During our benchmarking sessions we used the configuration listed below. Between our benchmarking sessions the only variable device was the CPU being tested and the motherboard, which had to be replaced to match the different CPU sockets.

Hardware Configuration

• Motherboard (Socket LGA1155): Intel DH67BL (0082 BIOS)
• Motherboard (Socket LGA1156): Intel DH55TC (0040 BIOS)
• Motherboard (Socket AM3): ASRock 880GXH/USB3 (1.20 BIOS)
• CPU Cooler: Intel/AMD stock
• Memory: 4 GB DDR3-1333, two G.Skill F3-10666CL7T memory modules
• Hard Disk Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB (WD1001FALS, SATA-300, 7,200 rpm, 32 MB buffer)
• Video Card: GeForce GT 430 (used on some tests only)
• Video Monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 932BW
• Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream 400 W

Operating System Configuration

• Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
• NTFS
• Video resolution: 1440x900 60 Hz

Driver Versions

• NVIDIA video driver version: 260.99
• Intel video driver version (Core i5-2500K): 8.15.10.2266
• Intel video driver version (Core i5-661): 15.17.10.2189
• AMD video driver version: 8.71
• Intel Inf chipset driver version (Intel DH67BL): 9.2.0.1019
• Intel Inf chipset driver version (Intel DH55TC): 9.1.2.1008
• AMD chipset driver version: 8.631

Software Used

• PCMark Vantage Professional 1.0.2
• VirtualDub 1.9.5 + MPEG-2 Plugin 3.1 + DivX 6.9.2
• Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended + GamingHeaven Photoshop Benchmark V3
• Adobe After Effects CS5
• WinZip 15.0
• iTunes 10
• Cinebench 11.5
• Call of Duty 4 – Patch 1.7
• Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
• Far Cry 2 – Patch 1.03
• Lost Planet 2
• 3DMark 11 1.0.1.0

Error Margin

We adopted a 3% error margin. Thus, differences below 3% cannot be considered relevant. In other words, products with a performance difference below 3% should be considered as having similar performance.