3DMark06, PCMark05 and Valve Source Engine Tests
3DMark06 v1.10
This benchmark is used by many in the enthusiast crowd to compare their systems so we decided it would be good for our readers if we included numbers from our test system here as well.
PCMark05
PCMark, from the makers of the 3DMark series, tests various aspects of the system and reports the results back in a normalized score.
Valve Particle Simulation and VRAD Level Compile Tests
Last year Valve released some new benchmarks for the media to use in testing multi-core processors. These tests are based on upcoming work and additions to the Source Engine. The particle simulation code is used for effects like smoke and fire as well as interactions between these items and the end user. The VRAD level compilation test is for developers in building levels with precompiled lighting.
Thanks in large part to the CPU scores in 3DMark06, the overall result on the benchmark shows the Intel V8 platform with a big advantage over both the dual core Intel and AMD configurations. PCMark05 put the CPU processing power on a much higher level than the other systems though only 12% higher than the quad-core QX6700.
The Valve Source tests show that the Intel “V8” is a powerful system but doesn’t show the big gains we saw in Sandra. On the particle benchmark the Xeons are 19% faster than the quad-core QX6700 system while on the map compilation test the times are nearly the same. Most likely the slower memory system is slowing down the benefits that moving from 4 to 8 cores is offering us in this case.