Test Setup
The ATI CrossFire Xpress 200 chipset fully supports all AMD Athlon 64 processors in both stock and overclocked conditions.
We tested our 7900GTX video cards using NVIDIA 84.21 WHQL drivers and ATI X1900XT cards with Catalyst 6.3 to provide the latest video performance results. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1280x1024x32 unless CrossFire is enabled. Resolution in CrossFire benchmarks is 1600x1200x32 with 4XAA and 8xAF where applicable. 3DMark benchmarks use a "Standard Score" setup at the default video resolution for both X1900XT CrossFire and 7900GTX testing.
The ATI CrossFire Xpress 200 chipset fully supports all AMD Athlon 64 processors in both stock and overclocked conditions.
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor: | AMD Athlon 64 4000+ utilized for all tests. |
| RAM: | 2 x 512mb OCZ Technology PC4800 Platinum Edition Settings: DDR-400 at (CL2-2-2-5, 1T) |
| Hard Drive(s): | 2 x Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300S0 300GB 7200 RPM SATA (16MB Buffer) 1 x Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300R0 300GB 7200 RPM IDE (16MB Buffer). |
| System Platform Drivers: | ULi SATA Driver - 2.20 NVIDIA Platform - 6.70 ATI - |
| Video Cards: | 1 x EVGA 7900GTX (PCI Express) for all non-CrossFire tests. 2 x ATI X1900XT (PCI Express) for CrossFire tests. |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA nForce 84.21 WHQL ATI Catalyst 6.3 CCC |
| Cooling: | Thermaltake Big Typhoon |
| Power Supply: | Fortron Source FX700-GLN |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| Motherboards: | ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2 Abit AT-8 (ATI RD480/ULi1575) Asus A8N-SLI Premium Asus A8R-MVP (ATI RD480/ULi1575) Asus A8R32-MVP (ATI RD480/ULi1575) ECS KA1 MVP Extreme EPoX EP-9U1697-GLI |
We tested our 7900GTX video cards using NVIDIA 84.21 WHQL drivers and ATI X1900XT cards with Catalyst 6.3 to provide the latest video performance results. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1280x1024x32 unless CrossFire is enabled. Resolution in CrossFire benchmarks is 1600x1200x32 with 4XAA and 8xAF where applicable. 3DMark benchmarks use a "Standard Score" setup at the default video resolution for both X1900XT CrossFire and 7900GTX testing.
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Per Hansson - Saturday, April 8, 2006 - link
Well, from your last mobo review: "Attention - Per Hansson by Gary Key on: Mar 23, 2006 12:06 AMRating: 4Our next article will have a high resolution picture of the capacitors and other items of importance in a pop-up window. I am sure the capacitors utilized on this board will be of interest to you. ;->"
Gary Key - Saturday, April 8, 2006 - link
Please email me - I have the photographs. We are doing some revisions on the engine and could not get these in but I did take the photographs for you.
Stas - Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - link
I always had nVidia and ViA chjpset based mobos. Now I really want an ATi based mobo. Very nice perfromance and overclockablility. It's good that ECS made a board like that, better for the competition. I got tired of seeing 1337 ASUS and DFI mobos, now it's time for less popular companies.SilverTrine - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - link
And somehow Nvidia gets a pass for all their issues. The original Nforce was a totally unstable board on par with something like Abits awful KG7. Yet the fanboism let many to the slaughter with that board. Nforce 2 also had severe USB and IDE problems, yet fanboism kept most of that in the dark.Hopefully we can all get past the fanboism and be honest about things, as long as people are getting paid to post on boards that is a pipe dream though. We simply have to call these vultures on their conduct.
QueBert - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - link
I owned a number of Nf2 MB's, and now a Nf3. SW-IDE doesn't work at all on any of them for me. Infact on 1, it actually caused my burner to not burn until I uninstalled them. Nf3 I have the lovely NF Firewall thing, does this work even somewhat for anyone? I'm not a fan boy, but from my past Nvidia experince (and remember I run a NF3 board now...) the ATI couldn't possibly be much worse. could this board be bad? sure, you can take a decent chipset and ruin it with a poorly designed motherboard.bob661 - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - link
I'm going to test the firewall sometime when I get the chance. I'm willing to bet I won't have problems but I could be wrong.Regs - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - link
Examples of the peripherals that are suffering? Any one else want to fill me in?
Gary Key - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - link
The Firewire and Marvel Gigabit Ethernet controller are tied to the SB450. The performance of these items are sub-par compared to results on other boards. This is explained in the test detail sections and the final words recap. We have a new bios today that should bring the performance of both peripherals up to par with other boards that utilize this same components. However, there is nothing that can be done with the USB 2.0 performance although it really is not that bad. :)JakeBlade - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - link
I find it amazing that this website can test a motherboard more thoroughly than the company who makes it. Pathetic.highlnder69 - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - link
You might want to fix the word mothergoard in the title to be motherboard..