60 Minutes – CPU performance and Energy consumption in Gaming. [AtenRa]

[AtenRa]

Nice thread. Please, add some APUs and if you try, can OC the i3 to 25% more of their values?

Thanks.

I will try to include APUs and i would like to re evaluate the Skylake Core i3 OCed.

Very good work. Where do you get the time?

Yea took me some time, close to two months for this review.

Interesting data. Unfortunately, 4 of the 5 games you tested are mostly *GPU* limited with the 7950. Not sure that is the best test of cpu performance.

Well that is how most people would play those games given the hardware of the review. And I was also trying to point out that fps is not the only metric even in GPU bound scenarios.
We can clearly see that even when completely GPU bound, CPU Overclocking does affect the frametimes making the gameplay smoother although fps remains the same.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Thanks, AtenRa.

 

[Dice144]

Great work. This should be on the AT main page.

 

[Deders]

For the extreme end of the power consumption scale it would be a good idea to include Crysis 3 starting from the Welcome to the jungle level. It would involve a chunk of outdoor gameplay were the CPU is maxed out. A lengthy pre-scripted cutscene with a lot going on and some indoor gameplay, possibly followed by the start of the next level.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Great work AtenRa, users like you do make a difference here

 

[mysticjbyrd]

It is useful but incomplete data. It is like testing a corolla vs a corvette with S rated tires. They will have the same top speed, but it is limited by the tires (gpu) rather than the car (cpu). I am not saying the data is invalid or not useful, just that it does not tell the entire story.

None of those CPUs are corvettes. The 2500k is a stock ford mustang at best.

 

[MrTeal]

None of those CPUs are corvettes. The 2500k is a stock ford mustang at best.

The 2500k is definitely a Corvette. It's just a C5 instead of a C6 or C7.

 

[TheELF]

There are definitely lots and lots of reasons why BF4 or any game might run like crap (mantle drivers maybe) , but not having moar coarz is not one of them.
video proof of g1820 celeron bf4 locker, same settings,lower resolution, but resolution only impacts the GPU,keep in mind that this is while recording and with a bunch of monitoring tools (and avira messing with the results,ah well) the drastic FPS variances "stutters" ,in this video,as you can see are from dying and getting into and out of the deployment screen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0xVh8IHF78

Dragon age, high settings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IawTnrrE7Co
check out the FPS at low
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XykMNHlYIOg
ryse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0oBZQ_kBwE

 

[frozentundra123456]

None of those CPUs are corvettes. The 2500k is a stock ford mustang at best.

Ok, apparently you dont get analogies. Lets try a logic exercise:

A > B (cpu A gpu limited by B)
C > B (cpu C gpu limited by B)

How does A compare to C? It is impossible to say from this information, just like it is impossible to say which cpu is faster in a gpu limited scenario.

 

[Conroe]

The net energy consumption has to include your HVAC as well. You can recoup some of the energy in a cold climate. Here in the desert it can cost double. I've seen data centers here with insane amounts of air conditions on the roof.

 

[maddie]

Some of these criticisms are unbelievable. Go and do your own testing if you feel there are problems. All this whining. In case you don't know, the world isn't perfect.

For me, I have more data points to make decisions.

 

[Jovec]

AtenRa, please provide a clock speed graph over time for both CPUs if you can. At least for the most demanding benchmark.

 

[USER8000]

Nice piece of work OP. It does seem the Core i5 2500K is the new Q6600!!

Some of these criticisms are unbelievable. Go and do your own testing if you feel there are problems. All this whining. In case you don't know, the world isn't perfect.

For me, I have more data points to make decisions.

Agreed - especially for a person on a forum benchmarking,testing three different CPUs for an hour each over many games does take time.

 

[AtenRa]

AtenRa, please provide a clock speed graph over time for both CPUs if you can. At least for the most demanding benchmark.

Im not sure how to do that, any suggestions ??

