Test System & Methodology, Benchmarks

At Techgage, we strive to make sure our results are as accurate as possible. Our testing is rigorous and time-consuming, but we feel the effort is worth it. In an attempt to leave no question unanswered, this page contains not only our testbed specifications, but also a fully-detailed look at how we conduct our testing.
If there is a bit of information that we've omitted, or you wish to offer thoughts or suggest changes, please feel free to shoot us an e-mail or post in our forums.
Test System
The table below lists the hardware for our two current machines, which remains unchanged throughout all testing, with the exception of the processor. Each CPU used for the sake of comparison is also listed here, along with the BIOS version of the motherboard used. In addition, each one of the URLs in this table can be clicked to view the respective review of that product, or if a review doesn't exist, you will be led to the product on the manufacturer's website.
Component
Core i7 Test System
Processor
Intel Core i7 Extreme 965 - Quad-Core, 3.20GHz, 1.30v
Motherboard
ASUS P6T Deluxe - X58-based, 2624 BIOS (10/23/08)
Memory
DDR3: Qimonda 3x1GB - DDR3-1066 7-7-7-20-1T, 1.56vDDR3: OCZ 3x2GB - Gold DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24-1T, 1.65v
Graphics
Palit Radeon HD 4870 512MB (Catalyst 8.9)
Audio
On-Board Audio
Storage
Intel X-25M 80GB SSD Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.11
Power Supply
SilverStone DA1200
Chassis
SilverStone TJ10 Full-Tower
Display
Gateway XHD3000 30"
Cooling
Thermalright TRUE Black 120
Et cetera
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
When preparing our testbeds for any type of performance testing, we follow these guidelines:
General Guidelines
No power-saving options are enabled in the motherboard's BIOS.
Internet is disabled.
No Virus Scanner or Firewall is installed.
The OS is kept clean; no scrap files are left in between runs.
Hard drives affected are defragged with Diskeeper 2008 prior to a fresh benchmarking run.
Machine has proper airflow and the room temperature is 80°F (27°C) or less.
Windows Vista Optimizations
User Account Control (UAC) and screen saver are disabled.
Windows Defender, Firewall, Security Center, Search, Sidebar and Updates are disabled.
Memory Configurations
Because the ultimate goal of this article is to see how much of a real-world difference faster memory avails, we are running a total of five different configurations, four being with our OCZ 6GB kit. We vary the speeds from the very low-end speed of DDR3-800 to the high-end speed of DDR3-1600. We should note that DDR3-800 speeds are not going to be common amongst triple-channel kits, but we've included results to showcase the differences nonetheless.
RAM Configurations
OCZ Gold - 3x2GB - DDR3-800 6-6-6-15-1T, 1.60v
Qimonda - 3x1GB - DDR3-1066 7-7-7-20-1T, 1.65v
OCZ Gold - 3x2GB - DDR3-1066 7-7-7-20-1T, 1.65v
OCZ Gold - 3x2GB - DDR3-1333 7-7-7-20-1T, 1.65v
OCZ Gold - 3x2GB - DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24-1T, 1.65v
Most of the same benchmarks we used in our Core i7 preview article return here, with the exception of our two games. To take the place of the games, we use 3DMark Vantage, which is more than intense enough to show us where a bottleneck may lie. For detailed explanations on the tests themselves, please refer to our Core i7 preview.
With that all said, let's jump right into a few of our real-world tests.
3D Renderers
One crowd that can appreciate a faster processor is without question, the 3D designers. But given their rendering projects can be so large, can faster memory shave minutes or even hours off of the task? Although our render jobs are nowhere near as complex as what you'd find in a professional studio, any benefits seen here should carry over even more so into larger projects. Sadly, from what we can see below, the gains are very, very minor.