POV-Ray 3.7 Beta 30	Source: POV-RAY

Ray-tracing is a rendering technique that calculates an image of a scene by simulating the way rays of light travel in the real world. In the real world, rays of light are emitted from a light source and illuminate objects. The light reflects off of the objects or passes through transparent objects. This reflected light hits our eyes or perhaps a camera lens. Because the vast majority of rays never hit an observer, it would take forever to trace a scene. Ray-tracing programs like POV-Ray start with their simulated camera and trace rays backwards out into the scene. The user specifies the location of the camera, light sources, and objects as well as the surface texture properties of objects, their interiors (if transparent) and any atmospheric media such as fog, haze, or fire.

Lower render times are better, however higher Pixel Per Second rendering values are best. Pov-ray is multi-threaded.

Pov-Ray 3.7 BETA 30 - Windows Vista Render Time (sec) Ranking Intel Core i7 920 113.8 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 360.42 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 382.88 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 366.59 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 98.69 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR2) 445.26 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR3) 444.24 AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 400.52 AMD Athlon II X4 620 121.29 AMD Athlon II X2 250 416.83 Render Average (Pixels Per Sec) Ranking Intel Core i7 920 2303.61 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 1445.39 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 1357.27 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 2816.66 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 2656.37 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR2) 1751.71 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR3) 1753.53 AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 1300.42 AMD Athlon II X4 620 2161.3 AMD Athlon II X2 250 1244.47

It's no surprise that the Athlon II X4 620 does well in POV-ray, which can effectively split rendering in four, one for each core of the Athlon II X4 620. If you need to build a farm of 3D-rendering PCs, the Athlon II X4 620 represents excellent multi-threaded value.

Pov-Ray 3.7 BETA 30 - Windows 7 Render Time (sec) Ranking Intel Core i7 920 100.06 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 192.40 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 92.76 AMD Athlon II X4 620 121.73 Render Average (Pixels Per Sec) Ranking Intel Core i7 920 2619.79 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 1362.53 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 2826.14 AMD Athlon II X4 620 2153.54

Pov-Ray again doesn't show a substantial difference between Windows 7 and Windows Vista scores, so not much changes in the way the processor rank here.

SPECviewPerf 10	Source: POV-RAY

The SPECgpc project group develops and distributes SPECviewperf, which measures the 3D rendering performance of systems running under OpenGL. SPECviewperf measures the 3D rendering performance of systems running under OpenGL. The SPECopcSM project group has worked with independent software vendors (ISVs) to obtain tests, data sets and weights that constitute what is called a viewset. Each viewset represents the graphics rendering portion of an actual application. The ISVs that develop SPECopc viewsets have provided percentage weights for each test for which a performance number is reported. ISVs have defined these percentages to indicate the relative importance of a test within the overall application.

Higher results are better.

SPECviewPerf 10 - Windows Vista 2core Catia Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 19.19 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 15.43 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 16.47 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 15.57 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 20.47 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR2) 14.91 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR3) 14.41 AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 9.31 AMD Athlon II X4 620 15.18 AMD Athlon II X2 250 17.48 2core Maya Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 38.57 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 33.21 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 34.3 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 33.55 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 34.08 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR2) 25.04 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR3) 25.87 AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 31.3 AMD Athlon II X4 620 31.36 AMD Athlon II X2 250 31.1 2core PROe Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 13.85 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 9.75 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 13.03 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 11.41 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 12.75 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR2) 10.34 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR3) 12.94 AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 7.83 AMD Athlon II X4 620 10.58 AMD Athlon II X2 250 9 4core Catia Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 13.54 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 15.11 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 15.3 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR2) 15.6969 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR3) 11.4 4core Maya Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 35.4 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 26.44 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 29.61 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 27.18 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR2) 27.6969 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR3) 21.9 AMD Athlon II X4 620 24.58 4core PROe Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 11.2 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 7.77 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 8.78 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 9.41 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 10.06 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR2) 10.6969 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (DDR3) 8.13 AMD Athlon II X4 620 7.98

SPECviewPerf's scores are, as always, all over the place. Interpret as you will....

SPECviewPerf 10 - Windows 7 2core Catia Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 16.33 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 14.01 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 19.7 AMD Athlon II X4 620 17.19 2core Maya Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 40.51 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 32.63 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 36.9 AMD Athlon II X4 620 29.73 2core PROe Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 14.38 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 10.28 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 12.63 AMD Athlon II X4 620 9.66 4core Catia Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 12 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 15.41 AMD Athlon II X4 620 12.43 4core Maya Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 41.22 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 25.22 AMD Athlon II X4 620 25.22 4core PROe Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 10.27 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 10.14 AMD Athlon II X4 620 7.56

SPECViewPerf again gives scores that are all over the place. PCSTATS is considering dropping this benchmark from its processor suite, let's us know what you think...