System setup and notes
Here's a quick rundown of the test system should you wish to compare benchmark results with your own.- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Clawhammer CPU. RAM running with an 10 divisor (DDR400, single channel)
- Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz ES 800FSB CPU
- AMD Barton XP3200+ S462 CPU (2200MHz / 200FSB
Other components
- ATi Radeon 9
Software
- Windows XP Professional
Once the slightly tedious task of building into the SB65G2 was completed, Windows XP installed without a hitch. The driver CDs contained all the necessary software to take advantage of the cube's features. Sound, USB 2.0, FireWire and Wireless connectivity all worked first time without issue. The test CPU, a semi-unlocked 3.2GHz P4, was run with a 12x multiplier for FSB testing. The SB65G2, by dint of its bus-fixing feature and Springdale-equipped chipset, managed a rock-solid 260FSB. That's not a one-off benchmarking run or screenshot, that's a day-to-day speed that we'd be utterly confident with. On other motherboards, sound often becomes a little glitchy at high FSBs. That wasn't the case here. Something like a 2.4 or 2.6GHz 'C' P4 would be a perfect partner for a overclocked SB65G2. 3GHz+ performance on the cheap.
So much for the maximum FSB speed.
Benchmarks were conducted at 1024x768x32 @ 85Hz unless otherwise stated. The SB65G2 will be compared to the all-new Athlon 64 cube, the SN85G4, and against perhaps the fastest Socket-478 motherboard currently available, the IC7-MAX3. The running speed of the protagonists were as follows:
3208.2MHz - P4 3.2GHz / ABIT IC7-MAX3 (Canterwood)
3207.7MHz - P4 3.2GHz / SB65G2 (Springdale i865PE)
2205.1MHz - Athlon XP3200+ / EPoX 8RDA3G (nForce2 Ultra 400)
1999.8MHz - Athlon 64 3200+ / SN85G4 (nForce3 150)
