Conroe Buying Guide: Feeding the Monster
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on July 19, 2006 6:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
High-Resolution Gaming Performance
We are using the same game benchmarks in our standard gaming performance section that consists of Serious Sam 2, Half Life 2: Lost Coast, F.E.A.R, Quake 4, and Battlefield 2. All boards were tested with the EVGA 7900GTX using NVIDIA 91.31 WHQL drivers. The Intel 975X boards were also tested with a single ATI X1900XTX card with the Catalyst 6.6 driver. The SLI results on the ASUS P5N32-SLI SE utilized two EVGA 7900GTX cards and the 91.31 drivers with profiles enabled for each game. The CrossFire results on the Intel 975X boards utilized our ATI X1900XTX and X1900 CrossFire Edition cards with the 6.6 Catalyst driver.
The single card 1600x1200 results with the EVGA 7900GTX card shows the ASUS P5N32-SLI SE taking a clean sweep of the benchmarks. The performance of the 7900GTX and nForce4 Intel Edition chipset made a small but measurable difference at the higher resolutions as the boards started to become GPU bound. Due to the strength of the NVIDIA SLI setup along with obvious ATI issues in the Half Life 2: Lost Coast and Quake 4 benchmarks this same board sweeps our multi-GPU tests.
However, we also noticed where the ATI cards made a very strong showing in our standard benchmarks in F.E.A.R. and Serious Sam 2 by finishing first, they fell behind the SLI setup when running CrossFire indicating a lack of optimizations or possible driver issues in our tests. The performance percentage drop of the ASRock board compared to the other boards when moving to 1600x1200 was even greater than at 1280x1024 indicating that X4 PCIe operation is certainly hampering its performance.
We are using the same game benchmarks in our standard gaming performance section that consists of Serious Sam 2, Half Life 2: Lost Coast, F.E.A.R, Quake 4, and Battlefield 2. All boards were tested with the EVGA 7900GTX using NVIDIA 91.31 WHQL drivers. The Intel 975X boards were also tested with a single ATI X1900XTX card with the Catalyst 6.6 driver. The SLI results on the ASUS P5N32-SLI SE utilized two EVGA 7900GTX cards and the 91.31 drivers with profiles enabled for each game. The CrossFire results on the Intel 975X boards utilized our ATI X1900XTX and X1900 CrossFire Edition cards with the 6.6 Catalyst driver.
The single card 1600x1200 results with the EVGA 7900GTX card shows the ASUS P5N32-SLI SE taking a clean sweep of the benchmarks. The performance of the 7900GTX and nForce4 Intel Edition chipset made a small but measurable difference at the higher resolutions as the boards started to become GPU bound. Due to the strength of the NVIDIA SLI setup along with obvious ATI issues in the Half Life 2: Lost Coast and Quake 4 benchmarks this same board sweeps our multi-GPU tests.
However, we also noticed where the ATI cards made a very strong showing in our standard benchmarks in F.E.A.R. and Serious Sam 2 by finishing first, they fell behind the SLI setup when running CrossFire indicating a lack of optimizations or possible driver issues in our tests. The performance percentage drop of the ASRock board compared to the other boards when moving to 1600x1200 was even greater than at 1280x1024 indicating that X4 PCIe operation is certainly hampering its performance.
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Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Hi,We used 0701. The bios versions used for each board are listed at the bottom of the features chart.
Thanks.
vmsein - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
I missed that! Thank you very much again:)Bochista - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Can we see some results for 1920 x 1200 for 23 & 24 inch monitors as well as some 2560 x 1600 results for 30 inch monitors? Also, can we see the 7950 GX2 in action where all MBs would be on an equal SLI footing?Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
We will place this on our suggestion list for Roundup Two and discuss it with the Video editors this week.ivoloos - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
The article says "Users need to realize that the nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition will still use the C19 SPP that is on this board."I remember me that a while ago I've read somewhere NVIDIA is busy with a new SPP that will replace the C19 and should arrive somewhere around Q1 next year. Someone know whether this is this correct, or will the C19 not be replaced?
Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Yes, NVIDIA is readying a new Intel Chipset that is scheduled for release in the winter. The current C19 is now at a C1 revision, the original P5N32-SLI shipped with revision A3.ivoloos - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Ah, Thanks!!I plan to buy me a Core 2 Dou/Extreme system about a year from now, let's say somewhere around the release of Intels Bearlake chipset. The decision will be made then, after having a clear view at the features of that chipset and the new NVIDIA chipset.
The article, which is very good by the way, made some doubts rise about whether that what I've read was correct or not.
I'm curious about the period when we can expect the new NVIDIA chipset to appear on the motherboards. Any news about that (Q1/2007 perhaps?), or is too early to say something about this?
imaheadcase - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
I want to build a value SLI motherboard with conroe.Maybe compare 6 value SLI motherboards with conroe and 2 gigs of value ram in the future when boards are released?
Thanks!
RogueSpear - Thursday, July 20, 2006 - link
Am I the only one who thinks that the phrase "Value SLI" is a bit like "Military Intelligence" ?Gary Key - Thursday, July 20, 2006 - link
Great statement!!! :) I guess value in the sense that the 570SLI boards will be about $50~$75 less than the 590SLI boards. However, unless you want to really overclock the FSB, even the 570SLI boards will be a value compared to the P965 boards.