Intel P965: Mid-Range Performance Sector Roundup
by Gary Key on October 20, 2006 9:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Audio Performance
We limited audio testing to the Rightmark 3D Sound version 2.3 CPU utilization test and tested with sound enabled to show the performance effects on several games. The Rightmark 3D Sound benchmark measures the overhead or CPU utilization required by a codec or hardware audio chip.
We are no longer showing the individual CPU utilization rates as the use of a dual core processor means the driver load is balanced between each processor with either audio solution. The 2.3 version of Rightmark properly supports dual core processors now but considering the results presented for review they are almost meaningless for these users at this time. We have found the CPU utilization rate improvements with the dual-core setup in this test do not have any bearing on actual game benchmarks as the reduction in frame rate percentages are the same on our single core systems.
ASUS has recently switched over to the Analog Devices SoundMAX series of HD Audio Codecs with the balance of manufacturers still using the Realtek ALC-88x HD Audio Codecs. Both audio chipset manufacturers offer equal settings in their applications although we prefer the look of the ADI control panel and the fact that most of the settings are available on the front screen. We are using the 4530 driver release for the ADI codecs and the 1.47 driver release for the Realtek codecs.
The audio performance numbers remain consistent between the Analog Devices and Realtek Codecs but both finish consistently behind the SoundBlaster X-FI in the benchmarks. This is to be expected as the ADI and Realtek Codecs are host processing units dependent upon the CPU and drivers for generating their audio streams. The SoundBlaster X-FI on the other hand has dedicated hardware that generates its audio streams and off loads this burden from the CPU. We are finding the CPU utilization to be constantly decreasing for the on-board solutions as CPU processing power increases and driver optimizations improve but they still take a toll in certain games. This is reflected in our numbers as Battlefield 2 has an average loss of 22% (was 28%), Quake 4 at 14% (was 21%), Half Life 2- Lost Coast at 5%, Company of Heroes at 5%, and Rise of Legends at 22%.
Rise of Legends is a very CPU intensive game with numerous sound effects and as such the CPU hit for generating audio is significant although we did not notice any stuttering during game play. Battlefield 2 utilizes EAX 2 for our ADI and Realtek HD Codecs which creates another significant on the CPU to process the audio streams, especially with the sound effects set to high. Quake 4 is the exception to the rule as it is generally GPU limited leaving additional CPU cycles for audio processing. In this case the ADI and Realtek solutions still create a large hit on frame rates in this game where frame rates are everything.
Analog Devices has made news lately claiming other host-based audio solutions (aimed at Realtek) do not properly generate EAX compatible audio in their drivers. During our testing we found this to be true to some degree. Since our previous Realtek testing always compared EAX 2 to the X-FI series we basically assumed some of the muddy audio (complete lack of obstructions and occlusions) we encountered in Battlefield 2 as an example were just issues with the Codec or a poor implementation of EAX 2 in the drivers. After comparing the ADI 1988A to the Realtek ALC-882D in Battlefield 2 we completely agree the issues we heard before are strictly driver related. In fact, the ADI 1988A generated EAX 2 sound effects that were very close or equal to our Audigy 2 and within hearing distance of our X-FI. The audio quality difference in EAX capable games between the ADI and Realtek HD Audio Codecs were almost startling. We firmly believe this is due to obstructions and occlusions not being implemented correctly in the Realtek drivers.
The audio differences in other games such as Company of Heroes were minimal although you could still tell the difference. This was especially true in the CoH benchmark where the two Ammerican soldiers are treading through the water to meet their group. You could hear the water gently move as they walked while with the Realtek solution the water sounded like a wet mop. This pattern held true for all of our games we tested throughout the benchmark process including twenty five games that we tested off-line. While ADI has had some driver issues in the past we found both the 4530 and 4570 drivers to be very stable and almost problem free. We have some reports of ADI driver issues from our readers that we are still investigating at this time with the ASUS P5B-Deluxe board. We believe ASUS made the right decision to switch to ADI for their more enthusiast level boards at this time.
Obviously, if you are a serious gamer, then a dedicated sound card is still useful to ensure consistent frame rate averages across a wide variety of games, and in the case of the Sound Blaster X-FI, you also get improved audio quality and EAX3/4/5 support. If you'd like more details on the Realtek or ADI solutions, you can refer to the Realtek HD Audio Codec Specifications or SoundMAX HD Audio Codec Specifications .
We limited audio testing to the Rightmark 3D Sound version 2.3 CPU utilization test and tested with sound enabled to show the performance effects on several games. The Rightmark 3D Sound benchmark measures the overhead or CPU utilization required by a codec or hardware audio chip.
We are no longer showing the individual CPU utilization rates as the use of a dual core processor means the driver load is balanced between each processor with either audio solution. The 2.3 version of Rightmark properly supports dual core processors now but considering the results presented for review they are almost meaningless for these users at this time. We have found the CPU utilization rate improvements with the dual-core setup in this test do not have any bearing on actual game benchmarks as the reduction in frame rate percentages are the same on our single core systems.