 

[Jovec]

Im not sure how to do that, any suggestions ??

There are some different ways. AMD Overdrive will allow you to log different variables to a text file (which can then be imported into a spreadsheet to graph), but I don't believe it graphs it for you. Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility will graph it. I believe Afterburner will graph it also. HWmonitor. Plenty more too.

Once configured, just leave them running in the background during the FPS test.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Would like to see this with an 8370 vs 4670k. Would also like to see an 860k @ 4.5 GHz thrown in for good measure.

Good job regardless, AtenRa.

 

[mysticjbyrd]

Ok, apparently you dont get analogies. Lets try a logic exercise:

A > B (cpu A gpu limited by B)
C > B (cpu C gpu limited by B)

How does A compare to C? It is impossible to say from this information, just like it is impossible to say which cpu is faster in a gpu limited scenario.

You are the one that seems to fail to understand actually. These are comparable pieces of hardware. There is no huge bottleneck, thus it's not relevant to this topic. What's more, determining the maximum energy consumption possible isn't even the objective, it's about the power consumption for average users.

 

[Ranulf]

The net energy consumption has to include your HVAC as well. You can recoup some of the energy in a cold climate. Here in the desert it can cost double. I've seen data centers here with insane amounts of air conditions on the roof.

Meh, with my experience in my house, not really. Space heater jokes are amusing but either my 8350 or 2500k is going to heat up my home office while gaming roughly the same rate in the winter.

 

[dark zero]

The 2500k is definitely a Corvette. It's just a C5 instead of a C6 or C7.

Is similar to the Phenom X6 1090T. They are grrat chips still now.

 

[AtenRa]

There are some different ways. AMD Overdrive will allow you to log different variables to a text file (which can then be imported into a spreadsheet to graph), but I don't believe it graphs it for you. Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility will graph it. I believe Afterburner will graph it also. HWmonitor. Plenty more too.

Once configured, just leave them running in the background during the FPS test.

heh didnt know i could log the clocks with those progs, nice thanks, ill give it a try.

 

[thilanliyan]

The extra power cost with the 8150 wouldn't be my worry...it's trying to keep it cool. Despite running water cooling, I would still go for a more expensive, lower wattage cpu/gpu/etc than save a bit of money and go with a higher wattage part as it would likely be easier to cool.

 

[Gikaseixas]

The extra power cost with the 8150 wouldn't be my worry...it's trying to keep it cool. Despite running water cooling, I would still go for a more expensive, lower wattage cpu/gpu/etc than save a bit of money and go with a higher wattage part as it would likely be easier to cool.

Plus the 8150 couldn't properly beat the previous generation Phenom II 6 cores chip. FX 8350 was everything the 8150 needed to be. Its quite a decent cpu, mine really packs some punch.

 

[komatta]

Thanks a lot for these results!

 

[Magic Carpet]

@ AtenRa

Great work, mate :thumbsup:

The extra power cost with the 8150 wouldn't be my worry...it's trying to keep it cool. Despite running water cooling, I would still go for a more expensive, lower wattage cpu/gpu/etc than save a bit of money and go with a higher wattage part as it would likely be easier to cool.

When I had my 1090T, overclocked to 4.0 Ghz it consumed quite a lot, but to be frank it wasn't a huge issue for my NH-D14. It was old-school solder and big die area. It was A LOT easier to cool, than say my 4770K which used less than about half the power once overclocked. It's relative. I believe, those 8150/8350 chips use solder as well and should be relatively easy to keep them cool with a decent HSF. But still, the heat has to go somewhere, and it does add to the costs of keeping everything cool around you on a hot summer day.

FX 8350 was everything the 8150 needed to be. Its quite a decent cpu, mine really packs some punch.

Yeah, the updated Piledriver was much better. But buying ~2011 chipset hardware in 2016 is not fun at all :/

 

[Makaveli]

Excellent thread AtenRa nice work!