ABS Ultimate X9: Core 2 Extreme Hits a Speed Bump
by Jarred Walton on August 18, 2006 1:35 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Standard Application Benchmarks
We'll begin with a look at typical application performance. Results from PCMark05, 3DMark06, and Cinebench 9.5 were collected. As mentioned already, the higher clock speed of the ABS system should result in higher performance, particularly in situations where we are CPU limited. Those of you wondering how a 3.5 GHz Core 2 processor performs need look no further.
The results in 3DMark06 aren't particularly meaningful, as none of the other systems were tested with a CrossFire setup. Given that we consider 3DMark to be a synthetic GPU performance test, we're not too concerned with the numbers anyway. One thing that you can see with 3DMark06 is that we are almost completely GPU limited, gaining only 6% more performance with a 32 %CPU clock speed increase. We will see if that same pattern holds true for actual games on the coming pages.
Performance results in PCMark05 are also slightly skewed by the CrossFire graphics configuration, not to mention the use of two Raptor drives in RAID 0. However, we feel these results are more real world, and the simple fact of the matter is that faster hard drives, GPUs, and processors can certainly improve the overall system performance to the point where it is noticeable by the end user. Increases in CPU speed come with a roughly 2-to-1 improvement in PCMark05 scores. The 20% OC is 11% faster than the stock X6800, and the X6800 is 6% faster than the E6700 while being clocked 10% higher.
Closing up with Cinebench 9.5, we have an application that scales almost linearly with CPU clock speed. If your typical usage scenario consists of a lot of video encoding or 3D rendering, faster processors are extremely helpful, and that's what we see here. Cinebench also shows the advantage of multicore systems, improving rendering performance by over 85% when moving from a single core to dual cores. Unfortunately, not all commonly used tasks benefit that much from multiple processor cores, but heavy multitasking will certainly be faster.
We already knew that the Core 2 Extreme was fast, and overclocking it just makes it that much faster. Many commonly used tasks will benefit, particularly CPU-intensive tasks. Games are often considered CPU-intensive in nature, of course, so let's see what happens when we put the X1900 cards to good use.
We'll begin with a look at typical application performance. Results from PCMark05, 3DMark06, and Cinebench 9.5 were collected. As mentioned already, the higher clock speed of the ABS system should result in higher performance, particularly in situations where we are CPU limited. Those of you wondering how a 3.5 GHz Core 2 processor performs need look no further.
Performance results in PCMark05 are also slightly skewed by the CrossFire graphics configuration, not to mention the use of two Raptor drives in RAID 0. However, we feel these results are more real world, and the simple fact of the matter is that faster hard drives, GPUs, and processors can certainly improve the overall system performance to the point where it is noticeable by the end user. Increases in CPU speed come with a roughly 2-to-1 improvement in PCMark05 scores. The 20% OC is 11% faster than the stock X6800, and the X6800 is 6% faster than the E6700 while being clocked 10% higher.
Closing up with Cinebench 9.5, we have an application that scales almost linearly with CPU clock speed. If your typical usage scenario consists of a lot of video encoding or 3D rendering, faster processors are extremely helpful, and that's what we see here. Cinebench also shows the advantage of multicore systems, improving rendering performance by over 85% when moving from a single core to dual cores. Unfortunately, not all commonly used tasks benefit that much from multiple processor cores, but heavy multitasking will certainly be faster.
We already knew that the Core 2 Extreme was fast, and overclocking it just makes it that much faster. Many commonly used tasks will benefit, particularly CPU-intensive tasks. Games are often considered CPU-intensive in nature, of course, so let's see what happens when we put the X1900 cards to good use.
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JarredWalton - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
As I pointed out on page 2, the price charged by ABS really isn't bad. I mean, $300 extra to build a super high-end setup, relative to what you'd pay at Newegg? That's not to say I think buying ultra-high-end isn't a bit crazy anyway, but getting all the watercooling and such installed isn't a 30 minute task. Anyway, you can always build a better PC for less money on your own, but you also then are fully responsible for supporting that PC if anything goes wrong. I'm fine with that, most of the people posting are fine with that, but there are a lot of people out there that would rather pay someone else to do the work. I've charged people $200 or so in the past to build a moderate system, and that's probably less than I would charge now.plewis00 - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
Does anyone else think it's absolutely criminal to spend that amount of money on a system which would then turn out not to be 100% stable? In fact, any system which isn't 100% stable out of the box (unless by some freak one-off accident) I would consider a failure, like this one.DigitalFreak - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
If you're going to spend that much on a system, you should be dealing with Alienware, VoodooPC, etc. This ABS system appears to be junk.BTW, you guys should take a page from Hardocp on how you conduct your system reviews.
rjm55 - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
-H- has turned into a joke in the mind of any real enthusiast. Stupid reviews like the Core 2 Duo launch "proving" AMD outperforms Conroe are posted, and then any one who questions his majesty is banned from making comments. You end up with King Kyle and his adoring "yes massah!" loyalists around his feet. Every REAL enthusiast I know has been banned from -H- at least once for asking questions - it's almost become the red badge of courage to be banned form -H-. Compare that to AT where hard questions and comments always stay up, are encouraged, and actually debated by Editors.Every one knows -H- only rewards Editors Choices to whoever bought his last truck. His recent Editors Choice to the ECS KA3 MVP has everyone I know rolling on the floor laughing. You start with the idea you need to give an Editors Choice to ECS. You run benchmarks that are meaningless and very few, that you know will "prove" the ECS was a great board. You ignore the fact this is the AM2 board that is the WORST overclocker anyone has ever tested - and mention quickly it doesn't even have the means to adjust CAS latency and runs Corsair 1066 at 800 at CAS 5 timings AT BEST (every other AM2 board can run it at 3-3-3). You can bet the award was payment for the new truck ECS bought this year. Based on the fact -H- has recently moved from giving anything Abit an Editors Choice to now trashing Abit, so it's a pretty safe bet Abit isn't buying the trucks any more.
