Media Performance
We will take a brief look at general media performance with our test suite for that includes Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, and Windows Movie Maker.
We utilize the widely available Retouch Artists Photoshop Speed Test for measuring platform performance in Adobe's Photoshop CS3. The benchmark applies a number of actions to a test image while we measure the total time elapsed during the active portion of the test. We set history states to 1, cache levels to 4, and CS3 was configured to make use of all available system memory. The scores reported include the full conversion process and is represented in minutes/seconds, with lower numbers providing better performance.
The results are once again interesting as we did not expect our AM2 systems to perform this well. Photoshop has favored the Intel Core 2 Duo greatly in the past and once again we are looking at a speed issue with the E6300 that allows the AM2 systems to be in the hunt.
Our next test is one recommended by Intel, but the test itself appears to be fair and results are very repeatable. This test simply measures the amount of time required to fix and optimize 103 different photos weighing in at 63MB. Time is measured in minutes and seconds, with lower times resulting in better performance:
This test not only stresses the CPU but also gives the storage systems a good workout. Our 6150 platform barely edges out the Intel platform in a test where sheer CPU speed can make up the difference in elegant design. That sounds so familiar, are we talking about the differences between Athlon 64 and P4 NetBurst or Intel Core 2 Duo and Athlon 64 X2? Either way you cut it, the 6150 once again finishes ahead of the 690G due to better storage system performance.
Next on the list is our Windows Movie Maker test that will meld our European vacation content (recorded off TV) into a newly downloadable file that can be viewed on our Xbox 360 in a pleasing 720p format. The values reported are in minutes/seconds for the conversion time, with lower numbers being better.
Our Intel platform has a significant advantage in this test with the 6150 scoring better than the 690G in a test that stresses both the CPU and storage system again. These results were interesting as previous testing with this application indicated our AM2 platform would be a little more competitive.
File Compression Performance
In order to save space on our hard drives and ensure we had another CPU crunching utility, we will be reporting our file compression results with the latest version of WinRAR that fully supports multi-treaded operations and should be of particular interest for those users with dual core or multi-processor systems. Our series of file compression tests utilizes WinRAR 3.62 to compress our test folder that contains 444 files, ten subfolders, and 602MB worth of data. All default settings are utilized in WinRAR along with our hard drive being defragmented before each test.
Our G965 platform basically zips away from our two AM2 platforms in this test that heavily stresses the CPU subsystem and at times the storage system. The Core 2 Duo has always excelled in this benchmark and once again shows its strength. We were surprised that our two AM2 platforms scored this well with the advantage going to the NVIDIA 6150 due to better storage system throughput in our opinion.
We will take a brief look at general media performance with our test suite for that includes Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, and Windows Movie Maker.
We utilize the widely available Retouch Artists Photoshop Speed Test for measuring platform performance in Adobe's Photoshop CS3. The benchmark applies a number of actions to a test image while we measure the total time elapsed during the active portion of the test. We set history states to 1, cache levels to 4, and CS3 was configured to make use of all available system memory. The scores reported include the full conversion process and is represented in minutes/seconds, with lower numbers providing better performance.
The results are once again interesting as we did not expect our AM2 systems to perform this well. Photoshop has favored the Intel Core 2 Duo greatly in the past and once again we are looking at a speed issue with the E6300 that allows the AM2 systems to be in the hunt.
Our next test is one recommended by Intel, but the test itself appears to be fair and results are very repeatable. This test simply measures the amount of time required to fix and optimize 103 different photos weighing in at 63MB. Time is measured in minutes and seconds, with lower times resulting in better performance:
This test not only stresses the CPU but also gives the storage systems a good workout. Our 6150 platform barely edges out the Intel platform in a test where sheer CPU speed can make up the difference in elegant design. That sounds so familiar, are we talking about the differences between Athlon 64 and P4 NetBurst or Intel Core 2 Duo and Athlon 64 X2? Either way you cut it, the 6150 once again finishes ahead of the 690G due to better storage system performance.
Next on the list is our Windows Movie Maker test that will meld our European vacation content (recorded off TV) into a newly downloadable file that can be viewed on our Xbox 360 in a pleasing 720p format. The values reported are in minutes/seconds for the conversion time, with lower numbers being better.
Our Intel platform has a significant advantage in this test with the 6150 scoring better than the 690G in a test that stresses both the CPU and storage system again. These results were interesting as previous testing with this application indicated our AM2 platform would be a little more competitive.
