Now for some real-world application testing and first up we have Autodesk 3ds Max. At the same clock speed the Phenom processors deliver very similar performance to the Core 2 Quad. The 2.4GHz Phenom 9700 was faster than the 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600 in the second test, yet slightly slower in the first. The Core 2 Duo E8400 did quite well here, while the Athlon64 X2 clearly showed its age.

The first Maya test was significantly faster on the Core 2 Duo E8400, while the Core 2 Quad Q6600 and Phenom 9900 delivered similar performance. The Q6600 was 5% faster than the Phenom 9700 in the first test, while the Q6600 was 15% faster in the second test.