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- 8 Sep 2010
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Note: I felt the "CPUs" forum was the best place for this thread, although I'm not 100% sure.
Introduction
As some may have seen over in my thread at General Hardware, tomorrow I am replacing my Phenom II 1055t @3.5 GHz (on a ASUS Crosshair IV) to an Intel 3570K on a Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H. This is due to some really annoying bottlenecking of my GTX680 in most of the games that I play. Oh and, of course, its due to the unbearable upgrade itch that just had to be scratched.
The reason I am making this "diary" is because when I have been looking for a decent summary of the sort of performance gains I can expect between these two CPUs specifically, I haven't been able to find much real hard comparison.
This thread will be updated over the next few days with all the information of games I have been benchmarking. This evening I will be putting the 1055t through it's paces and over the course of the weekend I will be putting the 3570k through the same methods to really show how much of a difference there is. I'll even include some pictures.
I hope people who stumble upon this thread in the future will find it as helpful as I would have done had I found it, and I hope you all enjoy following it's progress.
P.S. This is my first "project thread".
1055T Test System
Motherboard - ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (latest BIOS)
Processor - AMD Phenom 1055T @ 3.5GHz (all power saving features disabled)
Graphics Card - PALIT 680GTX (GPU + 125, MEM + 200. Driver 304.48)
RAM - 4x2GB Corsair XMS3 @ 1600MHz
PSU - Corsair 650W PSU
Windows 7 64bit (Latest updates)
3570K Test System
Motherboard - Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77
Processor - Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.40GHz
Graphics Card - PALIT 680GTX (GPU + 125, MEM + 200. Driver 304.48)
RAM - 4x2GB Corsair XMS3 @ 1600MHz
PSU - Corsair 650W PSU
Windows 7 64bit (Latest updates)
*FRAPS used for frame rate recording in some instances.
**All games will be tested at 1920x1080 resolution unless stated.
Heaven 3.0 Benchmark Results
1055T
3570K
TBC
Skyrim (latest version, no mods except for the Official HQ Texture pack).
This is one of the games that really made me consider making this considerable jump over to Ivybridge. It's not particularly demanding but as the results will show, my performance experience wasn't really up to scratch when you consider the GPU in use.
I know that Skyrim is capped to 60FPS, so maximum frames will never be that high. But as you will see I was still getting real frame rate drops. Skyrim doesn't have a built in benchmark so I had to use custom runs through particular portions of the game as a benchmark. The graphics settings are completely maxed out, except for AF. I used Nvidia AF 16X in the NVCP for this.
"Walk through Riverwood" (1000 AM Game Time)
This custom benchmark consisted of me walking from the Helgen side entrance to Riverwood, to halfway across the bridge at the end of town and then coming back to my starting point.
1055T System - Average 58FPS (>70% GPU Usage)
3570K System - Average 59FPS (>90% GPU Usage)
This benchmark doesn't really give much of a poor showing the 1055T system, but it's not until you reach the outskirts of town and get on to the bridge that performance on the 1055T seems to tank. As you will see...
"Look into Riverwood from the Bridge (1000 Game Time)"
This custom benchmark consisted of me standing in the middle point of the bridge outside of Riverwood and looking in to town and recording an average FPS for 60 seconds.
1055T System - Average 48FPS (>70% GPU Usage)
3570K System - Average 48FPS (85% GPU Usage)
That, in my opinion, is a pretty poor showing for a system sporting a top end GPU. It also shows that although the frame rate is struggling, the usage never goes above 68%.
The 3570K seems to have performed on that particular spot at exactly the same frame rate. Must just be a poorly coded game in places.
"Walk through Whiterun (1200 Game Time)
This custom benchmark consists of me walking from the gate into Whiterun, through the market, up the stairs, past the tree and up the stairs to Dragonsreach. Then I walk all the way back to my starting point.
1055T System - Average 58FPS (>70 GPU Usage)
3570K System - TBA
Again, this isn't really disappointing for the 1055T system. But, again there is a particular point in the benchmark that you start to see some real drops in frame rate, which you will see below. I would also comment that this whole benchmark never felt truly smooth.
Dragonsreach steps looking over town (1200 Game time)
This custom benchmark consisted of me standing in at the top of the stairs to Dragonsreach and looking out over town for 60 seconds and recording the average FPS.
1055T System - Average 37FPS (>70% GPU Usage)
3570K System- TBA
That last benchmark to me seems to show an incredibly poor frame rate from such a powerful card, and yet again the usage is never near to full utilisation. I am hoping to see better results in general from the new CPU, with hopefully close to full utilisation.
