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LOST PLANET 2 DX11 1920 X 1200 TEST A - 40.1 fps In the same GPU clock, let’s compare the performance by CPU difference. 3DMark Vantage GPU score is almost the same, but the CPU score raise around 13%. FINAL FANTASY XIV, DEVIL MAY CRY4, StreetFighter IV Benchmark 3D performance also raise a little. However, it doesn’t mean higher CPU clock doesn’t help 3D performance. It’s possible that CAPCOM games don’t rely on CPU. In the market, there are many GAME needs high CPU ability. For Intel hi-end X58 platform, the entry model price always keeps at 300USD. Since i7-920, i7-930 and i7-950 are all in this range. The hi-end one is 32nm 6C12T 980X Extreme to replace 45nm 4C8T 965/975 Extreme. So if you own LAG 1366 platform, you no need to envy 2011 Sandy Bridge. After all, LGA 1155 is 32nm 4C8T i7 product line, so far there is no news about 6C12T CPU. LGA 1366 is long life product in Intel platform. Since Nov 2008 launched, Intel will launch new LGA2011 chipset in 2011 Q4. This part is not same as LGA 1156 users which need to upgrade soon. In multi-core performance, 980X and 990X can provide upgradeable higher performance. Although I know the price is high, but it’s still better than no 32nm 6C12T CPU can choose. Last thing about X58 product line is X58 having wide product range in the market due to every vendor launched many models in past 2 years. The most entry X58 chipset MB is same as X58A-UD3R around 250USD. Compare to the other same price range P55 products, even the entry X58 products spec is still better than P55. This is windwithme 15th LGA 1366 review in past 2 years. I hope it can be your reference data before purchasing. This article is also published in my personal blog. WIND'S 3C You are welcome to check any time.

OC Performance CPU 200 X 20 => 4000MHz 1.392V DDR3 2000 CL8 9-7-24 1T 1.600V Hyper PI 32M X8=> 14m 04.133s CPUMARK 99=> 628 Nuclearus Multi Core => 26426 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 30.61/14690 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 313158 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 6.88 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.40 pts Windows Experience Index - CPU 7.7 PCMark Vantage => 18251 After i7-950 OC to 4GHz, you can compare the detail performance difference. The performance increases over 20% in most benchmark software. There is only Windows Experience Index is almost the same. It’s due to Windows Experience Index is the estimate system performance. It doesn’t test too detail items. This system get 7.7 of 7.9 is very high score already. I used to test several better quality Core i7, most need 1.30~1.392V to OC to 4.2GHz. Just for your reference. 3D Performance 3DMark Vantage => P17254 CPU SCORE => 54034 GPU SCORE => 14063 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 => 210.98FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1920 X 1200 => 154.46/127.41/166.21/116.81 fps FINAL FANTASY XIV 1920 X 1080 => 3209

FINAL FANTASY XIV 1920 X 1080 => 3172 LOST PLANET 2 DX11 1920 X 1200 TEST A - 37.5 fps GTX460 is mid-end VGA market, and its performance is quite well in the above games. OC version clock is 715MHz which is higher than normal GTX460. 3DMark Vantage is also over 17000. LOST PLANET 2, need very high 3D performance, is over 37 pages as well. BIOS OC Setup Main BIOS Tuning Menu, called M.I.T. System Status and Info CPU 200Mhz/DDR3 2000 Setup Page Memory Setup Page Advanced DDR3 Parameter Setup Voltage Page Load-Line Calibration Standard/Level1/Level2 CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.075~2.015V CPU PLL 1.300~2.520V IOH Core 1.000~2.000V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V Besides CPU, DDR3 quality, voltage is also important for OC. You can see the X58A-UD3R setup pages above, QPI/Vtt Voltage is important for pulling high clock. CPU operates at 200/2000 stable will need 1.45~1.55V. The voltage setup is the key factor for OC X58 chipset. DDR3 Bandwidth Comparison DDR3 1865.2 CL8 9-7-24 1T 1.500V Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 28574 MB/s ADIA64 Memory Read - 16057 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 21755 MB/s DDR3 2000 CL8 9-7-24 1T 1.600V Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 30813 MB/s ADIA64 Memory Read - 21072 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 21755 MB/s LGA 1366 platform is the only platform supports 3-channel technology. The DDR3 bandwidth is extremely high. Especially, when OC to DDR3 2000, the performance is almost double. DDR3 performance increased is the key strength for Intel phase in Core i7.

