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 | | Benchmarks and Comparisons | | OpenGL & DirectX | |
Quake 3:
The first test we ran on the SR7-8X was the Quake 3 Timedemo "DEMO001" with the display settings set to "fastest" and the screen resolution at 640x480x16. This helps us to determine the CPU limitations of a motherboard by minimizing the impact the video card has on the performance of the game. With the display settings calibrated in this manner, the ability of the game to tax the video card is virtually eliminated, allowing the benchmark to focus almost solely on the motherboard's CPU performance.
Both boards topped the 325FPS range, with the Abit besting the Shuttle system by a small margin. In the next round we set the same Timedemo to run at 1024x768x32 with all visual qualities set to maximum. We ran both systems at the default memory speed of 333MHz. and also ran the Abit system at 400MHz. to demonstrate the benefits of an additional 67MHz. of DDR bandwidth.
Once again the two systems were in a virtual dead heat, with the scales tipped ever-so-slightly in favor of the Shuttle comparison system. Once we increase the memory speed to 400MHz., we saw an increase of roughly 20FPS. No matter how you look at it, both systems are quite capable in the OpenGL gaming arena and we suspect we will see an equally good showing in with DirectX as well.
Direct X with MadOnion's 3DMark2001SE: The next test we ran was the ever popular DirectX benchmark, 3DMark2001SE (Build 330). We ran the benchmark at the default settings to show how the system performed with DirectX applications.
The Abit and Shuttle put up impressive numbers with the Abit board taking the lead by 56 points. Once we kicked the memory up to 400MHz., we tacked on an additional 69 points to round out the test at 11388. Interestingly enough, the boost from 333MHz. to 400MHz. is 20%, yet the actual benchmark scores only increased by a mere .5% (1/2%). Although a little extra in memory bandwidth is always welcome, these gains would not be noticed in the real world. Next we'll run another system benchmark to gauge both motherboard's performance...yes, we are talking about PCMark2002 Pro.
MadOnion's PCMark2002Pro
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