Specifications
SYSMARK 2007 PREVIEW L 3D L MULTIMEDIA M
L
High scores are best.
M Low scores are best.
Bold type denotes fi rst place.
PROCESSOR GRAPHICS CHIPSET
ELECTRONIC
LEARNING
VIDEO
CREATION
OFFICE
PRODUCTIVITY
3D MODELING
OVERALL
3DMARK06
WINDOWS MEDIA
ENCODER
min:sec
PHOTOSHOP CS2
ACTION SET
min:sec
CINEBENCH 9.5 †
RESOLUTION 1,280 x 1,024
AA/AF*
Default
MAINSTREAM
Apple iMac (20-inch,
Aluminum)
Intel Core 2 Duo T7700
(2.4 GHz)
256MB A
TI Radeon HD
2600 PRO
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 3,784 1:16 0:58 745
Dell Inspiron 531
(Blu-ra
y)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual
Core 5000+ (2.6 GHz)
256MB A
TI Radeon HD
2600XT
84 104 91 102 95 4,767 1:26 1:08 721
Gateway DX440X
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
(2.4 GHz)
512MB nVidia GeForce
8500GT
123 135 152 142 138 2,442 0:59 0:44 1,262
HP Pavilion m8100y
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
(2.4 GHz)
512MB nVidia GeForce
8500GT
127 129 126 144 131 2,409 0:59 0:44 1,266
Sony VAIO VGC-LT19U
Intel Core 2 Duo T7500
(2.2 GHz)
256MB (Integrated) nVidia
GeForce 8400M GT
92 90 131 124 108 2,604 1:22 0:59 672
Velocity Micro
Pr
oMagix
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
(2.4 GHz @ 3.24 GHz)
320MB nVidia GeForce
8800GT
S (SLI)
179 195 217 187 194 15,338 0:47 0:37 1,749
BUDGET
Acer Aspire T180
AMD Athlon 64 3800+
(2.4 GHz)
256MB (integra
ted) nVidia
GeForce 6100
48 36 56 77 52 217 2:45 5:21 5:21
Compaq Presario
SR5130NX
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
(2.0 GHz)
128MB (integrated) nVidia
GeForce 6150SE
55 45 53 84 58 247 1:48 4:37 4:37
Dell Inspiron 531s
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+
(2.11 GHz)
256MB ATI Radeon HD
2400
76
52 82
86
73
1,222
1:44 2:14 2:14
eMachines T5234
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+
(2.1 GHz)
128MB (integrated) nVidia
GeForce 6150SE
56 49 58 85 60 265 1:51 4:59 4:59
Systemax Venture E21
Intel Core 2 Duo E2160
(1.8 GHz)
224MB (integrated) Intel
GMA 950
70
80 83 86 80
232
1:41 1:08 1:08
RED denotes Editors' Choice. * Anti-aliasin
g
/anisotro
p
ic fi lterin
g
. N/A—Not a
pp
licable: The
p
roduct could not com
p
lete the test.
†
On Cinebench 9.5 hi
g
h scores are best.
Whether they’re PCs under $500, mainstream systems, or
obscenely monstrous gaming machines that cost as much as a
car, the newest desktops share some common themes: dual- and
quad-core processors, discrete dual graphics cards, and beefed-
up memory. Although the performance of the budget and main-
stream systems was pretty much what we expected, things were
a little more complicated with the gaming rigs.
In the budget desktop category, it’s easy to see why the
performance leaders are the Dell Inspiron 531s and the Systemax
Venture E21. Both have dual-core processors and 2GB of RAM.
The other systems came with 1GB of memory, which hurt their
Adobe Photoshop scores. Notably, the Acer Aspire T180 we
tested had a single-core Athlon 3800+, so though that system
had the highest clock speed here, it was the worst performer.
(Think of it as two slower people performing a shared task faster
than one quick person.) The Venture E21 beat out the Inspiron
531s on Photoshop partly because of its Intel Pentium E2160
processor: Photoshop has Intel-based optimizations that make
Intel CPUs a better choice for photo editing.
With the mainstream systems, we saw that more horsepower
means better performance. The Velocity Micro ProMagix, with
its overclocked Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor (3.24 GHz,
up from the stock 2.4 GHz) and two nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS
graphics cards, ran away with wins across the gamut of bench-
mark tests. On 3DMark06, it scored 15,000 points when the
others were all in the 2,400-to-4,700 range. The other systems
aren’t too shabby, though, if 3D gaming isn’t your main concern.
The Gateway DX440X and HP Pavilion m8100y both use a stock-
clocked version of the Q6600 quad-core processor, and both
have single GeForce 8500GT graphics cards. The DX440X and
m8100y are excellent-performing multimedia systems. You just
have to decide if the HP’s extra features—such as HD DVD/Blu-
ray and the removable drive—are worth the extra expense.
The two all-in-one PCs, the Apple iMac (20-inch, Aluminum)
and the Sony VAIO VGC-LT19U, both use notebook-class compo-
nents to help with power and heat issues, but both are still com-
petitive. You don’t pay (too much) in performance for their sleek
bodies, which is a vast improvement over notebook- component-
based desktops of the past (Compaq iPaq PC, anyone?).
Things are less clear-cut on the high-end systems. Five out
of our seven gaming PCs placed fi rst on at least one of the
benchmark tests, including the various subsets in SYSmark 2007
Preview. It is perhaps notable that the Editors’ Choice HP Black-
bird 002 did not place fi rst on any of those tests, though it was
within a few percentage points of the winner or slower by only
a couple of seconds on many of them.
The 3D tests were dominated by systems running dual-card
nVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra SLI graphics (specifi cally, the Over-
drive PC Core 2.SLI and Falcon NW Mach V). The dual-card ATI
Radeon HD 2900XT Crossfi re graphics in the ABS Ultimate X
Magnum and HP Blackbird 002 were smooth and stutter-free,
but the 8800 Ultra SLI systems won the races. Interestingly, K
Desktop Performance: What the Numbers Mean
MAINSTREAM AND BUDGET TESTS
NOVEMBER 6, 2007 PC MAGAZINE 73