Power consumption, and overclocking
| Power consumption - idle | ||
|---|---|---|
| ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO (785G) | Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H (790GX) | Intel DG45ID (G45) |
| 59 | 62 | 46 |
The Intel combination wins out, easily, when idling. We also ran the test with ASUS' EPU set to maximum efficiency mode, which keeps the CPU at minimum speeds at all times. Power-draw drops to 55W with it activated.
| Power consumption - load (2D) | ||
|---|---|---|
| ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO (785G) | Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H (790GX) | Intel DG45ID (G45) |
| 105 | 127 | 90 |
2D load is defined as running Prime95 on all available cores. 785G does a lot better than 790GX here, thanks to better power management of the IGP, which can throttle down to just 60W when not under load. It almost matches the G45.
| Power consumption - load (3D) | ||
|---|---|---|
| ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO (785G) | Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H (790GX) | Intel DG45ID (G45) |
| 105 | 130 | 96 |
3D load is where we load half the CPU cores with Prime95 and set the other half to run the Canyon test from 3DMark06. It is swings and roundabouts as the reduced CPU load is taken up by the IGP. Still, a system-wide figure of 105W is reasonably good.
Overclocking
We increased all voltages by 10 per cent - a safe margin - and managed to crank up the GPU's speed from 500MHz/1,333MHz (SidePort) to 855MHz/1,627MHz. A 1GHz IGP speed should be possible with better cooling.
The Company of Heroes DX10 benchmark result jumps from 15.44fps to 25.6fps - an increase of 65.8 per cent! - and enough to beat out a stock-clocked 790GX. What's more, it makes the game generally playable, too.
From a motherboard perspective, we were able to crank the HTT clock up to 289MHz, up from 200MHz.
