Test System / Methods:Intel Socket-T Test System
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CPU | Intel Conroe 6400 SL9S9 L624A851 |
Mainboard | 1.) Gigabyte P965-DS3 Rev.1.0 BIOS F10/F11B 2.) Asus P5W DH Deluxe/WiFi (BIOS 1901) | |
Memory | Mushkin X8500 DDR2 (2GB) |
Graphics | Leadtek 7950GX2 |
Power Supply | PCPower&Cooling Silencer 750EPS12V |
Cooling | Sub Zero CPU waterblock Alphacool NexXxos Pro II Radiator (2x PABST 4412 FG/4L fans) OASE 1500 12V ~ 24V DC-pump with Adjustable DC box 10mm ID tubing |
Storage | 2x Seagate Barracuda 80GB SATA Perpendicular |
Optical | Plextor PX755-SA DVD/RW SATA |
Video Monitor | Samsung 930b 19" |
Operating System | Windows XP |
How we test:This review is different from any other I've ever done since overclocking beyond 8x400FSB (3.2GHz) was accomplished using a desktop based overclocking utility i.e. EasyTune 5. When testing the board I found I had hit a wall beyond 420FSB and while most benchmark were stable at 425FSB this wasn't always the case and it wasn't Orthos stable. No matter the BIOS tweak or BIOS version 420FSB seemed to be the benchmark / Orthos stability limit. Raising voltages only had a deleterious effect which went beyond heat as I installed a 120mm fan just a few cm's from the NB. Surprisingly the P965 chipset allowed higher memory speeds at higher FSB speeds then it did at 266FSB. As in other reviews off this platform I ran the memory from the 800MHz divisor throughout.
Tests:SiSoftware Sandra XI: Arithmetic, Multimedia and Memory Bandwidth benchmarks are used for all motherboard tests.
SuperPi Mod v1.5 XS: testing PI calculations which stress co-processor and memory sub-systems. We run 1M and 2M calculations.
3DMark06: Freeware version from Futuremark tests, CPU, Memory and graphics.
3DMark2001 SE: Discontinued Freeware version, however; this benchmark is still valuable as a tool for testing 3D and memory performance.
MAXON CineBench 9.5: this benchmark stresses the CPU and graphics system primarily using OpenGL.
FEAR mp demo: built in benchmark tests CPU, memory and graphics.
HOC Prey Benchmark: Prey was developed by Human Head and 3D Realms and based off the DOOM3 engine. HOC and Guru3D have given us a valuable tool in this freeware version. Prey was only run on the Gigabyte tests above 400FSB. It will be included in all future motherboard/3D and memory tests until a better tool replaces it.
Below I've provided SuperPi 1M / CPUZ screenshots which I use top record all benchmarks results as a reference for building Excel charts. I've placed them below for verification and to exemplify the point at which FSB speeds delineate from Manual BIOS overclocking to EasyTune assisted overclocking.
Manual - Overclocking |
EasyTune - Overclocking Parameters for each FSB/CPU speed;
8x266FSB = 2130MHz 1.312Vcore / DDR2-800MHz CL5-5-4-12 2.2V
8x400FSB = 3200MHz 1.312Vcore / DDR2-800MHz CL5-5-4-12 2.2V8x430FSB = 3440MHz 1.325Vcore / DDR2-860MHz CL5-6-6-17 2.2V
8x450FSB = 3600MHz 1.392Vcore / DDR2-900MHz CL5-6-6-17 2.3VClicking on the thumbnails below will show screenshots indicating parametrs at frequency.
These settings are used throughout all the following tests. Onto P5W DH vs. P965-DS3 Results ->