Quote Originally Posted by SKYMTL View Post
Regarding efficiency (or lack thereof), I just want to make it clear that we do everything possible to exclude outside variables from our power consumption test.

The power supply is plugged in to a Tripp-Lite line conditioner that regulates input voltage to a constant 120V. If this isn't done, input voltage WILL impact the consumption of the system and let's be honest; no one likely lives in a house with constant live voltage.

In addition, the 3DMark test we use puts a very minimal load on the CPU. This is important since the CPU's fluctuating load patterns in most of the apps out there can really mess up results.

I am also surprised to see quite a few sites still using FurMark, etc to test power consumption. AMD admits to that program being capped by PowerTune.
But every program that will exceed a certain power will be capped on the 69xx series. So either you tested with powertune set on +20% or something else is scewed in your test.