Multitasking: Scenario 1+

Scenario 1+

After completing the Scenario 1 tests, I decided to add one more application into the suite by having Outlook import an emails file into its database.  Here is the modified test step by step:

  1. Open Trillian
  2. Open Excel Sheet
  3. Open PDF file to page 15 (complicated data)
  4. Open Firefox, with three tabs, each of heavy Flash content (stored locally)
  5. Open iTunes and play 12 song playlist
  6. Start NAV virus scan on HDDs
  7. Open Outlook and start import on 335MB email file
  8. Open Razor Lame and add files to be encoded
  9. Encode MP3s and time

The window order, from bottom most viewable to top most was: Acrobat -> iTunes -> Outlook -> Norton AV -> Razor Lame.  On this test there were two applications running tasks that had a definite end, and in our results you’ll see that at the end of the MP3 encoding, the Intel system had already finished the Outlook import while the AMD system was still completing the task.

Intel Pentium D 820 2.8 GHz Dual Core Review - Processors 50

Here are our same base scores again for the standard MP3 encoding time with no other tasks running.

Intel Pentium D 820 2.8 GHz Dual Core Review - Processors 51

When we add in the Outlook importing into the mix, the picture slightly degrades for the 820, but it is still a very competitive processor for the price.  The 4400+ pulls away slightly from it, but the Intel 840 XE is still a good 15 seconds or so faster overall.

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