Phenom II X3 720BE & CrossFire X Performance - Does it Compete?
by Gary Key on March 28, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Call of Duty: World at War
While not our favorite Call of Duty game, World at War certainly improves upon the graphics quality of previous versions. We play through the first few minutes of the Semper FI level by following a repeatable course and capture our performance results with FRAPS. We set the various graphics and texture options to their highest settings with AA at 2x and AF at 8x.
This game is not particularly hard on either the GPU or CPU, but we do hit a hard cap at 94fps. At 1680x1050 the Phenom II X3 720BE (henceforth, 720BE) is around 4% slower in average frame rates than the X4 940 in single card and CrossFire X mode due to a 200MHz clock speed advantage in this game. When overclocked, the 720BE equals the X4 940, although both trail the Intel platforms by 3% in average frame rates and 18% in minimum frame rates.
Adding a second card for CrossFire operation improves average frame rates by 11%, but minimum frame rates decrease 14% for the 720BE. Overclocking the 720BE resulted in a 6% improvement in average frame rates and 35% in minimum frame rates in CrossFire performance.
We have roughly the same performance results at 1920x1200 when comparing the platforms. The Phenom II X3 720BE is competitive with the Intel platforms and X4 940 in single card and CrossFire operation, though minimum frame rates in CrossFire mode trail the other solutions up to 17%. Once we overclock the CPUs, the minimum frame rate is about 15% lower on the Phenom II processors compared to the Intel products.
Installing a second card for CrossFire operation improves average frame rates by 25% and minimum frame rates increase 5% for the 720BE. Overclocking the 720BE resulted in a 7% improvement in average frame rates and 37% in minimum frame rates.
We did not notice any difference in game play quality at either resolution between the platforms after playing through several of the levels. Each platform offered a very smooth and fluid gaming experience. We thought the higher minimum frame rates on the Intel systems would be noticeable during the heavy action scenes in the jungle, but honestly, we could not tell the systems apart during testing. The 720BE provided an equal gaming experience to the other processors with our settings.
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Griswold - Saturday, March 28, 2009 - link
Hi Bertha!StormyParis - Saturday, March 28, 2009 - link
do we have any idea of the %age of gamers who actually have an xfire (or nvidia's equivalent) config ? I personnally know of none, and always wonder when I see such a review what use it is...MrSpadge - Saturday, March 28, 2009 - link
All people that I know who do multi-GPU do it for BOINC or folding.TA152H - Saturday, March 28, 2009 - link
Does the 9550 have the same issues on the x48? You mentioned that the differences were minor, so I'm guessing they did, but, even a few fps seems relevant there, since that's all the more fluid AMD processors had.just4U - Saturday, March 28, 2009 - link
I agree with your conclusions about the 720BE. It's a nice compromise for those looking at Dual cores and Quads. It's also at a really reasonable price that competes against the 8400 and maybe to a lesser extent the 7500 which I think is priced to high. For those that want a Quad but might not be able to afford it this is a excellent substitute that's actually cheaper then the other two.. (go figure!)If someone offered me a 8400 or the 720BE for free and said choose I'd take the 720 without even a thought. Hell It's even got a selling point over the 920 in being a black edition with unlocked multi's.
abzillah - Saturday, March 28, 2009 - link
I have my phenom II 720 overclocked to 3570 Mhz using a Xigmatek cooler. Without the video card and hard drive, I spent $398 plus tax. This is for a gigabyte micro-ATX board, Corsair PSU, Mushkin 1066 DDR2 Ram, Case, Xigmatek CPU cooler and two Xigmatek case fans. Now I am waiting for the 4890 to come out and prospecting some SSDs for a Raid setup.I love how much money I saved that I can now use towards a video card and two SSDs. So far I love the performance on my new PC.
garbageacc3 - Saturday, March 28, 2009 - link
you spent so little because you went with mATX.mATX mobos SUCK more than full ATX
albundy2 - Saturday, March 28, 2009 - link
troll much?i know your dad lost his job and your mother to an american, but would it not be more constructive to seek therapy. we didn't do it.
i know you hurt, would you like a hug? some gummy bears perhaps?
a OO buck load to the forehead?
your off to a great start kid. suicide, please consider it...
garbageacc3 - Sunday, March 29, 2009 - link
fag fuck much?i know you're a teabag loving faggot.
americunts are dumb, fat, and big'o smelly fishy PUSSIES and no one would want to fuck any of you fatties.
i don't want a hug cause your man tits would crush me.
you're already at a crappy end fat 40 yr old virgin fuck. go off yourself. remember, down the street, not across it.
castration, do it.
ap90033 - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - link
Wow guess Mommy let you use her pc tonight eh?Get a life. No wait please post some other useless comment, I am sure that is your calling in life.