Testbed Setup
| Testbed Setup Overclocking / Benchmark Testbed |
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| Processor | 1 x Intel i5 870 ES CPU 2.93GHz, 8 Threads, 8MB L3 Intel i5 750 Retail 2.66GHz, 4 Threads, 8MB L3 Intel I7 920 D0 2.66GHz, 8 Threads, 8MB L3 |
| CPU Voltage | Various |
| Cooling | Intel air cooler, Heatkiller 3.0 waterblock, PA120.2 radiator and DDC ultra pump (with Petra top), 1/2 ID tubing for watercooling. |
| Power Supply | Corsair HX950 |
| Memory | Corsair Dominator GT 8-8-8-24 2200MHz 4GB kit (X2 for 8GB) G.Skill Perfect Storm 8-8-8-24 2200MHz 4GB kit. |
| Memory Settings | Various |
| Video Cards | MSI 275 Lightning (stock clocks) |
| Video Drivers | nVidia 195.62 WHQL |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 7200RPM 1TB SATA 3/Gbps 32MB Buffer OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD |
| Optical Drives | Plextor PX-B900A, Toshiba SD-H802A |
| Case | Open Test Bed - Dimastech Benching Station Lian-Li V2110 |
| Operating System | Windows 7 64 bit |
| . | |
We utilized memory kits from Corsair> and G.Skill> to verify memory compatibility on our test boards. Our OS and primary applications are loaded on the OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD drive and our games operate off the WD Caviar Black 1TB drive. We did a clean install of the OS and applications for each motherboard.
We used Intel's stock cooler for the stock comparison testing, while water-cooling via the superlative Heat Killer 3.0 water block was utilized for overclocking. For graphics duty, we used MSI's 275 Lighting GPU to provide performance comparisons between boards during gaming benchmarks.
For our test results we set up each board as closely as possible in regards to memory timings. Otherwise all other settings are left on auto. The P55 utilized 8GB of DDR3 (apart from DFI's MI-T36 which is limited to 4GB), while the X58 platform contained 6GB. The P55 and X58 DDR3 timings were set to 7-7-7-20 1T at DDR3-1600 for the i7-920 and i7-870 processors at both stock and overclocked CPU settings.
We used DDR3-1333 6-6-6-18 1T timings for the i5-750 stock setup for all system benchmarks (non gaming tests) as DDR3-1600 is not natively supported at a stock BCLK setting of 133. The current DFI BIOS appears to offer the 2:12 ratio on 750 CPUs, but selecting the option reverts to 2:10 anyway. Most vendors have removed the 2:12 option for these processors because of instability issues. We expect DFI will do the same in the near future.
The 4GHz gaming results are included for fixed frequency comparison purposes only. The MI-T36 is not comfortable running these frequencies 24/7, but managed to complete our gaming suite because the processor is not loaded heavily by most 3D intensive game engines. We included these results merely to tie in with our database without having to rerun tests on a variety of boards just to cater to a single board.
Non-3D test results are all identical to the P55 boards, so we've not spent too much of our time re-running the same tests for the same numbers. We're not providing a running commentary for that section of benchmarks as there are no discernable performance differences when running each of these boards at the same operating frequency.
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DigitalFreak - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link
If DFI provides the BIOS update, you can use the new Clarkdale Cire i3 & i5 CPUs with this board. You obviously can't use the onboard video, but the CPU should work fine.I would expect to see H57 / H55 mini-itx boards in the next couple of months.
ScavengerLX - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link
I'm using this board with a 5770 and a 860 in a Silverstone SG-06 case. I love it! I overclocked the bclock to 150 (w/ HT on) while leaving all of the voltages on Auto and its perfectly stable. Pushing beyond 150 bclock causes system instability. With 8 threads running in prime95 Vcore is at 1.15V (3.3GHz on 4 cores, 3.7GHz on 2 cores). Idle temps are in the upper 20s with all of the power saving features on. I'm using a Coolermaster GeminII S with a 120x20mm Yate Loon and it barely fits.I'm running all of this on the stock 300w PSU!
stefi - Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - link
Great, I was thinking of using SG-06 with HD 5750 and i5-750 :)) Do you have some pics to post? What brand of 5770 do you have? Is it quiet enough when idle? Do you have any aditional fans on the case?Mr Perfect - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link
Nice build! That's about what I'm eyeing myself, assuming nothing new pops up at CES. :)It's impressive to see someone push the 300watt supply too. 1KW+ PSUs have been the norm for so long, that everyone automatically assumes you can't do jack with anything lower then 600 or so. That said, hopefully the 450(http://www.sffclub.com/index.php?option=com_conten...">http://www.sffclub.com/index.php?option...amp;cati... replaces the 300 in Silverstone's cases.
fr500 - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link
How!!!I mean, the GeminII does not have mounting options for 1156 chips
I'm waiting for the 450w psu for the SG05, anyway my Zotac 9300-D-E with an e8500@3.7Ghz and a GTS250 overclocked is enough for most console ports :D and HTPC duty
fr500 - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link
Edit: Duh I just realized you said GeminII S. My badGeorgeH - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link
On the board features page, it lists 6x SATA ports from the chipset and 4x from a JMB322. If there are only 4 ports on the board, what's the point of the JMB322? And isn't the JMB322 a 1 or 2 port part?Also, did DFI say who the target market was? Without an IGP and with limited SATA ports I'm having trouble thinking of any good usage scenarios for this board.
Rajinder Gill - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link
Hi George,That was my mistake on the SATA ports. I used a template XLS and forgot to delete some of the cell data. It's fixed now.
thanks!
Raja
tomoyo - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link
I was really hopeful for some good clarkdale mini-itx mobos, with only one chip in addition to the processor, it makes for better board layouts. I hope we'll start getting more case choices also, especially a few in server config. I'd love to make a mini-itx Raid box that can outdo the pre-built raid machines out there.zer0sum - Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - link
That is already possible using ion 330 based boards like the POV.4 x sata and 1 x esata, 1Gb NIC supports jumbo frames with 7200 MTU under linux
Then just add a Chenbro ES34069 chassis with 4 x hot swap sata bays.
I can't seem to get Freenas working with jumbo frames as I suspect the NIC driver is not quiet up to speed under FreeBSD.
Ubuntu works perfectly though and I can easily get 80-100Mb/s off a 2 disk mirror.
Just waiting on more disks to see how raid 5 speed works out.
It is an expensive little chassis but it is also damn cool
Z