PCMark05 System Tests

Using synthetic benchmarks to compare one product to another has some distinct advantages when testing similar hardware, yet I have never found myself completely satisfied by the process. I have come to understand that they're important for comparing "apples to apples", and that the results are usually very consistent. But as with any synthetic benchmark, the numbers can often mean very little more than just numbers. We don't take a high score on a synthetic benchmark to mean that a product will/should perform well, and neither should you. The difference between projected performance and actual performance is the difference between fire and the fire-fly.

PCMark is a series of computer benchmark tools developed by Futuremark. The tools are designed to test the performance of the user's CPU, read/write speeds of RAM and hard drives. We have used these tests to simulate a battery of applications and tasks, which will produce results we can compare to other systems using similar hardware.

Throughout all of the selected PCMark05 tests, the 'mainstream' 2.80GHz Intel Core i7-860 and Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 motherboard outperformed the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7-920 on the X58-Express motherboard. Audio compression was the most convincing test, with the P55/i7-860 scoring 4716 KBps for a 16% lead over the X58/i7-920 with 3966KBps. Video encoding was too close to call, with 699 KBps for P55 and 611 KBps on the X58. Physics and 3D performance was surprisingly favorable towards the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 with Core i7-860, scoring an 18% (60 FPS) lead over the X58/i7-920.

The trend continued into the next set of PCMark05 tests, earning the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 a decisive win over the Gigabyte X58 alternative. Even the 2.80GHz LGA1156 Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield processor delivered a marked lead over the faster 2.66GHz LGA1366 Intel Core i7-920 Nehalem CPU.

Text Edits were close, but gave the P55 system a 12 page per second advantage. File Encryption earned the GA-P55-UD6 system a 30% lead. Image decompression was close, but still delivered a 6MBps lead to the i7-860/P55 system.

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