AMD Athlon II and Phenom II X2 Processors Debut
LAME MT and Kribibench
In our custom LAME MT MP3 encoding test, we convert a large WAV file to the MP3 format, which is a popular scenario that many end users work with on a day-to-day basis to provide portability and storage of their digital audio content. LAME is an open-source mid to high bit-rate and VBR (variable bit rate) MP3 audio encoder that is used widely around the world in a multitude of third party applications.
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In this test, we created our own 223MB WAV file (a hallucinogenically-induced Grateful Dead jam) and converted it to the MP3 format using the multi-thread capable LAME MT application in single and multi-thread modes. Processing times are recorded below, listed in seconds. Once again, shorter times equate to better performance.
LAME MT supports only one or two threads, hence the highest clocked Core 2 here, the E6850, takes the lead in both the single and multi-threaded tests. The Phenom II X2 550 BE come in a close second, tying the Q9400, followed by the rest of the pack, in order of clock speed.
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For this next batch of tests, we ran Kribibench v1.1, a 3D rendering benchmark produced by the folks at Adept Development. Kribibench is an SSE aware software renderer in which a 3D model is rendered and animated by the host CPU and the average frame rate is reported. We used two of the included models with this benchmark: a "Sponge Explode" model consisting of over 19.2 million polygons and the test suite's "Ultra" model that is comprised of over 16 billion polys.
Intel's dual-core Core 2 E6850 finishes in front of the other dual-core processors in the Kribibench 3D rendering test, and the quad core Q9400 dominates the rest of the field.