Post-3570K
So I have had a few days with the 3570K and playing a few hours of Skyrim, all I can say is: What a difference. I know I have not updated all the benchmarks yet, but the whole game just feels a whole lot smoother. There still isn't full GPU utilisation, but the frame rate is pretty much a steady 60FPS (with 8XAA). The opening sequence (unforutnately not benched on my 1055t for this diary) while rock solid on the 3570k, fluctuated badly on the 1055T.
Shogun 2: Total War (latest version, no mods)
From the day I received my 680GTX, I was never satisfied with the performance of this game on my 1055T machine. In this instance, I have used the built in benchmark tools.
DX9 CPU Benchmark
1055T System - 16.7739FPS
3570K System - 24.01FPS
That is a massive difference for such a CPU intensive benchmark, I can only see that getting better once I clock the CPU up a bit more.
Graphics Benchmark High 1080p
1055T System -60.35FPS (>68% GPU Usage)
3570K System - 70.15FPS (95-99% GPU Usage
An interesting point about this benchmark result, is that when I had my Crossfire 6870s in the same 1055T rig, I used to get 75.63FPS. It will be interesting to see what effect the new CPU will have on this result.
So we see here that my 680GTX is still behind my CF6870s. But it could be because this particular title is an AMD Optimized title. But having played through a few seasons and battles in the campaign, I can tell you this game has become a hell of a lot smoother. I can now enable all the bells and whistles, such as SSAO, HDR etc (2xAA though) and get a frame rate that sits between 50-70, which obviously drops somewhat (to about 30) once things start getting intense on the battlefield.
Graphics Benchmark 720p Balanced
1055T System - 96.3FPS (>70% GPU Usage)
3570K System - 150.675 (60-75% GPU Usage)
That result is very playable, but is ugly as sin and doesn't look right on my 1920x1080 monitor.
Again, the results aren't very impressive for the 1055T and this is the game that will really show any major differences between the two CPUs. I am really looking forward to hopefully playing this at a much smoother frame rate. When I played the game recently with the 1055T system I was getting as low as 14FPS amidst intense battles, but the usage was never getting above 70% on the GPU.
Post 3570K
So we see here that the 3570K has massively improved the frame rate for CPU intensive portions of the game, this results in Shogun 2 playing a hell of a lot smoother with the new CPU. I am playing through a campaign at the moment with all the graphics set to maximum with 2xAA and the only time things start to really drop is in the really intense battles. But even then it's only down the the mid 20s, which I think is fine for a game like this and if anything it is a massive improvement from the slideshow if the 1055T.
Batman Arkham Asylum
This is a game I have no trouble running but I thought I would bench it to show how raw high frame rate power is affected by a CPU. It will be interesting to see if the frame rate goes much higher because this benchmark regularly utilised full GPU usage.
1055T System - Min 51FPS Average 104FPS Maximum 154FPS
3570K System - TBA
So there you have results from a small sample of games. I could go completely in depth and pour into all sorts of different games, but I have started this all a bit late and need to start taking apart my rig for the new arrival tomorrow. I will aim to post the 3570K results by Saturday evening. Hopefully I will get some pictures up tomorrow. Keep an eye on the below progress report for any updates I want to share. I will also welcome any advice you want to give about what I could have done differently and whether my word format is readable etc.
Thanks for reading and I hope you will follow this little diary's progress.
Progress Report
05-07-12 2100 - Backing up all my stuff, wiping my OS and removing my current MB/CPU/HS. All the while becoming aroused at the thought of receiving new computer hardware.
06-07-12 0900 - Postively buzzing at work. Got a half day booked. DPD tracking seems to indicate I will receive my items today.
06-07-12 0940 - DPD are delivering between 1200-1300. Buzzing.
06-07-12 1555 - Installed and running. Downloading games and updates to do my benchmarks. I think I need to reapply the TIM.
Pictures of the hardware being removed. It has served me well
Pictures of new hardware being added
To follow
Conclusion
Although I am still yet to add the remaining results (which I can assure you will follow with some more pictures), I can 100% conclude that this jump to a different processor is the best upgrade I have ever done. Although I am starting to think that if I had kept my 6870s and just moved to a different processor and skipped a new GPU for a while I wouldn't have been too disappointed.
Everything just plays so much more smoothly now. I have only ever had one rig, which has had a 1055T in it for the last near on two years, and I can safely (based on my experience) say that I could never recommend any of the current AMD line-up over a decent intel CPU. I am getting smooth as silk FPS in battlefield 3 on Ultra, GTA 4 plays like a different game and even Fifa 12 feels a lot smoother.
Honestly if any of you AMD owners are umming and ahhing on the thought of making the jump, just do it. This is easily the best £350 I have ever spent.
