nForce4: PCI Express and SLI for Athlon 64

Performance Test Configuration

If you are interested in more information comparing the Athlon64, Athlon64 FX, Prescott, P4, and P4EE, please see our in-depth comparisons in the recent launch reviews:

.09 Athlon 64: Value, Speed and Overclocking
AMD Sempron: A Fresh Take on Budget Computing
Intel's 925X & LGA-775: Are Prescott 3.6 and PCI Express Graphics any Faster?
Intel 925X/915: Chipset Performance & DDR2
Socket 939 Chipsets: Motherboard Performance & PCI/AGP Locks
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ and FX-53: The First 939 CPUs
The Athlon 64 FX-53: AMD's Next Enthusiast Part
Intel's Pentium 4 E: Prescott Arrives with Luggage

Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s):	AMD Athlon 64 FX55 (2.6GHz) Socket 939 AMD Athlon 64 FX53 (2.4GHz) Socket 939
RAM:	2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 OR 2 x 512MB Corsair 3200XL XMS3208v1.1
Hard Drive(s):	Maxtor 250GB 7200RPM SATA (16MB Buffer)
Video AGP & IDE Bus Master Drivers:	nVidia nForce 6.11 Beta (nForce4) nVidia nForce Platform Driver 4.24 (nForce3 Ultra)
Video Card(s):	nVidia 6800 Ultra (PCI Express) nVidia 6800 Ultra (AGP 8X)
Video Drivers:	nVidia nForce 61.81 Beta (nForce4) nVidia nForce 61.77 (nForce3 Ultra)
Operating System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP1
Motherboards:	nVidia nForce4 Ultra Reference Board MSI K8N Neo2 (nVidia nForce3-250Gb)

ALL PERFORMANCE COMPARISONS WERE MADE WITH THE FX53 (2.4GHz). Test results with the FX55 were included for comparison and are clearly identified as FX55.

Tests used either OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 or Corsair 3200XL XMS3208v1.1 memory modules. Both memories use Samsung TCCD chips and perform virtually the same in our benchmarks at stock speed. Since the nVidia 6800 Ultra AGP was used for testing in the 939 chipset launch, we used the PCI Express 6800 Ultra for all testing with the nForce4. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1024x768x32 unless otherwise noted.