Testing Methods

Testing Methods

UNDER DEVELOPMENT

 

While review sites generally use a "best possible" setup for testing, we understand that your gaming machine will do a whole lot more than just game. In that light, our main test bed is a machine that is used day in and day out for all sorts of tasks. These tasks include video encoding via Media Center, playing back music via iTunes, web browsing, productivity software, graphics and web development, and much much more.

I personally like to listen to my own custom soundtrack while I'm playing a game, so iTunes will be playing from a network store while all testing is done. Also, Windows Media Center is very much so enabled, however no shows will be recording while tests run. In our testing, recording does not appear to lower frame rates in a noticeable way. Windows Sidebar and Aero are also open and running. The average memory load under this strain is around 1100MB of the 2048MB installed, and the CPU usage is generally under 5% per core.

Nordic PC Test Machine 1: Njord 775

  • Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 at 3.08ghz (343x9)
  • Asus P5K P35-based Motherboard
  • 2GB Corsair DDR2-822 4-4-4-12 latency
  • System Drive: Western Digital 150GB Raptor
  • Media Drives: 2 Seagate 320GB 7200.10 SATA
  • Lite-on IDE Optical Drives
  • Mitsumi Floppy / Card-Reader
  • Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Sound Card
  • Hauppauge PVR-150 Capture Card w/ Remote

We will be testing the 8600GTS and the 8800GT video cards in this first round. We also have a customer who has offered some limited benchmarks with his Odin SLI. That machine was configured as follows:

Nordic PC Test Machine 2: Odin SLI

  • Intel Core 2 Quad QX6700 at 3.2ghz (356x9)
  • NVIDIA Reference 680i Motherboard
  • 4GB Corsair DDR2-950 at 5-5-5-15 latency
  • System Drive: Western Digital 150GB Raptor
  • Lite-on SATA Optical Drives
  • Mitsumi Floppy / Card-Reader
  • 2 - NVIDIA 8800GTS 640MB Cards

To those who would criticize this methodology, remember we are attempting to produce real world environments, not a best-case scenario. Both of these machines have been out in the wild for several weeks, and have proven their stability.

Home