SYSMark 2012

I believe this is the first time we have used SYSMark 2012 in a CPU review so far. It should be noted that while AMD was part of the development process the entire time, they dropped out just after it was released. They made a big stink about the fact that you should not use this benchmark to determine the overall performance of a system, since it doesn’t test the whole system (it contains no GPU accelerated applications). As you can guess, this was all going on just around the time of the launch of their Llano APU, which contains a CPU and true GPU in one chip (unlike Sandy Bridge, which has video card capabilities and some media acceleration but does not support OpenCL).

My response to that is, you shouldn’t be using one benchmark to determine the performance of a system anyway. I can’t stop you from doing so, but that doesn’t mean SYSMark isn’t useful to see how systems perform in the specific programs being used. Therefore, I have no problems with using it.

As before, SYSMark 2012 focuses on several ‘scenarios’ rather than looking at the performance of each individual application. If you see a ‘scenario’ that applies to you, then pay particular attention to it.

Office Productivity

Read, create and search for emails. Create and execute a rule on email inbox. Use multiple browsers to browse a blog, online shopping site, wiki site and social networking site. Check web mail in a private browser session. Combine multiple scanned pages from a complex document into an encrypted PDF document using optical character recognition (OCR). Create a PDF with fillable form fields from scanned pages. Archive a diverse set of files into an a single encrypted file. Use an advanced OCR program to convert scanned pages of complex and simple documents into editable word documents. Create a blog post and do a mail merge. Use a spreadsheet program to do data analysis. Create and view complex presentations that include clip art and video. Some of these activities are performed concurrently to model typical multitasking behavior.

Programs used:

• ABBYY FineReader Pro 10
• Adobe Acrobat Pro 9
• Adobe Flash Player 10.1
• Microsoft Excel 2010
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 8
• Microsoft Outlook 2010
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2010
• Microsoft Word 2010
• Mozilla Firefox 3.6.8
• WinZip Pro 14.5

Bulldozer is not off to a great start here, as it hardly improves upon the performance of Phenom II.

Media Creation

Create a panoramic image using an image editing application, combine a set of photos into one high dynamic range (HDR) image, and adjust and prepare both images for print. Preview and encode a complex video project using a video compositing application. Here, OpenGL is used for all video previews and a software render is used for maximum video quality upon final output as recommended by software vendor documentation. Transcode the video to a format suitable for web publishing using a video editing application.

Programs Used:

• Adobe After Effects CS5
• Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended
• Adobe Premiere Pro CS5

Almost identical results here, and that is not a good thing for Bulldozer.

Web Development

Combine images, video clips, and audio into a video using a video editing application, then encode the video to a web-ready format. Layout the graphics and create the icons for a website using an image editing application. Use batch processing to manipulate a set of photos for use in a web-based photo gallery. Assemble the graphics, gallery, and video into a functional website using a web development application, fixing links and moving documents as needed. Preview the pages in multiple web browsers.

Programs Used:

• Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended
• Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS5
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 8
• Mozilla Firefox 3.6.8

This is the most ‘sensitive’ test to a poor performing CPU, and you can see the results here. Bulldozer is smoked by its own Phenom II 1100T, which is cheaper and uses less power (as you’ll see later).

Data/Financial Analysis

Generate sales forecasts by region and currency based on historical data, and produce summary graphs and pivot tables using a spreadsheet application.

Program Used:

• Microsoft Excel 2010

FINALLY, we see one occasion where Bulldozer performs better than the Phenom II. But it is still well behind any Intel chip unfortunately…

3D Modeling

Create components for a 3D scene, including a panoramic image and texture images, using an image editing application. Create and render views of an architectural model using realistic materials in an architectural modeling application. Add visual features to an existing architectural model, and render “sketch” style views using an architectural modeling application. Create a 3D scene, rendering views and a fly-through animation of the scene’s progression through development, using a 3D modeling application.

Programs Used:

• Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended
• Autodesk 3ds Max 2011
• Autodesk AutoCAD 2011
• Google SketchUp Pro 8

For the first time since stepping away from the SiSoft Sandra artificial tests, we are seeing performance go somewhat in line with price, as opposed to all the AMD chips performing well behind those of Intel.

System Management

Install and then upgrade an application using a complete application installer and patch installers. Perform a (simulated) full system backup using encryption, then after making changes to the initial backup dataset, perform two encrypted incremental backups. Restore both backups. Create an encrypted archive of various sensitive files for transfer across unsecured communications, and another unencrypted archive of various files. Decompress the initial backup and two incremental backups. Decompress the encrypted
and unencrypted archive files.

Programs Used:

• Mozilla Firefox (multiple versions)
• WinZip Pro 14.5
• WinZip Command Line 3.2

Not to start any conspiracy theories, but I think AMD’s issued with SYSMark go well beyond the fact that it doesn’t support their APU. The fact is, in these real world applications, their product can’t seem to keep up.

Finally, we have a ‘Final Score’ to show you:

Ouch.

Anyway, let’s move away from all this work stuff, and pay attention to what really matters: GAMES