Benchmark Performance Comparisons

Next, we wanted to look at the performance of various FSB/divider combinations with 2GB/4GB of RAM. We decided to stick with our tuned 465FSB 1333/800 strap overclock, comparing results between lower FSBs on the 266 strap whilst retaining around 3.72GHz of CPU speed. Any assessments within this section are scrutinized upon the principle of lowest voltages for stable operation at the most effective performance point.

With 4GB of memory in place and the 266 strap we used a Performance Level of 6 when clocking over 400FSB. We used the 266/667 combo@ 414FSBx9 to mimic the CPU speed of 465x8 using the 333/800 divider. Although there is an obvious memory speed disadvantage using the 266/667 combination, justification for doing so was the low VDimm we used for the 465FSB overclock: only 2.12 VDimm was required. While 5-4-4 timings @ 1034MHz using the 266/667 combination demanded around 2.2 VDimm, both are reasonable enough for long-term everyday use.

Using the 266/800 divider would have set the memory speed well in excess of 1200MHz, which quite frankly would require outside warranty specification voltages to operate, including higher VNB to even benchmark the board.

All 3D benches/comparisons were run with an NVIDIA 8800 Ultra clocked at 692/1205

4GB RAM And 333/800 Strap Benchmarks

3DMark01

3DMark06

Company of Heroes 1920x1200

Company of Heroes 1280x1024

Cinebench R10

SuperPi 32M

Quad-Core^4 Benchmark Performance Comparisons (Cont'd)
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  • Acanthus - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link

    Although all of the tweaking options provided are nice, it literally does no better than Asus P5K Deluxe or the Gigabyte P35-DQ6.

    Furthermore with X38 boards on the way, im not seeing a whole lot of incentive for this $300 motherboard.

    Just my $.02
  • retrospooty - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link

    This board has hit 672mhz FSB, far FAR higher than any other other board ever, including early samples of X38. Not likely to be matched until the DFI X38 comes out.

    http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php...">http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php...

    This link shows it at 666mhz, I cant find the 672mhz one at the moment, but its on the same forum, by the same guy with the same golden CPU.
  • cmdrdredd - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link

    Not usable 24/7

    WHO CARES!?
  • retrospooty - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link

    Well, it still goes alot higher than the others you mentioned, it is absolutely the best overclocking motherboard available. - that was what I responded too, obviously its not the one for you.

  • Acanthus - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link

    That is from the DFI labs... with a beta board... on supercooling...and volt mods... on a dual core CPU that doesnt stress the PWMs...

    Anandtechs results even using phase dont approach those results.
  • retrospooty - Friday, October 19, 2007 - link

    No, that is not from DFI labs, that is an independant dood, and CPU's that hit that high FSB are pretty rare.

    Whatever man, you can poo poo it all you want. It is the best OC mobo out there, and goes higher and takes it farther than any other. It may not be the one for you though.
  • Raja Gill - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link

    You need to remember that this board was compared at stock settings, not OC'ed, things change up top...;), not to mention we could not get the board to crash..

    regards
    Raja





  • Acanthus - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link

    Its the same chipset, its not going magically increase in a non-linear fashion.

    The P5K and DQ6 hit the same maximum overclock.
  • MadBoris - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link

    It makes sense that article takes a different approach, customers of this board or tweakers in general, will really appreciate the fine details.

    Personally, in the last ten years I have gotten to a place where I am very comfortable not pushing for the last 100 - 300 mhz. The meager tangible return is not worth all the extra voltage or potential stability issues that often come up later in the life of the HW due to creep, dust, aging paste, etc. I get a nice stress test capable OC, then back it up a notch. I won't win any 3dmark awards that way though but am very satisfied with stability when a new product stresses HW in ways not stressed before.

    One thing for sure with this board, I wouldn't want to lose the CMOS, then have to remember all my settings after a year.

    Nice board and good article, $300 is too much though for a MB for me. It's definitely elite.
  • retrospooty - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link

    Its alot of reading, but that is because the DFI is alot of motherboard. I have had it since it was first released and loving every minute of it. I have a C2D 6750 running at 8x500 fsb for a sweet 4 ghz on water at DDR2 1000 4-4-4-10 timing, man is it sweet.

    There are sooooo many bios tweaks to get better performance, or stability at high overclock - its definitely not for beginners... worth every penny of the $300 I spent.

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