Test Settings
| Test System Configuration | |
|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition |
| RAM | Kingston KHX16000D3ULT1K3/6GX |
| Graphics | Zotac GeForce GTX260² 896MB |
| Hard Drive | WD VelociRaptor WD30000HLFS |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Power | Coolermaster RS850-EMBA |
Software | |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 |
| Graphics | Nvidia Forceware 182.08 WHQL |
| Chipset | Catalyst Chipset 03.00.0699 |
Our best DDR3 memory was shipped in triple-channel kits, so we divided these into dual-channel kits for Socket AM3 compatibility. AMD supplied the processor.
Western Digital’s 10,000 RPM 300 GB VelociRaptor kept load times low and write performance high.
Today’s benchmark suite has several 64-bit updates, but readers should look for additional improvements once all of our editors have reached a consensus towards standardization.
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
3D Games | |
| Call of Duty: World at War | Patch 1.1, FRAPS/saved game |
| Crysis | Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool |
| Far Cry 2 | DirectX 10, Steam Version, in-game benchmark |
| World in Conflict | Patch 1009, DirectX 10, timedemo |
Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes 8 | Version: 8.1.0.52 (x64) |
| Lame MP3 | Version: 3.98 64-bits (07-04-2008) |
| TMPGEnc 4.6 | Version: 4.6.3.268 |
| DivX 6.8.5 | Encoding mode: Insane Quality |
| Xvid 1.2.1 | Display encoding status = off |
| Mainconcept Reference 1.6.1 | MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kbp/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS) |
Productivity | |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 | Version: 11.0, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV) |
| Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 8 | Version: 8.0.134, Virus base: 270.4.5/1,533, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files |
| WinRAR 3.80 | Version 3.80, WinZip Commandline Version 3.0, Compression = Best, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
| WinZip 12 | Version 12.0, Compression = Best, Benchmark: THG-Workload (139 MB) |
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark Vantage | Version: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores |
| PCMark Vantage | Version: 1.00, System, Memory, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646 |
| SiSoft Sandra | Version 2008.5.14.24, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Multimedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
Latest Motherboards News
Latest Motherboards reviews
- 12/01 – Seven $260-$320 X79 Express Motherboards, Reviewed
- 07/12 – Ultimate X79? Five £230+ LGA 2011 Motherboards, Reviewed
- 07/11 – Five £130 To £195 990FX-Based Socket AM3+...
- 13/10 – Man Vs. Machine: Four Automatic Overclocking Techs, Compared
- 19/09 – Round-Up: Four Z68 Motherboards From £190 To £260
It would be interesting to see how much AM3 processors improve over AM2+ especially come the next gen of graphics cards. Is the jump to AM3 boards worth the extra upgrade from AM2+? Im currently using a X2 6000+ but im doubtful that jumping to AM3 processors is worth it atm especially for gaming. My next upgrade will probally be the processor to prevent bottlenecking since my 4870 manages 22" easily but Id preferably like to get a mobo with 2X 16XPCIe lanes.
It would be interesting to see how much AM3 processors improve over AM2+ especially come the next gen of graphics cards. Is the jump to AM3 boards worth the extra upgrade from AM2+? Im currently using a X2 6000+ but im doubtful that jumping to AM3 processors is worth it atm especially for gaming. My next upgrade will probally be the processor to prevent bottlenecking since my 4870 manages 22" easily but Id preferably like to get a mobo with 2X 16XPCIe lanes.
I am going to switch back to AMD even if they perform less than intel. Why? I am not going to buy a motherboard for every processor. Who knows how many pins the next processor of Intel has. Upgrading is a major reason to choose a platform. Besides I do not need the power of i7 to game on a 20"
LOL, I doubt even Intel knows. It used to be 1160, but then they removed 4 pins in October and now they're talking about LGA1156. Anyway, point taken, the i5 CPUs won't work in either LGA775 or LGA1366 boards.
That Gigabyte board sounds perfect for somebody who might want 9 hard drives and a burner, because it has 10 SATA ports. I was looking for such a thing. This paragraph:
We have no layout complaints, but builders should be aware that all four of the MA790FX-UD5P's add-in SATA ports (white) share a single PCIe pathway through the JMicron JMB363 controller, for a maximum combined throughput of 250 MB/s. That’s far short of the 1,200 MB/s combined bandwidth that four 3.0 Gb/s ports are theoretically capable of supporting.
is a bit scary, but in fact it's not a problem IMO. Even if you happen to copy a huge file from HDD 7 to HDD 8 (both on the JMicron controller), you still get over 100 MB/s bandwidth for each, and that's pretty much the average read/write rate of the WD Caviar Black 1TB. That is, there's no bottleneck after all.