System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i7-950 MB: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400 VGA: GIGABYTE GTX460 OC HD: Intel X25-V 40GB RAID 0 POWER: CORSAIR Gold AX750W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Default performance CPU 133.2 X 24 => 3197.8MHz 1.088V DDR3 1865.2 CL8 9-7-24 1T 1.500V Hyper PI 32M X8=> 17m 04.626s CPUMARK 99=> 504 Nuclearus Multi Core => 21816 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 24.63/11822 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 257373 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 5.53 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.12 pts Windows Experience Index - CPU 7.5 PCMark Vantage => 15799 i7-950 spec is over 3GHz already. When user enable Turbo Boost, the clock can pull to 3.2~3.3GHz. i7-950 can get very good scores in most common benchmark software. The CPU performance has achieved high end segment. Also, DRAM can OC to DDR3 1866 without pulling CPU frequency and combine exclusive 3-channel technology, the overall performance can be enhanced more. This time, I use new mid-end VGA - GTX460. I also test some 3D benchmark to compare the LGA 1366 performance. 3D Performance 3DMark Vantage => P17078 CPU SCORE => 47850 GPU SCORE => 14063 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 => 209.18FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1920 X 1200 => 156.96/133.44/161.89/115.24 fps

I still remember Intel launched new platform in November 2008. It started the Core i7 Age. This platform is LGA1366, and CPU is Core i7 series. The chipset is X58+ICH10R. Half years later, Intel announced LGA 1156 platform and CPU has Core i3, i5 and i7 which is wider product range. For LGA 1366 market position is not big impact compare to P55. Currently, LGA 1366 platform strength are 3-channel memory and multi PCI-E x16. The weakness is X58 power consumption is higher. The entry model is same as mid range LGA 1156 platform. End of March, Intel announced first 32nm 6-cores 980X CPU for X58 platform to extend its’ life cycle. Internet also has many news about next 6C12T Core i7-980X in 2011. Back to our topic - Intel Core i7-950. Blue box is representing Intel. The price is 9100NT, around 299USD. Inside the box, there are CPU, original copper-bottom cooler, manual and Intel sticker. The clock is 3.06GHz, support Turbo Boost to achieve 3.33GHz. Physical 4 Cores with Hyper-Threading to reach 8 threading, also called 4C/8T. 45nm manufacturing, Max TDP 130W, 8MB L3 Cache. The spec above are all entry LGA 1366 CPU spec. MB is GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R, the entry model for high end X58 chipset. The price is around 7500NTD, 250USD. Light blue and white colors design. The overall components and design are good. Lower-Left Corner 2 X PCI-E X16 supports X16 and 2-Way/3-Way ATI CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI technology. 2 X PCI-E X16 supports X8 Realtek 8111E LAN Chip Realtek ALC889 supports 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio/Dolby Home Theater technology Design in Taipei Lower-Right Corner 6 X Blue SATAII, provided by ICH10R, SATA2 supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 2 X White SATAII, provided by GIGABYTE SATA2 chip, SATA2 supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD 1 X IDE, provided by GIGABYTE SATA2 chip 2 X White SATAIII, provided by Marvell 9128, SATA3 supports RAID 0, RAID 1 Dual BIOS, dual protection Upper-Right Corner 6 X DIMM DDR3 supports 800/1066/1333/1866/2200(OC) and the maximum capacity is DDR3 24GB. DDR3 uses 2 phase PWM and next is 24-PIN power connector. Upper-Left Corner LGA 1366 CPU socket. The electroplating metal cover for better looking. Back is 8PIN design, UD3R uses 12 phase PWM to fulfill X58 platform Core i7 power. IO 4 X USB 2.0(Black/Yellow) 2 X USB 3.0(Blue) 1 X RJ-45 LAN port 2 X eSATA/USB 2.0 combo (Yellow) 1 X S/PDIF Fiber/Coaxial output 1 X 1394a clr CMOS button

