Our testing methods
Since the 790i SLI Ultra is Nvidia's first shot at DDR3, we thought it only fitting to round up a trio of DDR3-equipped Intel chipsets for comparison. We've also thrown in the 790i's predecessor, the nForce 780i SLI, for a little DDR2 flavor. Keep in mind that all three Intel chipsets use the same ICH9R south bridge chip and that both nForces are equipped with what is essentially the same 570 SLI MCP. That should keep peripheral performance relatively consistent across Intel's Express lineup and between our selections from the nForce family.
All tests were run three times, and their results were averaged.
| Processor | Core 2 Duo E6750 2.67GHz | ||||
| System bus | 1333MHz (333MHz quad-pumped) | ||||
| Motherboard | Asus P5K3 Deluxe | Asus P5E3 Deluxe | Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 | XFX nForce 790i SLI Ultra | XFX MB-N780-ISH9 |
| Bios revision | 0604 | 0201 | F4D | 811N1P01 | 2.053.B2 |
| North bridge | Intel P35 Express | Intel X38 Express | Intel X48 Express | nForce 790i SLI Ultra SPP | nForce 780i SLI SPP |
| South bridge | Intel ICH9R | Intel ICH9R | Intel ICH9R | nForce 790i SLI MCP | nForce 780i SLI MCP |
| Chipset drivers |
Chipset 8.3.1.1009 AHCI 7.8.0.1012 |
Chipset 8.3.1.1009 AHCI 7.8.0.1012 |
Chipset 8.3.1.1009 AHCI 7.8.0.1012 |
ForceWare 9.64 | ForceWare 9.46 |
| Memory size | 2GB (2 DIMMs) | 2GB (2 DIMMs) | 2GB (2 DIMMs) | 2GB (2 DIMMs) | 2GB (2 DIMMs) |
| Memory type | Corsair CM3X1024-1600C7DHX DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz | Corsair CM2X2048-8500C5 DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz | |||
| CAS latency (CL) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| RAS precharge (tRP) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| Cycle time (tRAS) | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 12 |
| Command rate | 1T | 1T | 1T | 1T | 1T |
| Audio codec | Integrated AD1988B with 5.10.1.6110 drivers | Integrated AD1988B with 7.0.0.0 drivers | Integrated ALC889A with 1.88 drivers | Integrated ALC888S with 1.88 drivers | Integrated ALC888S with 1.88 drivers |
| Graphics | GeForce 8800 GT 1GB PCIe with ForceWare 169.25 drivers | ||||
| Hard drive | Western Raptor X 150GB | ||||
| OS | Windows Vista Ultimate x86 with KB936710, KB938194, KB938979, KB940105 updates | ||||
Thanks to Corsair for providing us with memory for our testing.
All of our test systems were powered by OCZ GameXStream 700W power supply units. Thanks to OCZ for providing these units for our use in testing.
Finally, we'd like to thank Western Digital for sending Raptor WD1500ADFD hard drives for our test rigs. The Raptor's still the fastest all-around drive on the market, and the only 10K-RPM Serial ATA drive you can buy.
We used the following versions of our test applications:
- SiSoft Sandra Standard 2008 13.12
- WorldBench 6.0 Beta 2
- TCD Labs HD Tach 3.01
- Call of Duty 4 1.4
- RightMark Audio Analyzer 6.06
- NTttcp
- CASE Lab Euler3d CFD benchmark multithreaded edition
- Intel IOMeter v2004.07.30
- Crysis 1.1
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars 1.4
- Half-Life 2: Episode 2
- CPU-Z 1.41
The test systems' Windows desktop was set at 1280x1024 in 32-bit color at an 85Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests.
All the tests and methods we employed are publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.
