Everest CPU AES Encryption:

This integer benchmark measures CPU performance using AES (a.k.a. Rijndael) data encryption. It utilizes Vincent Rijmen, Antoon Bosselaers and Paulo Barreto's public domain C code in ECB mode.

CPU AES test uses only the basic x86 instructions, and it's hardware accelerated on VIA PadLock Security Engine capable VIA C3 and VIA C7 processors. The test consumes 48 MB memory, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

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AMD Launches 125W Phenom II X4 965 CPU

AMD Launches 125W Phenom II X4 965 CPU

Everest FPU Julia Fractal

Everest FPU Julia Fractal:

This benchmark measures the single precision (also known as 32-bit) floating-point performance through the computation of several frames of the popular "Julia" fractal. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly, and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD and Intel processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x87, 3DNow!, 3DNow!+ or SSE instruction set extension.

FPU Julia test consumes less than 1 MB system memory, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

Everest FPU Mandelbrot Fractal:

This benchmark measures the double precision (also known as 64-bit) floating-point performance through the computation of several frames of the popular "Mandelbrot" fractal. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly, and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD and Intel processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x87 or SSE2 instruction set extension.

FPU Mandel test consumes less than 1 MB system memory, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

Everest FPU SinJulia Fractal:

This benchmark measures the extended precision (also known as 80-bit) floating-point performance through the computation of a single frame of a modified "Julia" fractal. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly, and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD and Intel processor core variants by utilizing trigonometric and exponential x87 instructions.

FPU SinJulia test consumes less than 1 MB system memory, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

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