Sorry, its 2600K

CPU Intel Core i7-2600K 32nm, 4C8T MB BIOSTAR TP67XE Chipest Sandy Bridge - Cougar point DDR3 CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400 CL9 11-9-27 1.65V System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K MB: BIOSTAR TP67XE DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400 VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid 0 POWER: Antec TPQ-1200W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Default Performance CPU 100 X 35 => 3500MHz (Idle 1.044V, Full 1.008V) DDR3 2133.8 CL9 10-9-27 1T 1.5V Hyper PI 32M X8 => 14m 24.460s CPUMARK 99=> 539 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 27.53/13212 AIDA64 Memory Bandwidth - 21901 MB/s OC Performance CPU 100 X 50 => 5000MHz (Idle 1.452V, Full 1.392V) DDR3 2133.8 CL9 10-9-27 1T 1.5V Hyper PI 1M => 07.551s CPUMARK 99=> 770 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 39.25/18839 AIDA64 Memory Bandwidth - 25235 MB/s This article is also posted in my blog: WIND'S 3C Welcome 3C fans to drop by. Thanks

Video 1280 X 720 => CPU 23% 1440 X 1080 => CPU 22% Battery Duration 6Cell battery, Battery Eater Pro (turn off wifi and bluetooth) Full Speed - 1:21:19 Standby - 3:47:28 Acer Aspire 5741G Performance ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Components ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ Specification ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Outlook ★★★★★★★★★☆ C/P Value ★★★★★★★★★☆ (If Using HDD 500GB & ATI HD 5450) Finally, I attach the Spyder2 color correction file for all 5741Gusers. Thanks for reading this Acer Aspire 5741G review. windwithme Acer Aspire 5741G This review also post in my blog WIND'S 3C Welcome 3C lovers to visit and advise.

ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128k benchmark result is max read 283.7 Mb/s and write 261.8 MB/s EVEREST File Benchmark over 1024k benchmark result also above 250 MB/s. CrystalDiskMark 4K QD32 Read - 105.3 MB/s Write - 62.26 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark Seq Read - 192.96 MB/s Write - 52.90 MB/s 4K-64Thrd Read - 105.67 MB/s Write - 47.51 MB/s 3D - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650, 1024MB GDDR3 3DMARK2006 - 7235 DEVIL MAY CRY4 DX10 1280 X 720 => 69.13/64.87/93.97/51.07 fps StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 85.50FPS Biohazard5 Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 19.5fps DRAM performance DDR3 1064.2 CL7 7-7-20 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 7354MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 9063MB/s CPU Temperature Standby - 39~45℃ CPU full speed - 74~80℃

Acer Aspire 5741G uses Intel latest Calpella structure. CPU is Intel Core i3-330M. The clock is 133 X 16 => 2.13GHz, L3 3MB, dual core and supports HT technology. The chipset is HM55. Comparing to GM45, I believe the performance will be much better. Performance test OS is Windows7 Ultimate 64Bit Hardware info in Device Manager Windows7 system performance CPU performance test Super PI 32M => 33m 49.943s CPUMARK99 => 327 Nuclearus Multi Core => 8243 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 8.06/3869 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 128764 CINEBENCH 11.5 OpenGL 12.16fps CPU (Single Core) 0.69pts MP Ratio 2.54x PCMark Vantage => 8607 Using high performance MLC SSD-CORSAIR F60 to test Size is 2.5” and ID is F60. The highest performance is 285/275 MB/s. Random 4K writing performance can reach 50000 IOPS which improve the 4K writing issue in past SSD.

Acer Aspire 5741G Lower right side is monitor lock and SD memory card slot SD / MMC / / MS / MS Pro 15.6” matte monitor, the resolution is 1366X768. The open degree is 140~150. Right Side 2 X USB 2.0\8X Super Multi DL DVD\anti-thief lock Left side Power in, thermal holes, D-SUB, RJ45 LAN, HDMI, USB, Mic in, Line out 6 Cell battery => 2524g

