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LOSTCIRCUITS

SHORTCUTS:
The Bug that Wasn't
-50 Series / B3 Silicon
Test Configurations
Memory Subsystem
Power Consumption
TrueSpace and Power Efficiency
Cinebench
DVD-Shrink, MainConcept
VirtualDub/DivX
3DMark'06
World In Conflict
Crysis
F.E.A.R.
UnrealTournament3
Overclocking - The Final Analysis

Give Us Some Feedback on this Review

 AMD's Phenom X4 9850 - Silicon Revision B3
(Author: Michael Schuette, April 6, 2008)

Test Configuration

"Spider" Platform:
  • ASUS M3A32-MVP (0603 BIOS)
  • AMD Phenom 9850, 9900, 9600
  • 2 x 1 GB OCZ PC2-7200 Dual Channel Platinum XTC modules
  • OCZ PowerStream 520ADJ
  • All benchmarks run at 1066 MHz DRAM frequency ++
  • DRAM Auto Timing
  • DRAM Controllers set to "unganged mode"
  • AOD "red"
P35 Platform
  • ASUS P5K3 (803 BIOS)
  • Intel "Yorkfield" QX9650 )*, Intel Yorkfield QX9770 )**
  • 2 x 1 GB OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Platinum Dual Channel
  • 1333 MHz 6-5-5-18 latency setting
  • 1600 MHz 8-8-8-27 latency setting
  • OCZ PowerStream 600ADJ PSU
"AM2" Platform:
  • ASUS M2R32 MVP, Sapphire PC-AM2RD580, Foxconn C51XEM2AA
  • AMD Athlon64 "ADO" 4800+ (G stepping, 65nm),**
  • AMD Athlon64 "ADO" 4600+ (F stepping, 90nm) **
  • AMD Athlon64 "ADD" 3800+ (F stepping, 90nm),
  • AMD Athlon64 "ADA" FX62 (F stepping, 90nm),
  • 2 x 1 GB OCZ PC2-6400 EL Dual Channel Platinum XTC modules
  • OCZ PowerStream 520ADJ
"975X" Platform:
  • Intel D975XBX2 mainboard
  • Intel "Conroe" Core 2 Extreme X6800, Core 2 Duo E6700,
  • Intel Pentium4 LGA 775 955 (Presler), 840 Extreme Edition, 840D, 820D
  • 2 x 1024 MB OCZ PC2 6400 DDR2 modules
  • OCZ PowerStream 520ADJ
SkullTrail Extreme Platform:
  • Intel SkullTrail Extreme
  • 2 x Intel Xeon X9775
  • 4 x 1 GB Samsung DDR2-667 FB-DIMMs+
  • PC Power and Cooling Inc. Turbo Cool 1000 W PSU
"V8" Platform:
  • Intel S5000XVN
  • 2 x Intel Xeon X5365 (3.0 GHz)
  • 4 x 1 GB Samsung DDR2-667 FB-DIMMs
  • CoolerMaster Real Power Pro 850W PSU
Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista Ultimate Ed.32-bit
nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX
Forceware 169.13 )***
Windows XP
2 x ASUS Xtreme n7800 GT in SLI configuration; Forceware 85.96 drivers (modified)
Windows Vista Ultimate Ed. 64-bit
nVidia Quadro FX1400
Forceware 100.65 (V8)
2 x nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX
Forceware 169.13, SLI enabled (SkullTrail))

Maxtor Maxline3 250GB SATA HDD, Seagate SeaDisc 100GB USB
 :

+ Four 667 MHz DDR2 FBDIMMs gave better performance than two DDR800 FBDIMM modules, therefore, all benchmarks shown were run in the four-FBDIMM configuration with both branches and channels filled up.

++ Since it turned out that the "green" AOD setting was the least stable OverDrive mode with frequent crashes, whereas there were no problems in "red" mode, all benchmarks were run in "red" mode.

)* For a direct comparison we ran all available LGA 775 processors on the ASUS P5K3 in selected benchmarks such as Cinebench10 and VirtualDub/DivX, World In Conflict, Unreal Tournment3, Crysis

)** The QX9770 was run at 8 x 400 MHz with DDR3 1600 at 8-8-8 latency settings

** AMD uses the same model numbers for different revisions. To allow a better distinction between the processors shown, we use the * to flag the 65 nm G-stepping in the relevant graphs. In addition, we are labeling the 65 nm CPU running at 2.4 GHz with a memory frequency of 800 MHz as 4600* for a direct apples to apples comparison to the 4600+

Benchmark Overview

Power Measurements

Looking at system power consumption is interesting to a certain degree, however, for all practical purposes we are more interested in the isolated CPU power consumption. To estimate the latter, we used the same power measurement setup as in previous reports. Briefly, we used a Fluke 80i-410 AC/DC current probe in combination with a Wavetek Meterman 30XR multimeter to measure current through the isolated +12V supply lines feeding into the CPU VRM. To increase granularity of the measurements, we ran the supply lines in a triple loop through the clamp. The clamp itself was calibrated using a BK Precision model 1692, 30V 40 A DC power supply. Since there is a temperature dependency of the probe, we monitored the zero-current offset at the beginning of each measurement as well as at the end of each run. If the values drifted we retook the measurements. Despite these precautions there are possible deviations of the read-out from the real current, however, these errors mostly affect the lower (processor idle) measurements. We estimate that the errors should not be more than 10% at the lower end of the data and less than 5% in the mid and higher data range. Moreover, since the same procedures were applied to all processors tested, there may be an offset in the absolute numbers, however, the relation of the individual cores to each other with respect to power consumption should be fairly accurate.

In addition to the method outlined above, we used a modified PSU to run the 12V line directly through the Wavetek Meterman and read out the current. Both methods gave identical results.

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