Face to face, clock for clock: Kentsfield vs. Agena (Deneb & Yorkfield soon)

[PetNorth]

Updated 01-17-2009 with Deneb results, and added Blender and TMPGEnc

Hi all!

These holidays, I've had some time to test my two main systems in a clock for clock comparation (Q6600 vs 9850 @2400). I’ve run a very complete and balanced benchmark suite, imo (only real world apps, without synthetic crap). I'll buy Deneb and Yorkfield to upgrade my systems as soon as possible. The first one will be Deneb, cause Yorkfield I want, 9650, is too expensive yet. Anyways, to open the race, I've tested Agena vs Kentsfield (I'll add results from Yorkfield and Deneb in the future).

These are the basic hardware parts:

Intel rig
----------
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2400mhz
P5B Deluxe
4GB DDR2-800 4-4-4-12
X1650 Pro
Samsung 500Gb

AMD rig
----------
Phenom X4 9850 @2400mhz
Phenom II X4 940 @2400mhz
M3A79-T Deluxe
4GB DDR2-800 4-4-4-12
HD 2600 Pro
Samsung 500Gb

Basic software:

Windows Vista SP1 x64 (Superfetch service, disabled). CoreAVC 1.7.0 decoder for H264 stuff; MPC - MPEG-2 Video Decoder (Gabest) for MPEG2 stuff; AviSynth 2.5.7.

The benchmark suite is as follows:

1) Audio Encoding:

- dBpoweramp Music Converter R13.1, wav file (Pink Floyd classic Shine on you Crazy Diamond parts 1-5 previously extracted from CD), to:
aac (Nero encoder) 256 Kbps CBR
mp3 (Lame 3.98) 256 Kbps CBR High Quality
wma (WMA 10 Pro) 256 Kbps CBR
- iTunes v8.0.2, wav file (Pink Floyd classic Shine on you Crazy Diamond parts 1-5 previously extracted from CD), to:
aac 256 Kbps CBR
mp3 256 Kbps CBR
Apple Lossless, Automatic

2) Archiving:

- 7-Zip v4.60 x64, built in bench.
- WinRAR v3.80, built in bench.

3) Image processing:

- Paint.NET v3.36 x64, PdnBench v3.20, it's the bench from the Paint.NET developers. http://paintdotnet.forumer.com/viewt...p?f=16&t=21669
- Photoshop CS4 x64, Retouch Artists Speed Test http://retouchartists.com/pages/speedtest.html

4) Scientific:

- Mathematica v7.0 x64, MMA7.0-Test_parallel, the test used for ages to measure Mathematica perfomance. http://www2.staff.fh-vorarlberg.ac.at/~ku/karl/mma.html

5) Rendering:

- 3ds Max 2009 SP1 x64 & V-Ray v1.50.SP2 x64, cornelltestnew.max scene, the bench scene from ChaosGroup Forum (the V-Ray developers). http://www.chaosgroup.com/forums/vbu...ad.php?t=30937
- Blender 2.48a x64.
The benchmarking scene from Blender Community (grass_tutorial.blend) http://www.blendernation.com/2006/06...-render-times/ and Blender Forum link http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=69557
And Blender Render Benchmark v0.2 (test.blend) http://www.blendernation.com/2007/03...benchmark-v02/ and author link http://www.eofw.org/bench/
- Cinebench R10 x64, to measuse Cinema 4D perfomance.
- Maxwell Render v1.7.1 x64, sculpture.mxs scene, the benchwell scene to measure Maxwell perfomance. http://www.benchwell.com/
- Maya 2009 x64 & MentalRay, Benchmark_Maya.mb scene from Zoo Render, another classic scene to measure Maya perfomance. http://www.zoorender.com/

6) Video encoding:

- Auto Gordian Knot v2.50a. Unforgiven DVD to DivX 6.8.5 and to XviD 1.2.1 (2CD, all settings Auto). http://www.autogk.me.uk/index.php
- TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress v4.6.2.266.
1080p HD trailer (Behind the Enemy Lines MPEG2, extracted from The Transporter Blu-Ray) to SD mp4, MPEG4 AVC, 848x480, 3.000kb/s, Audio AAC 160kbps
1080p HD trailer (Die Hard 4 H264 extracted from Master and Commander Blu-Ray) to SD WMV, WM9 Advanced Profle, 848x480, 3.000kb/s, Audio 160kbps.
- Windows Media Encoder 9 x64, RWLabs_WME_test, a conversion from a 1080p HD Windows Media file to a 720p HD Windows Media file. http://www.rwlabs.com/category.php?page=wme
- x264_Benchmark_HD_v2.0, updated to x264 r1069. I've updated the x264 codec because the two builds included are really old (eigh months old the newer). So, I've updated it to x264 r1069, one of the latest builds. http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=520 and the updated files here http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=293

7) Video editing:

- Premiere Pro CS4. A project with two 1080p HD trailers (Behind the Enemy Lines MPEG2, extracted from The Transporter Blu-Ray; and Die Hard 4 trailer H264 from Master and Commander Blu-Ray), exported to:
mp4 720p, MainConcept H264 Codec, HDTV 720p 23.976 High Quality preset.
avi 720p, XviD v1.2.1 Codec, HDTV profile, 5000Kbps. No audio.