PCMark Vantage => 17668 When OC Core i5-760 from 2.8GHz to 4.2GHz, it can pass most benchmark software. Also, due to every software has different CPU utilization and demand, the performance increases 25~50%. If the heat dissipation well, 4~4.2GHz is allowed clock for long time usage. CPU voltage needs 1.42V to OC to 4.2GHz. If you just OC to 4GHz, you need around 1.32V. The voltage set up will be different by every CPU quality. It’s just for your reference only. Power Consumption Test Standby - 158W CPU Full Speed - 285W When OC to 4.2GHz, the CPU performance increase a lot, but the temperature and power consumption is also pulling higher. Also, I disable C1E power saving feature, the power consumption all pull to very high. Intel new revision Core i5-760 OC capability is very good. If you enhance the CPU thermal solution, 4.2GHz is not a hard thing. For the default clock power consumption, it’s almost same as Micro ATX platform. It’s 4 Cores CPU and combo with Radeon HD5830, the system performance is much higher than small form factor PC. If for normal application without OC, this Intel platform is good for performance and power saving. LGA 1156 has been launching for 1.5 years, the mature and wide selections. 32nm built-in GPU, Core i3/i5 CPU. They are all 2C4T structure and support H55/H57 chipset. 45nm Core i5/i7 are 4C4T or 4C8T structure. P55 is mainly supported chipset. P55 spec and OC ability is higher. Even though, LAG 1155 will be launched in next Jan to combo with 32nm 4Cores CPU and P67 chipset, for the market revolution, LGA 1155 MB price will be higher than LGA 1156 a lot. Short term, for the users would like to buy Intel platform, P55 and i5-760 is still the higher C/P Intel 4 Cores CPU platform. I also happy to see the LAG 1156 price can move lower after new platform launched. The users can pay less and get more performance products. Last sharing was Canon IXUS 200IS using guide. I just got a FUJIFILM FinePix F80EXR recently. I will find some time to write a experience sharing review. This article is also in my bolg.WIND'S 3C Welcome all friends to visit.

After setting the DDR3 clock, the more important is the detail parameters. Starting from CL9, then move to CL8 or higher/lower frequency. Voltage Page Load-Line Calibration CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.050~1.990V PCH Core 0.950~2.000V CPU PLL 1.600~2.540V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V CPU and DRAM quality is varied; you need to adjust the CPU Vcore and DRAM Voltage. If you want to pull CPU frequency to 200/2000 ratio, the key item is QPI/Vtt Voltage. For my experience, when OC to CPU/DRAM 200/2000 performance, QPI/Vtt Voltage is around 1.21~1.25V. PC Health Status There are many P55 products, and every brand has different OC capability. But the set up is similar; you just need to take time for fine tune. Through the steps, every user all can get better CPU/DRMA performance in air cooling condition. Comparing DDR3 Performance before and after OC DDR3 1328.4 CL5 5-5-15 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 16762 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 15656 MB/s DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 23670 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 17941 MB/s DDR3 2060 CL8 8-8-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 24301 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 18395 MB/s After OC DDR3 1328 to DDR3 2000 performance, EVEREST increases about 15%. Sandra Memory Bandwidth increases more, it’s about 41%. OC DDR3 is really improving the system performance. It can be better with OC CPU together. CPU 200 X 21 => 4199.9MHz DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Hyper PI 32M X4 => 9m 52.146s CPUMARK 99=> 651 Nuclearus Multi Core => 25908 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 25.53/12254 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 5.60 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.42 pts CrystalMark 2004R3 => 318038

System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i5-760 MB: GIGABYTE P55A-UD3P DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG4GX3M2A2000C8 VGA: ATI Radeon HD 5830 HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid0 POWER: be quiet! Straight Power E7 600W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Default Performance CPU 133.2 X 21 => 2797.2MHz DDR3 1331.8 CL5 5-5-15 1T Hyper PI 32M X4 => 13m 31.888s CPUMARK 99=> 515 Nuclearus Multi Core => 16677 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 17.81/8549 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 244848 PCMark Vantage => 14057 Due to Turboost auto OC technology, the clock are not exactly the same in CPU-Z pictures. Basic clock is 2.8GHz, it will floating between 2.8GHz to 3.4GHz by cores and CPU utilized ratio. The performance is higher than Core i5-750 2.66GHz. For the general users, i5-760 performance can handle most software. Power Consumption Test Standby - 67W CPU Full Speed - 135W i5-760 power consumption is impressive without OC, it should be related to enable C1E power saving feature. Also the clock is only 2.8GHz and don’t support HT, the power consumption is pretty low. Especially, even using ATI Radeon HD5830 VGA, the CPU full speed is only 135W. OC Performance First of all, referring to my BIOS set up for 200/2000. BIOS Main Page Set CPU clock to 200MHz and DRAM set up by quality. The ratio in pic shows the DDR3 at 2000MHz. CPU Feature Normally when you are OC, you should disable the C1E features to avoid the voltage and clock floating. Turbo Boost also needs to disable to find the CPU stabilized clock. DDR3 Set Up Page

