PCMark05 Pro Performance
PCMark05 Professional is the latest update to the popular PCMark system benchmarking series from FutureMark, and is revamped to highlight current hardware and features additional multithreaded and multi-tasking performance tests. There is the usual selection of individual System, CPU, Memory, Graphics, and Hard Drive benchmark suites, and these continue to bridge the gap between synthetic and application-based benchmarks. For our purposes, the System, CPU and Memory areas will be where we concentrate our benchmarking efforts.
The PCMark05 System benchmark suite includes a wide range of tests, from Windows XP hard drive startup to video and audio encoding, and features a selection of standard desktop routines like text edit, virus scanning, and image decompression. Three of the benchmark scenarios are multithreaded, with the first two including two simultaneous tests, and the final one utilizing four program tests running simultaneously. This helps make the PCMark05 System benchmark a great analysis tool for our dual and quad core processors. For this test, the latest 1.2 patch has been applied.
The Athlon 64 X2 6000+ posts an impressive score in PCMark05, and while this is an improvement compared to past AMD processors, it's still not enough to crack the Core 2 barrier. There is still a definite line in the sand, which separates the AMD and Intel processors in this particular test.
The memory benchmarking is a lot closer, and here we see the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ posting a score that is comparable with top-end AMD and Intel processors. This test shows many of these processors in the 5200-5700 range, with the 2.93 GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 being the only one to really break away.
It's much the same story in the CPU portion of the benchmark, and even though the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ is the only AMD model to crack 6K, it doesn't really change the PCMark05 hierarchy. This time the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ manages to come within a hair of catching the Core 2 Duo E6600.
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