Introduction
As some may have seen over in my thread at General Hardware, tomorrow I am replacing my Phenom II 1055t @3.5 GHz (on a ASUS Crosshair IV) to an Intel 3570K on a Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H. This is due to some really annoying bottlenecking of my GTX680 in most of the games that I play. Oh and, of course, its due to the unbearable upgrade itch that just had to be scratched.
The reason I am making this "diary" is because when I have been looking for a decent summary of the sort of performance gains I can expect between these two CPUs specifically, I haven't been able to find much real hard comparison.
This thread will be updated over the next few days with all the information of games I have been benchmarking. This evening I will be putting the 1055t through it's paces and over the course of the weekend I will be putting the 3570k through the same methods to really show how much of a difference there is. I'll even include some pictures.
I hope people who stumble upon this thread in the future will find it as helpful as I would have done had I found it, and I hope you all enjoy following it's progress.
P.S. This is my first "project thread".
1055T Test System
Motherboard - ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (latest BIOS)
Processor - AMD Phenom 1055T @ 3.5GHz (all power saving features disabled)
Graphics Card - PALIT 680GTX (GPU + 125, MEM + 200. Driver 304.48)
RAM - 4x2GB Corsair XMS3 @ 1600MHz
PSU - Corsair 650W PSU
Windows 7 64bit (Latest updates)
3570K Test System
Motherboard - Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77
Processor - Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.40GHz
Graphics Card - PALIT 680GTX (GPU + 125, MEM + 200. Driver 304.48)
RAM - 4x2GB Corsair XMS3 @ 1600MHz
PSU - Corsair 650W PSU
Windows 7 64bit (Latest updates)
*FRAPS used for frame rate recording in some instances.
**All games will be tested at 1920x1080 resolution unless stated.
Heaven 3.0 Benchmark Results
1055T
3570K
TBC
Skyrim (latest version, no mods except for the Official HQ Texture pack).
This is one of the games that really made me consider making this considerable jump over to Ivybridge. It's not particularly demanding but as the results will show, my performance experience wasn't really up to scratch when you consider the GPU in use.
I know that Skyrim is capped to 60FPS, so maximum frames will never be that high. But as you will see I was still getting real frame rate drops. Skyrim doesn't have a built in benchmark so I had to use custom runs through particular portions of the game as a benchmark. The graphics settings are completely maxed out, except for AF. I used Nvidia AF 16X in the NVCP for this.
"Walk through Riverwood" (1000 AM Game Time)
This custom benchmark consisted of me walking from the Helgen side entrance to Riverwood, to halfway across the bridge at the end of town and then coming back to my starting point.
1055T System - Average 58FPS (>70% GPU Usage)
3570K System - Average 59FPS (>90% GPU Usage)
This benchmark doesn't really give much of a poor showing the 1055T system, but it's not until you reach the outskirts of town and get on to the bridge that performance on the 1055T seems to tank. As you will see...
"Look into Riverwood from the Bridge (1000 Game Time)"
This custom benchmark consisted of me standing in the middle point of the bridge outside of Riverwood and looking in to town and recording an average FPS for 60 seconds.
1055T System - Average 48FPS (>70% GPU Usage)
3570K System - Average 48FPS (85% GPU Usage)
That, in my opinion, is a pretty poor showing for a system sporting a top end GPU. It also shows that although the frame rate is struggling, the usage never goes above 68%.
The 3570K seems to have performed on that particular spot at exactly the same frame rate. Must just be a poorly coded game in places.
"Walk through Whiterun (1200 Game Time)
This custom benchmark consists of me walking from the gate into Whiterun, through the market, up the stairs, past the tree and up the stairs to Dragonsreach. Then I walk all the way back to my starting point.
1055T System - Average 58FPS (>70 GPU Usage)
3570K System - TBA
Again, this isn't really disappointing for the 1055T system. But, again there is a particular point in the benchmark that you start to see some real drops in frame rate, which you will see below. I would also comment that this whole benchmark never felt truly smooth.
Dragonsreach steps looking over town (1200 Game time)
This custom benchmark consisted of me standing in at the top of the stairs to Dragonsreach and looking out over town for 60 seconds and recording the average FPS.
1055T System - Average 37FPS (>70% GPU Usage)
3570K System- TBA
That last benchmark to me seems to show an incredibly poor frame rate from such a powerful card, and yet again the usage is never near to full utilisation. I am hoping to see better results in general from the new CPU, with hopefully close to full utilisation.