Currently, you can see most Intel CPU, price over 300USD, supports HT technology. For example, LGA 1366 Core i7-930/950 or LGA 1156 Core i7-870/875K. These 4 CPUs are all 4C8T and within the price range. There was a Core i5-7500 in LGA 1156 platform. It’s pure 4C4T structure without HT. The price was 6000NTD, around 200USD. Recently, Intel launched one new code, 760. No matter i5-750 or i5-760, it’s the highest C/P value Intel quad core CPU so far. Since beginning, I was considering the parity quad core CPU for long time. I also consider to change to entry quad core CPU. For Intel product line, Core i5-760 exactly is the entry and parity quad core CPU. Combo with P55 MB, the whole platform is middle range in the PC market. CPU clock is 2.8GHz, supports Turbo Boost and can reach 3.46GHz. Physical 4 Cores CPU is 4 threading, called 4C/4T. 45nm, L3 Cache is 8MB, the internet data shows the Max TDP is 95W. The back mostly can recognize the revision and spec. This Core i5-760 is Stepping 5/Revision B1 Intel 4 Cores processor coolers use copper bottom which is better heat dissipation performance. P55 chipset is the best combo for this CPU, although H55 is also the other choice. But H55 main design is for built-in GPU Core i3/i5 CPU, and it doesn’t support RAID. If you really have budget concern, H55 is also a good solution. This guide uses GIGABYTE P55A-UD3P, the price is higher than other entry P55 boards. The spec and components are good level. The price is around 172USD. 3X USB Power, On/Off Charge USB connector supports On/Off Charge feature. UD3P equips GIGABYTE main new features. Lower-Left Corner 2 X PCI-E X16, ATI CrossFireX and the bandwidth is X16+X4. 2 X PCI-E X1 Realtek RTL8111E LAN Chip Realtek ALC889 supports 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio/Dolby Home Theater Technology Design in Taipei Lower-Right Corner 6 X Blue SATAII, provide by P55, SATA2 supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 2 X White SATAIII, provide by Marvell 9128, SATA3, supports RAID 0, RAID 1 1 X IDE, provide by iTE IT8213 Dual BIOS, dual protection Upper-Right Corner 4 X DIMM DDR3 supports 800/1066/1333/1600/2200(OC). The max capacity is DDR3 16GB. Next is 24-PIN power connector Upper-Left Corner LGA 1156 CPU socket, CPU metal cover is electroplated. UD3P uses 12 phases PWM, the upper part is 8PIN power connector. IO 8 X USB 2.0 2 X USB 3.0(Blue) 1 X RJ-45 LAN 2 X eSATA(Yellow) 1 X S/PDIF Fiber/Coaxial output 1 X 1394a

CPU Full Speed - 130W No matter OC to 4G or 4.6G, the standby power consumption is lower than 70W. The full speed gap is bigger, but the highest is around 130W. It’s very green platform. If CPU works at default 3.2GHz, the power consumption will be much lower. Finally, pull CPU voltage to 1.488V, 655K air cooling can OC to 5GHz. CPUZ Certify Intel Core i5 655K OC 5G / windwithme Early Jan, I OC Core i5-660/661 CPU to 5GHz and now 655K also can OC to 5GHz. And using 655K 5GHz to enter OS, the voltage is lower to 1.488V. You can see Intel CPU yield rate is improved. Since Intel launched LGA 1156 in early 2010, 2 Cores CPU started to built-in GPU. It becomes a new choice of ITX market, price and performance. CPU combination is more vary. There are Core i3-530/540, Core i5-650/660/661/670/655K. The price is also more flexible for different budget. For MB, early this year DFI launched LANPARTY MI P55-T36, and few months later ECS announced H55H-I and GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3. These 3 models all break the old barrier and image for this kind of products. They all emphasize OC and rich BIOS items. The performance is almost same as Micro ATX or ATX MB. No matter NooteBook or Desktop PC all go for smaller form factor. Like PC, the normal size is ATX and smaller goes for Micro ATX. Now, MB starts to move to ITX, and more MB brands provide the products. Also Intel pushes new series Core i3/i5 CPU, 32nm manufacture and built-in GPU technology. This year, ITX visibility is higher. I hope ITX products can be more popular and more brands to join this competition. The customers can enjoy smaller PC which saves home space and good PC performance. This article is also posted in my blog: WIND'S 3C Welcome 3C fans to drop by.