- Vegas Pro v8.0c. A project with a 1080p HD trailer (Behind the Enemy Lines MPEG2, extracted from The Transporter Blu-Ray, because Die Hard trailer isn't recognized in Vegas), exported to:
mp4 720p, MainConcept AVC Codec, Main Profile, 5000Kbps. No audio.
avi 720p, XviD v1.2.1 Codec, HDTV profile, 5000Kbps. No audio.



All tests are easily reproducible by anyone.


Test results (screenshots):


dBpoweramp Music Converter AAC



dBpoweramp Music Converter MP3



dBpoweramp Music Converter WMA



iTunes (Screenshots aren’t posible. Bench is measured manually)

7-Zip



WinRAR



Paint.NET



Photoshop (Screenshot isn’t posible. Bench is measured manually)

Mathematica



3ds Max



Blender





Cinebench



Maxwell



Maya



Auto Gordian Knot & DivX



Auto Gordian Knot & XviD



TMPGEnc H264



TMPGEnc WM9 Advanced Profile



Windows Media Encoder HD



x264 HD



Premiere Pro H264 HD



Premiere Pro XviD HD



Vegas Pro H264 HD



Vegas Pro XviD HD




And finally, the summary




Thats all for now! Personally, I've confirmed with these tests what I suspected in my daily experience with these systems: a very similar perf clock for clock, except some area, such as image processing or some audio app, specially iTunes. Well, let's wait for the next additions… stay tuned

Updated 01-17-2009 with Deneb results, and added Blender and TMPGEnc

OK, Deneb results added. Well, clock for clock, Deneb is ~5% average faster than Agena; and ~1.5-2% average faster than Kentsfield. I hope to add Yorkfield results soon (when 9650 price drop).

[Kai Robinson]

Nice set of benches there - very balanced specs

[dan7777]

and the winner is q6600 lol should be i would have thought nice work man

[rk7p5]

Good job.

[systemviper]

Great Work, love to see real world tests.

thanks must have taken awhile, TOP NOTCH!


How about overclocking, how easy will the Q6600 OC vers Phenom X4 9850 since not to many people run plain jane?

[Zucker2k]

Also, what performance level is Q6600?

[PetNorth]

Thanks guys!

Q6600 overclocks better than 9850 (or 9950) no doubt. We aren't talking about a lot more, noticiable though. I would say ~300mhz more average.

[Serra]

Nice compare! Real-world apps are where it's at, not synthetics.

[clo007]

Very well done test. Thanks for taking the time and posting it here.

[Lightman]

I just found this comparison!
Brilliant job PetNorth!!

I'm mainly interested in 3D Render/modeling and of course game performance (but the latter is more GFX card limited than anything else once your at high enough CPU speed).

Can't wait for your Deneb tests. It would be nice to set Phenom II @2.4GHz NB 2.0GHz and ran same set of tests on it.

From other tests I've seen comparing Ph I versus Ph II improvement is greater in 64bit apps/OS. For example CB10 x32 is just marginally faster on PhII at the same clock where x64 difference is quite large.

[PetNorth]

Thanks guys again. I'm glad you enjoy it :-)

Yep Lightman, my idea is to include Phenom II (and York) to the same clock than Kentsfield and Agena, 2.4

[XS Janus]

Can't wait to see the Deneb vs York results!
Please don't forget us when you get around to test them.

Rarely have i seen benches so well organized and displayed. Especially the final results table, thanks!

[PetNorth]

Hi guys! I've included Deneb results!

[Lightman]

I like new, bigger table very much

Are Ph II test ran with NB @2GHz or 1.8GHz??

[PetNorth]

1.8 just like default. I didn't want to change default values. But unfortunately it won't happen with York @2.4. It will have a little higher FSB than default... 343x7. Anyways, I think it will not be relevant from a perf point of view.

[XS Janus]

Great Thanks!!


Now go outside and borrow a yorkie so we can end this debate for all times and use your tables for reference!!

[PetNorth]

LOL

9650 is too expensive yet

[BrowncoatGR]

Thanks for this comparison m8.

[duploxxx]

LOL

9650 is too expensive yet

really nice compare

problem of comparing 9550-9650 is that they have 12mb cache while all new yorks are with 4-6mb