File Compression Performance
In order to save space on our hard drives and ensure we had another CPU crunching utility, we will be reporting our file compression results with the latest version of WinRAR that fully supports multi-treaded operations and should be of particular interest for those users with dual core or multi-processor systems. Our series of file compression tests utilizes WinRAR 3.62 to compress our test folder that contains 444 files, ten subfolders, and 602MB worth of data. All default settings are utilized in WinRAR along with our hard drive being defragmented before each test.
Our G965 platform basically zips away from our two AM2 platforms in this test that heavily stresses the CPU subsystem and at times the storage system. The Core 2 Duo has always excelled in this benchmark and once again shows its strength. We were surprised that our two AM2 platforms scored this well with the advantage going to the NVIDIA 6150 due to better storage system throughput in our opinion.
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Gary Key - Wednesday, March 7, 2007 - link
The board will not do 1080P over the HDMI port at this time. 720P is working fine. The mATX will be up on the 19th, provided my heart is still working by that time, have to say that testing under Vista is not a pleasant experience. ;)dmce - Friday, March 9, 2007 - link
Gary, thanks for the info. Is the lack of ability to do 1080p related to Vista or will it just not do it at this stage. Is it likely bios/driver updates will improve this?chucky2 - Thursday, March 8, 2007 - link
Man, to me it sounds like - other than having video and audio in one cable - HDMI is not the way to go.Better to have DVI w/ HDCP it sounds like...plus, the connector is more beefcake, no falling out accidentally with DVI.
Chuck
Gary Key - Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - link
The platform will no do 1080P playback at this time in a consistent matter. As stated, we normally would end up with a slide show or a blank screen. AMD has told us 1080P will be possible with a driver update, proper playback support (PowerDVD or WinDVD), and a processor along the lines of a 5200+. We received a new driver update to address video quality issues we found late in testing but 1080P was not addressed yet. I am just as anxious as everyone else to see if it will do 1080P. ;)savantu - Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - link
This has to be one of the worst review ever done at Anandtech , almost makes you think somebody was paid to do it this bad.we fully believe the majority of the performance difference lies in the chipset selection.
Is this a joke or what ? The 2.6GHz 5200+ against a 1.86GHz Core 2 in media encoding and you think it is the chipset?! Every other test you made put the E6300 in between the 3800+ and 4200+.
goinginstyle - Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - link
Have you ever run a Conroe on a VIA or 945P chipset, if you have then you know what was meant by his statement.JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - link
Try reading it in context:Nero Recode 2 performance:
AnyDVD Rip = 3-way tie more or less
Shrink = 6150 leads, G965 second, 690G last (despite 6150 and 690G using the same CPU)
Shrink/Burn = G965 first, 6150 and 690G virtually tied.
Full quote, instead of your selected text: "Of course, we are using a mid-range AM2 processor against the budget C2D part (the AMD price cuts have helped matters there, as the price difference is currently only about $35) but we fully believe the majority of the performance difference lies in the chipset selection. It is only in the shrink and burn tests that we see the Intel platform flexing its muscles...."
In other words, the difference we saw in the Shrink test indicates that the 6150 chipset is better for this task than 690G. We definitely know that the Core 2 Duo is faster at equivalent CPU prices than X2 chips, but we're looking at platforms and chipsets and not just CPUs.
UserNO - Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - link
Gawd, people, if you're going to tell us that we'll "have to play at 800x600" if we use these integrated graphics, why not test the games at 800x600 and report framerates? Find the highest (lowest) settings necessary to get a playable experience and tell us that. No one's going to run a game at 1024x768, get 15fps, and then give up; they're going to crank the settings and res down until they can play the game.It's not enough to just say "integrated graphics are unsuitable for even casual gamers, buy a discrete card" and then not quantify the difference.
Gary Key - Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - link
We tested the games at 800x600 and the results will be in our mATX roundup along with dedicated video scores.In the meantime-
800x600- HQ settings
690G 6150 G965
BF2 20.68 17.4 DNF
HL2 35.7 28.8 5.3
CoH 26.4 21.7 24.9
Calin - Wednesday, March 7, 2007 - link
I just wanted to say I'm looking forward to the mATX roundupNice article overall, thanks. And you might want to invest in some cheap Intel and AMD processors (the low-end, for $100 both), just to be able to compare them (I'm not suggesting complete testings on every processor possible)