Post-3570K
So I have had a few days with the 3570K and playing a few hours of Skyrim, all I can say is: What a difference. I know I have not updated all the benchmarks yet, but the whole game just feels a whole lot smoother. There still isn't full GPU utilisation, but the frame rate is pretty much a steady 60FPS (with 8XAA). The opening sequence (unforutnately not benched on my 1055t for this diary) while rock solid on the 3570k, fluctuated badly on the 1055T.
Shogun 2: Total War (latest version, no mods)
From the day I received my 680GTX, I was never satisfied with the performance of this game on my 1055T machine. In this instance, I have used the built in benchmark tools.
DX9 CPU Benchmark
1055T System - 16.7739FPS
3570K System - 24.01FPS
That is a massive difference for such a CPU intensive benchmark, I can only see that getting better once I clock the CPU up a bit more.
Graphics Benchmark High 1080p
1055T System -60.35FPS (>68% GPU Usage)
3570K System - 70.15FPS (95-99% GPU Usage
An interesting point about this benchmark result, is that when I had my Crossfire 6870s in the same 1055T rig, I used to get 75.63FPS. It will be interesting to see what effect the new CPU will have on this result.
So we see here that my 680GTX is still behind my CF6870s. But it could be because this particular title is an AMD Optimized title. But having played through a few seasons and battles in the campaign, I can tell you this game has become a hell of a lot smoother. I can now enable all the bells and whistles, such as SSAO, HDR etc (2xAA though) and get a frame rate that sits between 50-70, which obviously drops somewhat (to about 30) once things start getting intense on the battlefield.
Graphics Benchmark 720p Balanced
1055T System - 96.3FPS (>70% GPU Usage)
3570K System - 150.675 (60-75% GPU Usage)
That result is very playable, but is ugly as sin and doesn't look right on my 1920x1080 monitor.
Again, the results aren't very impressive for the 1055T and this is the game that will really show any major differences between the two CPUs. I am really looking forward to hopefully playing this at a much smoother frame rate. When I played the game recently with the 1055T system I was getting as low as 14FPS amidst intense battles, but the usage was never getting above 70% on the GPU.
Post 3570K
So we see here that the 3570K has massively improved the frame rate for CPU intensive portions of the game, this results in Shogun 2 playing a hell of a lot smoother with the new CPU. I am playing through a campaign at the moment with all the graphics set to maximum with 2xAA and the only time things start to really drop is in the really intense battles. But even then it's only down the the mid 20s, which I think is fine for a game like this and if anything it is a massive improvement from the slideshow if the 1055T.
Batman Arkham Asylum
This is a game I have no trouble running but I thought I would bench it to show how raw high frame rate power is affected by a CPU. It will be interesting to see if the frame rate goes much higher because this benchmark regularly utilised full GPU usage.
1055T System - Min 51FPS Average 104FPS Maximum 154FPS
3570K System - TBA
So there you have results from a small sample of games. I could go completely in depth and pour into all sorts of different games, but I have started this all a bit late and need to start taking apart my rig for the new arrival tomorrow. I will aim to post the 3570K results by Saturday evening. Hopefully I will get some pictures up tomorrow. Keep an eye on the below progress report for any updates I want to share. I will also welcome any advice you want to give about what I could have done differently and whether my word format is readable etc.
Thanks for reading and I hope you will follow this little diary's progress.
Progress Report
05-07-12 2100 - Backing up all my stuff, wiping my OS and removing my current MB/CPU/HS. All the while becoming aroused at the thought of receiving new computer hardware.
06-07-12 0900 - Postively buzzing at work. Got a half day booked. DPD tracking seems to indicate I will receive my items today.
06-07-12 0940 - DPD are delivering between 1200-1300. Buzzing.
06-07-12 1555 - Installed and running. Downloading games and updates to do my benchmarks. I think I need to reapply the TIM.
Pictures of the hardware being removed. It has served me well
Pictures of new hardware being added
To follow
Conclusion
Although I am still yet to add the remaining results (which I can assure you will follow with some more pictures), I can 100% conclude that this jump to a different processor is the best upgrade I have ever done. Although I am starting to think that if I had kept my 6870s and just moved to a different processor and skipped a new GPU for a while I wouldn't have been too disappointed.
Everything just plays so much more smoothly now. I have only ever had one rig, which has had a 1055T in it for the last near on two years, and I can safely (based on my experience) say that I could never recommend any of the current AMD line-up over a decent intel CPU. I am getting smooth as silk FPS in battlefield 3 on Ultra, GTA 4 plays like a different game and even Fifa 12 feels a lot smoother.
Honestly if any of you AMD owners are umming and ahhing on the thought of making the jump, just do it. This is easily the best £350 I have ever spent.
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