AMD's 785G Chipset - Revolutionary or Evolutionary?
by Gary Key on August 4, 2009 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Sorenson Squeeze 5.01
We are using Sorenson Squeeze to convert eight AVCHD videos into HD Flash videos for use on websites.
Our Intel platform holds a slight 2% advantage over the AMD systems in an application that typically favors processor core speed.
MainConcept Reference 1.61
One of our favorite video transcoding utilities is MainConcept Reference. We set our profile to iPOD HQ NTSC and then transcode a 651MB 1080P file to a iPOD friendly 34.7MB file.
We will call this one a tie and move on.
Sony Vegas Pro 9.0 x64
We transcode a 370MB 1080AVCHD file using the Mainconcept MPEG-2 1920x1080 60i, 25Mbps setting with 6-channel audio.
The G41/E6300 combination holds a 4% advantage over the 785G/x2 250 setup.
CyberLink MediaShow Espresso
We transcode a 370MB 1080AVCHD file into a HD friendly file suitable for publishing on YouTube. This program features GPU hardware accelerated decoding via ATI Stream or NVIDIA CUDA. The 785G fully supports this function and is enabled in our test routines.
The ability of the 785G to offload transcoding to the GPU allows it to complete our test 29% faster than the G41. We notice an almost 12% improvement over the 780G/790GX or when we disable hardware decoding on the 785G.
Photoshop CS4 x64
To measure performance under Photoshop CS4 x64, we turn to the Retouch Artists’ Speed Test macro only with a custom image sized at 4800x3600. The test performs basic photo editing; a few color space conversions, several layer creations, color curve adjustment, 3x image and canvas size adjustments, unsharp mask, and finally a gaussian blur performed on the entire image.
Another unusual result as Photoshop typically responds to CPU speed and memory bandwidth. The G41 configuration holds a 16% advantage over the 785G setup.
Bibble 5
We utilize Bibble Labs’ Bibble 5 v2 to convert 50 RAW image files into full size JPEG images with the program’s default settings. This program is fully multithreaded and multi-core aware.
The G41 is 9% quicker than the 785G in a program that AMD recommends for testing their processors. We have noticed in off line testing that the program responds well to improvements in cache latencies. In fact, increasing the Northbridge speed on our Athlon II x2 250 from 2GHz to 2.4GHz decreased our conversion time from 47.9 seconds to 45.6 seconds.
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MrCommunistGen - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - link
I was really curious about that section so I'm glad that I can actually view it. Thanks!fic2 - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - link
I find the choice of a 10k RPM VelociRaptor odd for either HTPC or integrated graphic system. I have my doubts that it would be the HD choice of either user profile.b15h09 - Friday, August 7, 2009 - link
VelociRaptor because it eliminates a potential bottleneck. This isn't a real world system test.Taft12 - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - link
Yes, I would expect a WD Greenpower drive or one of those new slow-spinning Seagates.Fox5 - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - link
I remember roadmaps putting the 880G launching this month, but we're just getting the 785G. The 880G seems to be the chipset worth waiting for. Virtualized 3d hardware? Yes please.fzkl - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - link
A lot of us know that when it comes to an HTPC, Intel is the worst option of the lot. To make things fair, why isn't this a 3-way roundup with the Nvidia GeForce 9300?rtallmansu - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - link
Even more odd to me is why you would compare an Intel G41 with a ICH7 and not a G45 chipset with the newer ICH10. G41 buyers are not interested in any of these performance metrics, were as someone might want to know how the G45 compares for HTPC duties in HD playback.Shaffan - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - link
Such a pity you did not test the RAID performances : RAID5 in particular. I heard the integrated RAID5 of Intel chipset is much better than the one of AMD, but I can't find a decent comparative test about this !flipmode - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - link
SB710 = no RAID 5mybook4 - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - link
Gary, you put in a lot of effort into this article, thank you! However, I found one part misleading.Most of the application benchmarks are dependent on only cpu, not gpu. It confused me that these benchmarks were in an article that compared 780G vs G41. I understand if you were trying to compare the platforms as a whole, but wouldn't that also constitute a component price match (price an amd 780g system with an equal priced G41 system then compare).
PS. I am a little sick of people saying that anything under 60fps is unplayable. Most people that frequent this site play Crysis at under 40fps.