Memory Tests
The memory tests are designed to highlight the general performance of the memory subsystem. The SB81P's performance relative to the AG8 is what we're interested in, comparing two Grantsdale systems using differing graphics solutions. We use a trio of tests to analyse said performance, Pifast is up first. It's our own custom test to 10M decimal places.Pifast
The SB81P, using the memory performance-sucking GMA900 on-board VGA core, puts in a respectable Pifast time. It's competitive with the AG8, a good early sign.
Sciencemark 2.0 - Bandwidth
Sciencemark 2.0 measures peak CPU to memory controller bandwidth, the bandwidth available to the CPU for memory intensive tasks. It doesn't take into account any excess bandwidth available on the memory controller, that may or may not be usable by other peripherals.
The SB81P, using the same CPU and memory modules (also at the same timings) as the AG8, is roughly 500MB/sec down compared to that ABIT board. The on-board VGA core accounts for the majority of the difference.
Sciencemark 2.0 - Access Latency
There's also a slight main memory access penalty that rears its head in the Sciencemark analysis, showing that the SB81P takes longer to go out to main memory than the same core logic that isn't hampered by the need to run an on-board graphics core.
