Benchmarks III
Let's now focus on gaming. We'll start, as always, with 3DMark 2001SE. Benchmarked at its default resolution of 1024x76x32.
The inadequacy of running single-channel DDR on an nForce2 motherboard is further highlighted here as it sits at the bottom of the pile. Dual-channel DDR266 at 133FSB comfortably breaks the 14,000 barrier. Running at 2GHz/166FSB/Dual-channel DDR333, however, makes the rest of the results look poor in comparison. The massive amount of theoretical bandwidth, at over 5GB/s, together with a processor able to eat 2.7GB/s instead of the usual 2.1GB/s, results in hither-to unseen scores on an AMD platform with 'only' 2GHz behind it. For a compare, head over here. No card clocking or other optimisations were present. 700+ marks with a faster FSB but constant CPU is impressive.
On to Serious Sam 2. We're benchmarking the publicly available Valley of the Jaguar Timedemo, one that is heavily reliant on subsystem speed, at 1024x768x32 Normal preferences.
More impressive numbers from the nForce2 outfit when run in varying combinations. At 166FSB it takes around 10fps out of KT400 being run at the same speed and FSB.
What about Comanche 4 at 1024x768x32 ?
Not quite the gains as on the other two benchmarks, but the dual-channel-equipped ABIT nForce2 is the AMD chipset to beat. It's failing, however, is running a single stick of RAM. Do yourself a favour, get two identical sticks of super-fast RAM, and then watch it fly.
