System setup and notes
| Motherboard | ASUS P7H57D-V EVO | Intel DH55TC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £149.87 |
£81.72 | |
| Chipset | Intel H57 | Intel H55 | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-661 LGA1156 (3.3/3.6GHz, 0.5MB L2 Cache + 4MB L3 cache, dual-core + HT) |
||
| BIOS revision | 0401
(12/02/2009) |
0027 (11/19/2009) | |
| Mainboard software | Intel Inf 9.1.1.1020 + Matrix Storage Manager 9.5.0.1037 | ||
| Memory | 4GB (2 x 2GB) Corsair Dominator GT CMD8GX3M4A1600C8 | ||
| Memory timings and speed | 9-9-9-24 2T @ DDR3 1,338 | 9-9-9-24 1T @ DDR3 1,333 | |
| Integrated graphics | Integrated GMA HD 256MB (900 / 1338) | Integrated GMA HD 256MB (900 / 1333) | |
| Integrated Graphics driver | 15.16.4.64.2008_PV (8.15.10.2008) | ||
| Discrete graphics | HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB (850 / 4800) | ||
| Discrete graphics driver | Catalyst 9.12 (8.681-091124a-092499C-ATI) | ||
| Disk drive | Seagate 1,000GB SATAII (ST31000528AS) | ||
| Operating system | Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) | ||
| PSU | Corsair CX400W | ||
Tests
| Benchmarks |
SiSoft
Sandra 2010 (16.11), float buffered HDTach - SATA average
read speed Far Cry 2 v1.03 -
1,024x768 very-high-detail 0xAA Power-consumption tests |
|---|
Testing notes
The first two Clarkdale-compatible motherboards we've received are at vastly different price points and in different form factors, thus the Intel DH55TC has been included purely to provide reference performance numbers.
When testing a motherboard one of the most important aspects is to evaluate its stability, so what better CPU to use than one with a relatively-high TDP. The Core i5 661 fits this bill nicely, which despite its slightly-lower clock speed of 3.3GHz compared to the i5 670's 3.47GHz, has a higher TDP of 87W versus 73W.
Additionally, the clock speed of the built-in Intel HD graphics is higher than that of the Core i5 670. On this note, a Radeon HD 5770 makes a good choice if you decide to upgrade to a discrete graphics card solution - we've found it offers decent playable DX9 and DX10 framerates in most of our benchmarks at 1,680x1,050, and provides DX11 compatibility to boot.
The final component choice which is likely to have a noticeable effect
on performance is the memory. It might seem a bit odd at first, to
choose a relatively expensive DDR3 1,600MHz kit to test with on a mid-range
motherboard, but this choice actually makes a lot of sense. For the
majority of benchmarks we run these at DDR3 1,333MHz with the same CL9
timings you're likely to find on budget 1,333MHz kits, therefore
performance should be the same.
However when it comes time to testing
overclocked performance, we can happily keep the same modules installed
and run them at their rated CL8 DDR3 1,600MHz speed. A couple more benefits
of using this kit are to check the X.M.P. functionality works in the
BIOS and also to prevent any memory-related limitations when finding
the overclocking limits of the board.
All of the 2D benchmarks are run using just the integrated graphics of the Intel Core i5 661 CPU.
However, apart from the relevant 3D benchmarks and power numbers, the Radeon HD 5770 graphics card is installed when running the overclocking tests in order to prevent any GPU-related limits from holding things back.
Issues
During our testing we found that when saving and later restoring BIOS profiles, neither manual CPU ratios or manual DRAM timings were restored correctly.
The CPU ratio would restore as what was preset in the X.M.P. profile (x21) , whereas the CAS-Latency, RAS-to-CAS delay, RAS precharge time, RAS cycle time, and DRAM timing mode (command rate) would always restore as 'auto' timings instead of the 9-9-9-24 2T or 8-8-8-24 2T manual timings specified.
On another note, it wasn't possible to run exactly the same memory command rate on the Intel DH55TC motherboard, or run the overclocked numbers. No matter what we tried, we couldn't get access to either manual memory timings, or CPU ratio adjustments.
After a brief investigation, it was discovered this is most likely due to a known limitation with the current board revision regarding memory voltage adjustment. Thus we think this whole section of the BIOS has been deliberately locked-out.
