| ASUS P6X58D-Premium SATA6G Motherboard |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Motherboards | |
| Written by Olin Coles | |
| Thursday, 18 February 2010 | |
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Page 12 of 17
PCMark Vantage Test ResultsPCMark Vantage is an objective hardware performance benchmark tool for PCs running 32 and 64 bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7. PCMark Vantage is perfectly suited for benchmarking any type of Microsoft Windows Vista/7 PC from multimedia home entertainment systems and laptops to dedicated workstations and hi-end gaming rigs. Benchmark Reviews has decided to use a few select tests from the suite to test the X58-Express platform in this article. Our tests were conducted on 64-bit Windows 7, with results displayed in the charts below. TV and Movies SuiteThe tests in the TV and Movies Suite have been selected to represent the Windows Vista TV and Movies Consumer Scenario. The combination of test sets covers the common TV and Movies usage. The TV and Movies Suite gives a separate PCMark TV and Movies Score which does not affect the overall PCMark Score. TV and Movies Suite include the following tests:
Gaming SuiteThe tests in the Gaming Suite have been selected to represent the Windows Vista Gaming Consumer Scenario. The combination of test sets covers the common Gaming usage. The Gaming Suite gives a separate PCMark Gaming Score which does not affect the overall PCMark Score. Gaming Suite includes the following tests:
Music SuiteThe tests in the Music Suite have been selected to represent the Windows Vista Music Consumer Scenario. The combination of test sets covers the common Music usage. The Music Suite gives a separate PCMark Music Score which does not affect the overall PCMark Score. Music Suite includes the following tests:
Using the same ASUS ENGTX285 TOP GeForce GTX 285 video card with Forceware 196.21 driver and OCZ 1333MHz DDR3 memory kit with CL 7-7-7-20 timings between all motherboards, and aided by the OCZ Agility-EX SSD using TRIM/GC-enabled firmware 1.50, PCMark Vantage benchmark tests were repeated and averaged for the chart illustrated above. Using the Gigabyte EX58-UD4P as a reference point, TV and Movies performance was improved by 1.9% with the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 motherboard, and output further increased by 4.0% with the ASUS P6X58D-Premium X58-Express SATA-6G motherboard. Gaming performance followed the same ratio among motherboards, while Music benchmark tests showed a 3.41% benefit to the X58A-UD7 and an impressive 9.0% performance boost on the ASUS P6X58D-Premium. The conclusion we can build with these results that the ASUS P6X58D-Premium motherboard offers better overall system performance, up to 9% according to PCMark Vantage benchmark tests, and may yield a better multimedia and gaming experience for enthusiasts.
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Comments
Why is this a con when this is not the fault of the motherboard but of the OS?
It's a con.
I don't see how it is different to have 4GB RAM + 1GB GPU or 3GB RAM + 1GB GPU. In the end your CPU will only address 4GB memory so in the dual channel config you are wasting 1GB. Assuming a 2GB GPU in dual channel configs you will get 4GB RAM + 2GB GPU= 2GB RAM + 2GB GPU which means you will waste 2Gb of RAM (assuming the OS will keep favouring GPU memory over RAM). In triple channel you would get 3GB RAM + 2GB GPU = 2GB RAM + 2GB GPU.
If the OS decides to cut off the extra 1GB from the GPU then you still end up with 3GB RAM and 1GB GPU in both configs.
Not a con.
My rating is subjective, and it is my own. As I say at the beginning of the Conclusion page: Please do not base your purchases solely on our conclusion.
You stated that 6 of 32 PCIe lanes are borrowed from graphics for USB 3.0/SATA-6G support. However, Intel?s X58 IOH supports 36 PCIe lanes, of which 32 are required for 16x/8x/8x triple-SLI/CFX. I?m not sure why the motherboard would reserve six lanes, since only four are used by the ASUS U3S6 PCI-E 4x expansion card. It appears that the graphics performance of this motherboard may not be crippled after all. Although I?m still not sure what happens in the 16x/16x/1x configuration, since an extra lane is required.
If it is an enthusiast board as you say, you'd expect rookies to buy a simpler solution, no? Complication not really a con here!
The X58 IOH has: 36 PCIe lanes, 4 PCIe lanes linking to the ICH10 southbridge, and a QPI link to the CPU. Unless ASUS are insane, the SATA3 and USB3 controllers would use 4 PCIe lanes from the IOH, leaving a full 32 PCIe lanes for graphics (16 + 16, or 16 + 8 + 8). The PCIe 1X slot, the 1X lane for 16 + 16 + 1 mode, and PCIe lanes for the gigabit LAN would be provided by the ICH10.
#2. Windows client(Non server variants), use to support PAE for memory reasons, but drivers ALSO need to correctly support the feature otherwise memory/data corruption can happen. MS decided too many companies couldn't make decent drivers and disabled extended memory for non-server versions.
#3. Who uses 32bit OS's anymore? That's like using dial up when you have access to FIOS.
(2) Am I correct to assume that the ASUS motherboard will not support SATA-III Raid 0 ?
(3) Which gives the most bang-for-the-buck: the Crucial RealSSD-C300 with a SATA-III controller (the Marvell SE128 on the Gigabyte motherboard), or the Intel SSD 80GB with a SATA-II controller (the Marvell SE123 on the ASUS motherboard) ?
(4) And finally, if I go with the Gigabyte board, I am thinking about going with the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 as opposed to the ?UD7... as I am an architect using CAD and GIS and not a gamer and thus don?t see the need for advanced cooling. Any problems with this decision ?
2) You are correct.
3) Crucial is faster for sure, but I think the OCZ Agility or Corsair Nova are the best bang for the buck.
4) I would use P55 and not X58. My company has built many CAD/CAM systems, and you want to spend your money on a very fast HDD or SSD, decent video card, and plenty of RAM. P55 does a better job with memory and CPU performance than X58... clock for clock.