PCMark Vantage x64

Publisher: Futuremark

PCMark Vantage x64 is a Vista-only 64-bit productivity benchmark that tests a range of standard application types providing a general performance number in respect to other systems.

It tests multi-core processors and requires a processor with at least SSE2 support and a graphics card that supports Shader Model 2.0 or higher.

There are test scenarios for High Definition TV and Movies, Gaming, Memory, Music, Communications, Internet, General Productivity and Hard Drive. They cover the broad range of typical software a PC user will use and acts as a good "one stop" benchmark for general system performance.




PCMark Vantage turns out to be the first situation where the Phenom X3 8750 doesn’t closely match the Phenom X4 9750’s performance characteristics at its stock frequency. Indeed, it appears to perform more in line with the Phenom X4 9550 in most of our tests but there are situations where it’s slower—in particular ‘memories’ and ‘TV and movies’—and this is what causes the fairly low PCMark score.

When the X3 8750 is overclocked to 3.0GHz, it manages to bridge the performance gap between it and the stock Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition – this is an example of where raw MHz can make up a performance difference. However, as this test is undeniably synthetic, we don’t read too much into the results, but that’s not to say it’s a useful indication of general system performance.