ASUS has recently switched over to the Analog Devices SoundMAX series of HD Audio Codecs with the balance of manufacturers still using the Realtek ALC-88x HD Audio Codecs. Both audio chipset manufacturers offer equal settings in their applications although we prefer the look of the ADI control panel and the fact that most of the settings are available on the front screen. We are using the 4530 driver release for the ADI codecs and the 1.47 driver release for the Realtek codecs.
The audio performance numbers remain consistent between the Analog Devices and Realtek Codecs but both finish consistently behind the SoundBlaster X-FI in the benchmarks. This is to be expected as the ADI and Realtek Codecs are host processing units dependent upon the CPU and drivers for generating their audio streams. The SoundBlaster X-FI on the other hand has dedicated hardware that generates its audio streams and off loads this burden from the CPU. We are finding the CPU utilization to be constantly decreasing for the on-board solutions as CPU processing power increases and driver optimizations improve but they still take a toll in certain games. This is reflected in our numbers as Battlefield 2 has an average loss of 22% (was 28%), Quake 4 at 14% (was 21%), Half Life 2- Lost Coast at 5%, Company of Heroes at 5%, and Rise of Legends at 22%.
Rise of Legends is a very CPU intensive game with numerous sound effects and as such the CPU hit for generating audio is significant although we did not notice any stuttering during game play. Battlefield 2 utilizes EAX 2 for our ADI and Realtek HD Codecs which creates another significant on the CPU to process the audio streams, especially with the sound effects set to high. Quake 4 is the exception to the rule as it is generally GPU limited leaving additional CPU cycles for audio processing. In this case the ADI and Realtek solutions still create a large hit on frame rates in this game where frame rates are everything.
Analog Devices has made news lately claiming other host-based audio solutions (aimed at Realtek) do not properly generate EAX compatible audio in their drivers. During our testing we found this to be true to some degree. Since our previous Realtek testing always compared EAX 2 to the X-FI series we basically assumed some of the muddy audio (complete lack of obstructions and occlusions) we encountered in Battlefield 2 as an example were just issues with the Codec or a poor implementation of EAX 2 in the drivers. After comparing the ADI 1988A to the Realtek ALC-882D in Battlefield 2 we completely agree the issues we heard before are strictly driver related. In fact, the ADI 1988A generated EAX 2 sound effects that were very close or equal to our Audigy 2 and within hearing distance of our X-FI. The audio quality difference in EAX capable games between the ADI and Realtek HD Audio Codecs were almost startling. We firmly believe this is due to obstructions and occlusions not being implemented correctly in the Realtek drivers.
The audio differences in other games such as Company of Heroes were minimal although you could still tell the difference. This was especially true in the CoH benchmark where the two Ammerican soldiers are treading through the water to meet their group. You could hear the water gently move as they walked while with the Realtek solution the water sounded like a wet mop. This pattern held true for all of our games we tested throughout the benchmark process including twenty five games that we tested off-line. While ADI has had some driver issues in the past we found both the 4530 and 4570 drivers to be very stable and almost problem free. We have some reports of ADI driver issues from our readers that we are still investigating at this time with the ASUS P5B-Deluxe board. We believe ASUS made the right decision to switch to ADI for their more enthusiast level boards at this time.
Obviously, if you are a serious gamer, then a dedicated sound card is still useful to ensure consistent frame rate averages across a wide variety of games, and in the case of the Sound Blaster X-FI, you also get improved audio quality and EAX3/4/5 support. If you'd like more details on the Realtek or ADI solutions, you can refer to the Realtek HD Audio Codec Specifications or SoundMAX HD Audio Codec Specifications .
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powchi - Monday, October 23, 2006 - link
Thanks Jarred, lopri, Aikouka for the reply.Kougar - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
I am rather puzzled. As best I can tell from Google, my kit of Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 does use Micron D9s...... but I use a Gigabyte DS3 and even with the awful release F1 BIOS onwards have had no issues using them. Currently I have a stable OC of 501FSB for a 3.5ghz rating on the old F6 BIOS. Can you confirm if this kit of RAM uses D9's or not, because I am running the 800mhz RAM at 1ghz, 2 or 2.1v only, 5-5-5-15 timings, 24 hour dual Prime stable?? I have a kit of Corsair 6400c4 on the way, so I guess this will prove interesting either way.
I would also like to clarify that with the hours upon hours I spent playing around with and overclocking the DS3, I only once experienced a situation where I had to use the BIOS jumper, as I had managed to lock it into a POST/rebooting cycle. Having only used a Abit IS7 before, I can say it was a major difference I quickly noticed.
Thanks for any info, it's appreciated. And good article, by the way!