You don't have to believe what everyone who tells you about -H-. Just go to -H- and ask a hard question about test methods or how a conclusion was reached. You'll be banned so fast it makes your head swim. Hitler also surrounded himself with yes men, as apparently do many other Texans who avoid reality.
JarredWalton - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
Careful! We might ban you from our forums for turning on white text! ;)rjm55 - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
has turned into a joke in the mind of any real enthusiast. Stupid reviews like the Core 2 Duo launch "proving" AMD outperforms Conroe are posted, and then any one who questions his majesty is banned from making comments. You end up with King Kyle and his adoring "yes massah!" loyalists around his feet. Every REAL enthusiast I know has been banned from {H] at least once for asking questions - it's almost become the red badge of courage to be banned form . Compare that to AT where hard questions and comments always stay up, are encouraged, and actually debated by Editors.Every one knows only rewards Editors Choices to whoever bought his last truck. His recent Editors Choice to the ECS KA3 MVP has everyone I know rolling on the floor laughing. You start with the idea you need to give an Editors Choice to ECS. You run benchmarks that are meaningless and very few, that you know will "prove" the ECS was a great board. You ignore the fact this is the AM2 board that is the WORST overclocker anyone has ever tested - and mention quickly it doesn't even have the means to adjust CAS latency and runs Corsair 1066 at 800 at CAS 5 timings AT BEST (every other AM2 board can run it at 3-3-3). You can bet the award was payment for the new truck ECS bought this year. Based on the fact has recently moved from giving anything Abit an Editors Choice to now trashing Abit, it's a pretty safe bet Abit isn't buying the trucks any more.
You don't have to believe what everyone who tells you about . Just go to and ask a hard question about test methods or how a conclusion was reached. You'll be banned so fast it makes your head swim. Hitler also surrounded himself with yes men, as apparently do many other Texans who avoid reality.
Kalessian - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
whoa, how did you manage to break the comments system?JarredWalton - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
Urg... just to recap, don't post the {H} abbreviation with brackets instead of braces. You know how {B} and {I} do bold and italic? {H} does highlighting, which in this case means white text. We should probably disable that feature, though it does make things somewhat entertaining. ;)
rjm55 - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
What a f$#&ing joke!! has turned into a joke in the mind of any real enthusiast. Stupid reviews like the Core 2 Duo launch "proving" AMD outperforms Conroe are posted, and then any one who questions his majesty is banned from making comments. You end up with King Kyle and his adoring "yes massah!" loyalists around his feet. Every REAL enthusiast I know has been banned from {H] at least once for asking questions - it's almost become the red badge of courage to be banned form . Compare that to AT where hard questions and comments always stay up, are encouraged, and actually debated by Editors.Every one knows only rewards Editors Choices to whoever bought his last truck. His recent Editors Choice to the ECS KA3 MVP has everyone I know rolling on the floor laughing. You start with the idea you need to give an Editors Choice to ECS. You run benchmarks that are meaningless and very few, that you know will "prove" the ECS was a great board. You ignore the fact this is the AM2 board that is the WORST overclocker anyone has ever tested - and mention quickly it doesn't even have the means to adjust CAS latency and runs Corsair 1066 at 800 at CAS 5 timings AT BEST (every other AM2 board can run it at 3-3-3). You can bet the award was payment for the new truck ECS bought this year. Based on the fact has recently moved from giving anything Abit an Editors Choice to now trashing Abit, it's a pretty safe bet Abit isn't buying the trucks any more.
You don't have to believe what everyone who tells you about . Just go to and ask a hard question about test methods or how a conclusion was reached. You'll be banned so fast it makes your head swim. Hitler also surrounded himself with yes men, as apparently do many other Texans who avoid reality.
rjm55 - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
has turned into a joke in the mind of any real enthusiast. Stupid reviews like the Core 2 Duo launch "proving" AMD outperforms Conroe are posted, and then any one who questions his majesty is banned from making comments. You end up with King Kyle and his adoring "yes massah!" loyalists around his feet. Every REAL enthusiast I know has been banned from {H] at least once for asking questions - it's almost become the red badge of courage to be banned form . Compare that to AT where hard questions and comments always stay up, are encouraged, and actually debated by Editors.Every one knows only rewards Editors Choices to whoever bought his last truck. His recent Editors Choice to the ECS KA3 MVP has everyone I know rolling on the floor laughing. You start with the idea you need to give an Editors Choice to ECS. You run benchmarks that are meaningless and very few, that you know will "prove" the ECS was a great board. You ignore the fact this is the AM2 board that is the WORST overclocker anyone has ever tested - and mention quickly it doesn't even have the means to adjust CAS latency and runs Corsair 1066 at 800 at CAS 5 timings AT BEST (every other AM2 board can run it at 3-3-3). You can bet the award was payment for the new truck ECS bought this year. Based on the fact has recently moved from giving anything Abit an Editors Choice to now trashing Abit, it's a pretty safe bet Abit isn't buying the trucks any more.
You don't have to believe what everyone who tells you about . Just go to and ask a hard question about test methods or how a conclusion was reached. You'll be banned so fast it makes your head swim. Hitler also surrounded himself with yes men, as apparently do many other Texans who avoid reality.