Tonight, I decided to run some benchmarks on my old computer so that I can compare the new one once I get it built. Here are my old computer’s stats:
- AMD Athlon64 3000+ (Winchester, 90 nm, 1800 MHz, 512 KB L2 cache)
- Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard (Rev. 1, American Megatrends 1018.001 BIOS)
- 2×1 GB Dual Channel OCZ Platinum DDR3200 RAM
- Radeon x850 AGP graphics card
- 75 GB system drive / 500 GB storage drive, SATA
I ran tests of file compression, system boot time, image processing, Firefox load time, mp3 ripping, file copying, and 3Dmark05. Here are the results:
File Compression – Using 7-Zip, I created an archive of a 314 MB file. This took 5 min 40 s at an average rate of about 900 KB/s.
System Boot Time – The time it took from powering up to the windows loading screen was 39 s. From there, it took 29 s for Windows to load to the user selection screen. After logging it, it took 56 s for all the startup programs and processes to run. The grand total: 2 min 4 s.
Image Processing – To test image processing, I used the Gimp to do a Gaussian blur on a 1920×1200, 172 KB JPEG image. I then scaled the original image 400% and ran the Gaussian blur filter again. I then made a copy of the enlarged image and ran the Gaussian blur filter on the two large images simultaneously.
Gaussian Blur (1920×1000): 7 s
Scale 400%: 33 s
Gaussian Blur (7680×4800): 45 s
Gaussian Blur x 2 (7680×4800) 1 min 30 s
Interestingly, using the filter on two images simultaneously resulted in an exact doubling of the processing time. The CPU was at 100% the whole time, so clearly this is a CPU-limited function. I’ll be interested to see what the i7 chip will do for this test.
Firefox Load Time – After rebooting, Firefox took 13 s to load for the first time following a reboot.
MP3 Ripping – Ripping an audio CD (Uta Baka by Ken Harai, Disk 1) took 4 m 10 s using my DVD-ROM drive and 4 m 50 s using my DVD burner. Next, I ripped the CD using the DVD-ROM drive while playing “Portal” at the same time. This bumped the time up to 7 m 40 s.
File Copying – Copying 2.54 GB of Battlestar Galactica Season 2 from my storage drive to my system drive took 2 m 10 s. Then, when I made copies from the system drive to the system drive, it took 3 m 20 s.
3Dmark05 Lastly, I ran the free version of 3Dmark05. This gave me a 3Dmark05 score of 4474 and a CPU score of 1001.
Once I get the new computer up and running, I’ll run these tests again using the new rig and compare the results. Since my new processor has multiple cores, I’m interested in seeing the results of the the Portal/mp3 test and the 2x image processing test. Will the mp3’s rip just as fast as if I wasn’t playing portal? Will I be able to process the two images in roughly the same time as one? Copying files within the system drive should speed up since I’m getting a VelociRaptor drive, though I’m curious if there will be any improvement copying from the storage drive to the system drive (if the speed of my 500 GB drive is the limiting factor, the improvement may be small).
**Update:
Portal FPS
Normal Settings (default, 1920×1200)
Min: 37
Max: 189
Avg: 113
High Settings (AA: 4x, AF:4x, most other settings maxed, 1920×1200)
Min: 37
Max: 157
Avg: 102.66
This probably isn’t the best test since I only tested the very beginning of the game, and Portal isn’t the most taxing game on a system. Also, if I set the AA/AF above 4x, the game crashed and wouldn’t load when I restarted. Although the results for the high settings listed above aren’t bad, at those settings, my system was totally incapable of rendering portals. Possibly a major problem for a game called “Portal”. The fps dropped to 1 whenever a portal came onto the screen.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll test another game. In the comments, Naft recommended F.E.A.R.
Which version of 3DMark was it that was so dependent on processor speed to the point that if you didn’t have at least a dual-core you got crappy numbers? It may have been 05 but I could be wrong.
I would do some FPS tests on various games as well. You can get F.E.A.R. multiplayer for free and use that. That game was kind of a standard for testing rigs for a long time, and even though I’m certain your old computer will get decent numbers, turning on all the bells and whistles should still make it chug and help you appreciate the new comp. I don’t know if there’s a demo for Crysis, but that’s definitely the gold standard these days. It’s likely you wouldn’t even be able to run it on 1024 on your current setup, but the new one should crush it.
My computer really is dying. I really hope moving doesn’t cost us too much, as I’m anxious to get my S2000 and a new computer.
Updated the post. I was actually messing with FPS when your posted this
F.E.A.R. is a good suggestion. And it would be fun to see Crysis destroy my system.
you are an industrious creature john. this is quality. you have taken many steps to truly OWNING your machine.
I tested F.E.A.R. Combat today (running a server on the computer running around a map by myself)
At high settings, 1920×1200, AA:4x AF:4x
Min: 4
Max: 73
Avg: 31
On the Recommended settings, 1920×1200
Min: 25
Max: 77
Avg: 42.6