KribiBench, WAV, Raytracing and HDTach
Converting WAV files into 192kb/s MP3 format now.
This test doesn't rely on memory bandwidth. Rather, it's a computational activity that thrives on clock speed. That's how and why the Scan and HEXUS P4 systems are able to outpace the Athlon 64 3200+ duo.
Realstorm sees it differently. The raytracing nature of the benchmark lends itself well to the number-crunching and FPU prowess of Athlon 64 3200+. Scan's system, remember that it's one that's overclocking a 2.6GHz 200MHz Pentium 4 to 240MHz FSB, is just behind the HEXUS 3.2GHz rig. It all plays out as expected.
Kribibench's a software renderer from Adept Development. Here the performance boot is on the other foot.
2 Maxtor 80GB hard drives, set to RAID0 on the IS7's SATA-supporting Southbridge, produce a sawtooth pattern in Simpli Software's HDTach disk-reading test. A single Maxtor 80GB manages to average over 40MB/s so RAIDing them doesn't appear to confer the kind of benefits we usually associate with two drives acting as one. For simplicity's sake, we'd prefer two drives running in an independent manner.
