Benchmarks: AMD's Phenom II
Published: 30 Jan 2009
Rendering, MP3, video, image handling
The quad-cores stand out in the Adobe Media Encoder CS4 test. As is frequently the case, the fastest processor in this test is Intel's Core i7 920. The Phenom II X4 940 keeps up with the quad-core 9550, but it's a different story in the iTunes 8.02 test. The Apple program uses only two CPU cores under Windows Vista, so the E8500 encodes MP3 data fastest because it has the highest clock frequency of all the CPUs on test. Under Mac OS X, iTunes does not suffer from this restriction.
In the Cinebench test, the Core 2 Duo has no chance against the quad-cores. Predictably, the E8500 records the best result in the single-CPU test because it has the highest clock speed. However, the main Cinebench rendering test uses all the CPU cores, and the Core 2 Duo just cannot keep up. The fastest chip is the Core i7 920.
The image-handling tests show the advantages that quad-core processors can offer. Again, the Core 2 Duo trails in last some way behind the field. The Phenom II X4 940 and Core 2 Quad 9550 offer broadly similar performance, with the edge just going to the Intel chip. Jalbum and Paint .NET both support multi-threading, so it's not surprising that Intel's Core i7 920 is a clear winner. That picture changes with Autopano Pro, which also supports up to eight threads — although that feature currently offers no practical advantage. On the contrary: this beta program runs slower using all eight threads than it does with just four.
Windows Vista 64-bit: seconds (shorter bars are better)
Windows Vista 64-bit: longer bars are better
Windows Vista 64-bit: seconds (shorter bars are better)
Previous
Did you find this article useful?
42 out of 45 people found this useful
