Benchmarks
We have benchmarked the CF-S968 so that you can gauge the potential performance of the machine. Where possible we have provided benchmarks using the onboard graphics and the Radeon 9700 pro.
Each benchmark was run with the drivers set to their default settings. Each test was run three times with the highest and lowest results discarded.
Where we have provided benchmarks with the CF-S968 overclocked the FSB frequency was set to 152 MHz in the bios. No other settings were altered from the stock tests.
Despite our problems setting up the CF-S968 with our hardware we were so impressed with its performance that we make no apology for comparing it to the Asus P4G8X Deluxe which is still the fasted Pentium 4 motherboard we have reviewed. When you consider that the P4G8X uses dual band DDR memory and the CF-S968 uses single the performance of the CF-S968 becomes apparent.
Sisoft Sandra 2003
Clearly the Asus motherboard with its dual channel DDR memory is way ahead of the CF-S968 in the memory tests.
It was interesting to note the effect the on board graphics has to the performance of the system memory. As some of the memory is shared performance is significantly reduced. This means that any memory dependent application would benefit from an additional graphics card, not just games.
Both of the multimedia tests were run with the Radeon installed. And the CF-S968 is so close to the performance of the Asus in this area. Fantastic performance.
PC MARK 2002
Here we see a very similar picture to the Sandra results with the Asus well ahead in the memory tests due to dual DDR. The effect of the on board graphics to memory performance was confirmed as being very significant.
PiFast
Any score in the low 80’s in this benchmark represents a very good performance. The Asus is exceptional at this test. The CF-S968 responded very well when overclocked.
Futuremark 3D Mark
When all of the theoretical tests are put to practical use in the graphics arena the CF-S968 is very close to the performance of the Asus in 3D Mark.
We begin to see the on board graphics struggling. For an on board solution however a score of just under 2000 is very good.
Gaming performance
The game tests were run using the default display settings and a resolution of 1024x768 32Bit.
The on board graphics really can not cope with 3D gaming. With fewer than 8 frames per second in UT Botmatch there is really no hope. Trying to play UT 2003 even at 640x480 resolutions proved impossible. Quake on the other hand, although not brilliant was playable.
Once the Radeon is added performance takes a huge leap and is not far behind the Asus. UT2003 worked very, very well with the CF-S968 and the 9700 pro. The results speak for themselves.