Gary Key - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
Are your 6400's the 6400 plain or 6400C4? There is a difference between the IC chips used.
We have one set of Micron D9 1GB that work properly in this board but they cost about $650 right now and had a beta SPD. We do not have every D9 1GB module available for testing but the 14 we have tried resulted in failure. Some would do 445, some would do 465. Just about every DS3 owner I know has an issue with the recent D9 1G modules not reaching 500FSB at 1:1 in a stable manner. We even tried three different boards during testing. I was able to hit 510 with the 512MB D9 and some beta 1GB Elpedia sticks from OCZ. Gigabyte agrees with our findings and it should be solved shortly.
We really like the DS3, it proved to be a very stable board in testing. As I stated at the end, this board has changed our opinion about Gigabyte again.
Thanks for the comments. :)
John - Sunday, October 22, 2006 - link
Gary, have you tested G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ modules on the DS3? If not please add these to your list. This is some extremely popular Micron D9 memory with favorable reviews on Newegg and our forums.Kougar - Sunday, October 22, 2006 - link
I am currently using the basic 5-5-5-12 1.9v vanilla 6400 kit, not the 6400c3 or the 6400c4. Could you please tell me which of these uses the Micron D9s, since from what you are saying I've only found incorrect info! Thanks for fully explaining this issue with the D9's in your reply, as I did not know Anandtech had tested not one or even two but three DS3's and a whopping 14 modules! So do you know if both the "c3" and "c4" use the Micron D9s, then? I've already ordered the 6400c4 kit, so I am getting the feeling I am in for a rude surprise!
I'm grateful to know that y'all are keeping ontop of the situation, this does go a long way to explaining the extremely large disparity in user results I've read or come across about the DS3. And I'm grateful Gigabyte is working to solve this issue, the user support and countless BIOS work from them is not something I was ever expecting... it's gone a long way to putting them on my top picks list.
And I believe I should be thanking you for the reply. ;)
jonp - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
-- on the second memory chart it always says "4/4 slots populated - 1 Dual-Channel Bank". If all four slots are populated with the same memory, why does it say "1" Dual-Channel Bank?-- I can only find the GEIL memory at one on-line merchant (via froogle or pricewatch) at $460 for 2GB. That would be $920 for 4GB! it would have been nice if you had also picked a less expensive memory that more of us could afford.
-- ASUS making a significant change to their product and only changing the version makes it VERY hard (impossible) to on-line order the specific product desired. newegg says order and if wrong, they will exchange...but that gets expensive too... and takes at least 7 days turnaround; and no guarantee that it will be the right one even then.
thanks for the article...it was, as always, full of useful data and observations.
Gary Key - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
1. The charts have been corrected. I stated this above but Jarred and I were editing at the same time on some pages and we did an overwrite on each other's corrections a couple of times. We learned our lesson after the Biostar section turned into the ASUS section. ;-)2. When we started this article the GEIL and G.Skill PC2-6400 that we used was in the $269~$289 range for a 2GB kit. This was far below the $500+ prices that our OCZ and Corsair memory modules had reached at that time. I am trying to create a memory table at this time as the boards were tested with everything from A-Data DDR2-533 to OCZ PC2-8000VX2. Our intentions were to use mid-range PC2-6400 memory when we started but it appears we chose some memory that is in very high demand and short supply now.
3. As I stated in the article, ASUS will probably call the 1.02G board something else. The 1.01G board is not a slacker. :)
Thank you for the comments, we appreciate them.
Aikouka - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
After going through about 4 or so of the motherboards and looking at their windows programs... I just gotta rant.Why in God's name must motherboard manufacturers make their programs SO UGLY? I'm no Martha Stewart, but even I can see that those programs are attrocious to look at and I actually don't install those cheesy programs because of how horrible they look. I prefer a normal streamlined windows look to my programs, hence why I use the Windows Classic theme. But even if your preference isn't a normal streamlined windows look, I don't see how anyone could find those horrid looking things called applications desirable.
Nakazato - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
it's Taiwanese tradition. For the people above... the S3 does not overclock as well as the DS3, it's very noticable. The DQ6 is in theory better than the DS3, but may hardly be noticable and when it is, it's probably just luck of the draw.My only criticism of the review is that only one memory module type was used and that I know other reviews on AT have included some other comparisons... but your review is more recent with more of the facts in(so more relevant). I know you had some references in the article and I know that the Micron chips are the best on average, but on occasion some chips perform better on a per board basis and not just on a per chipset basis.
Review does get 2 thumbs up from me though. The extra side information(EAX2 Support of onboard sound drivers, Micron D9 chips not fully supported, but will be, etc) helps make buying decisions. Thanks for the article!
Aikouka - Sunday, October 22, 2006 - link
Gah, how can such an ugly thing be tradition. It honestly detracts from the overall computing experience having something so tastelessly crafted. I guess to each his own :/