Synthetic Graphics Performance
The 3DMark series of benchmarks developed and provided by Futuremark are among the most widely used tools for benchmark reporting and comparisons. Although the benchmarks are very useful for providing apples-to-apples comparisons across a broad array of GPU and CPU configurations they are not a substitute for actual application and gaming benchmarks. In this sense we consider the 3DMark benchmarks to be purely synthetic in nature but still very valuable for providing consistent measurements of performance.
The updated BIOS and memory timings improve the DDR3 scores slightly in both Futuremark benchmarks, but the scores are still tightly clustered. Particularly in 3DMark06, the GPU is generally the bottleneck except for the SM3.0 tests, but we do see minor improvements with the 8-8-7 DDR3-1333 and 6-6-6 DDR3-1066 settings regardless.
Quick Take
There are no real surprises in our memory testing today except for the 11% improvement in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. DDR3-1066 score with 6-6-6-18 timings. Overall, the performance improvements of moving to lower memory timings were around 1%~2% on average. Not bad, considering our memory sub-timings had to be significantly relaxed in some cases to run at the lower timings on stock voltages. We were hoping for more but it is obvious after running some initial benchmarks that we need to spend more time tweaking and tuning the 0411 BIOS that ASUS provided today. Besides offering 1T command rates, this BIOS will allow up to DDR3-2200 speeds if you have memory that will do it. Expect to hear more from us shortly on this BIOS release and additional ones received from Gigabyte and MSI.We are still trying to find the right balance of settings/voltages with our Corsair DDR3 modules on two other DDR3 motherboards. We thought we had stumbled upon the right mix of speed, latencies, and timings yesterday, but with BIOS of the day releases from the manufacturers at this point, it is difficult to setup a board properly without having the next BIOS appearing in your mailbox. We are not complaining, far from it, considering the dearth of BIOS releases during the initial P965 launch activities. We are greatly pleased with the manufacturers at this point in their ability to address problems and improve performance on an almost daily basis.
Unfortunately, we do not have new video card drivers so our results today mirror those of our P35 CrossFire preview article last week. The performance differences between our DDR2 and DDR3 boards mirrored our single GPU results. While the P35 was not designed specifically with CrossFire in mind, it does possess this capability. As such, we are still hoping that AMD can tune their R600 drivers properly in a reasonable amount of time to improve CrossFire performance on the Intel chipsets.
Considering the performance of the P35 chipset when set up correctly, we would love to see a manufacturer utilize a different PCIe controller chip setup and bring 8x8 CrossFire capability to this chipset. If abit or DFI is listening, please take a run at it as this type of engineering is something you excelled at previously. If not, we anxiously await the new X38 chipset even though the 975X obviously still has a lot of life left in it.
Overall, we still have a lot P35 motherboard testing left to complete and then we'll be reporting the results to you. We've only scratched the surface when it comes to overclocking and improving memory performance on our boards. Of course this is only one area of interest and we also have some significant storage subsystem testing to complete on the new ICH9 along with revised network/audio benchmarks for Vista. With Barcelona/Agena on the horizon, this is shaping up to be one very busy and exciting summer.
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eamon - Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - link
It's a bit of a shame there's nothing about the power consumption of the various motherboards.lopri - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - link
While reading this article I couldn't help but thinking "what for?". Summary of this article could be:1. Using Beta BIOS
2. and Beta Drivers
3. We didn't find anything significant.
What's more interesting is,
Then it goes on,
I went on to look through the comments section in previous P35 article, and I haven't seen ONE comment regarding DDR3 '1T' performance nor DDR3 CrossFire. Most users seem to take interest in performance increase over existing chipset (using DDR2) and overall usability of newly introduced features (eSATA with port multiplier, USB/RAID performance, Turbo memory(?), etc.), as well as the upgrade-ability to Penryn.
If AT thinks at this point DDR3 is the #1 topic in enthusiast community, I should say they are living in a different world. It could be a different story, though, if there is a different motif/agenda to 'push' DDR3 (1T is an icing on the cake). Is there? :)
When P965 just got mature after so many headaches that users go through, I suggest AT to take a cautious approach to P35. To many (all?) users, P35 is just a P965+ and DDR3 isn't even a factor. Instead of 1~2% of performance increase using DDR3, I'd like to see thorough testings on overall system stability and usability of newly introduced features from AT reviews. (I hope others would agree)
P.S. And what is this?
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/PenguinBell...">http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d177/PenguinBell...
yacoub - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - link
I'm also interested to know why they switched their testbed's GPU to something few people own instead of the more standard 8800GTX that offers at least as good performance but is also used by a wider percentage of readers and has a more mature driverset.Why does Anandtech seem to go out of their way to find the most incongruous system possible compared to their audience?
JarredWalton - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - link
P965 CrossFire is supported, and SLI is not, so that's one reason to use a 2900 XT. It's a feature that is touted as a selling point of the motherboards.yyrkoon - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - link
You guys sure are 'harping' heavily on this new fan dangled P35 chipset . . . Surely there are other, better things to write about in this day and age ? I am all for reading about impressive benchmarks, and new technology etc, but man, I think you guys have beat this horse to death.Personally, I would rather be reading about the possibilities of PCIe v2.0, more camera reviews, Virtualisation, or even what Linux people think about Vista.
Some new content for your readers would be appriciated . . .
yacoub - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - link
I was sorta with you until I read your list of alternatives. Then I immediately wanted to read more P35 reviews if those are the alternatives. =Ptungtung - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - link
" Considering the performance of the P35 chipset when set up correctly, we would love to see a manufacturer utilize a different PCIe controller chip setup and bring 8x8 CrossFire capability to this chipset. "Kinda confused by what this means. I mean isn't the PCIe controller built into the northbridge (or southbridge). So if someone were to use a different controller wouldn't it kinda defeat the purpose of having the P35 and ICH9 pairing in the first place? Or does it suggest adding an extra southbridge chip to get a better PCIe performance?
JarredWalton - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - link
I believe that a motherboard manufacturer could make an 2 x X8 PCIe configuration with P35 if they were so inclined. Gary can correct me if that's wrong.Nailer - Saturday, May 26, 2007 - link
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/pcuser/articles/0705/26...">Asus Blitz Extreme and Blitz Formula Computex Preview - Cross Link (2 x X8 PCIe)Haltech - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - link
How exactly can by switching motherboards can up FPS in games? Is it just one northbrige chip better then the other or just the layout.