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 DP67BG (1980 BIOS)
• Motherboard (Socket LGA1156): MSI P55-GD85 (1.4 BIOS)
• Motherboard (Socket AM3): ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (1304 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: Radeon HD 6970
• Video Monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 305T Plus
• Power Supply: Seasonic X-Series 850 W

Operating System Configuration

• Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
• NTFS
• Video resolution: 2560x1600 60 Hz

Driver Versions

• AMD video driver version: Catalyst 12.0
• Intel Inf chipset driver version (Intel DP67BG): 9.2.0.1019
• Intel Inf chipset driver version (MSI P55-GD85): 9.1.2.1008
• AMD chipset driver version: 3.0.762.0

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.