CrystalMark 2004R3 => 217668 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.83 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.55 pts PCMark Vantage => 15924 After changing to high end CPU cooler, OC to 4.6GHz and pass the benchmark are not big deal. It pull high the performance 10~15%. Due to 655K is 2 Cores, the OC range is higher than 4 or 6 Cores CPU. The perivous review of 660/661 also can achieve 4.6GHz. Of course, you can see the strength of 32nm manufacture. It really help to lower the temperature, power consumption and pull the CPU clock. DRAM bandwidth test - DDR3 1600 CL8 8-8-24 1T CPU OC 4GHz Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 15180 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 12050 MB/s CPU OC 4.6GHz Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 15232 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 12125 MB/s You can see the difference between 655K and Core 2 Duo structure by the test result. In the past, in LGA 775 platform, the higher CPU clock means higher DRAM bandwidth. LGA 1156 built-in Memory Controller in CPU, so the CPU clock doesn’t impact DRAM performance much. However this design make LGA 1156 basic DRAM bandwidth is 20~30% higher than LGA 775. This is why even yopu pull LGA 775 CPU clock to extremely high, the bandwidth still cannot catch up LGA 1156. Temperature System standby - 40~41 CPU Full Speed - 71~73 Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum The standby temperature is not high and full speed at 73 is also acceptable. If you use this cooler, CPU temperature will be higher inside the chassis. But it still can long time use under acceptable temperature condition. Power Consumption CPU 4GHz System Standby - 62W CPU Full Speed - 100W CPU 4.6GHz System Standby - 68W

ATTO DISK Benchmark over 16k benchmark result is max read 286.1 Mb/s and write 266.8 MB/s EVEREST File Benchmark over 512k benchmark result also above 250 MB/s. EVEREST Linear Read Average 235.1 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark Seq Read - 200.00 MB/s Write - 44.00 MB/s 4K-64Thrd Read - 102.03 MB/s Write - 56.93 MB/s Recently, SSD price is dropping a little and performance is better due to controller chip improvement. Some hi-end SSD almost reach the SATA2 300 MB/s bandwidth. I believe the market will be even booming after SATA3 being more popular. ITX platform uses CORSAIR F60 can shorten the system boot, open application and access files time. Now, I use open air to test the higher OC performance. System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i5-655K MB: GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR CMD8GX3M4A1600C8 VGA: Intel Clarkdale 733MHz HD: CORSAIR Force SSD 60GB POWER: ANTEC Neo ECO 400C Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit BIOS OC setup Tuning CPU ratio, frequency and DRAM multiplier page. When pull the high clock, QPI Clock Ratio set at X44 is the best. The performance is also good. CPU related technology items C1E is for power saving. When CPU utilization rate is low, the CPU will lower the frequency and voltage. Turbo Boost is opposite with C1E. When CPU loading is low, you still can pull to higher speed. DRAM setup page supports X.M.P. auto OC technology. DDR3 parameters setup page Voltage page Load-Line Calibration CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.050~1.990V GraphicsCore 0.200~1.800V PCH Core 0.950~1.500V CPU PLL 1.000~2.580V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V You can see GIGABYTE Micro ATX H55 BIOS items are rich and vary. The overall OC ability is also good. I can pull 655K to 200MHz stable easily and don’t need high Vtt. Above setup is for 200/1600 stable OC ratio. You may need to minor tuning due to the different components character. You can refer to this setup as your need. Performance Test CPU 200 X 23 => 4600.4MHz 1.376V DRAM DDR3 4GB 1600.2 CL8 8-8-24 1T GPU 733MHz 64MB Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 13m 46.692s CPUMARK 99 => 718 Nuclearus Multi Core => 18083 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 17.136/8333

USB 3.0 chip is NEC D720200F1 As per the components and spec, the user price is around 4000NTD, about 127USD. Although there are only 3 ITX MB in the market, after comparing, H55N-USB3 C/P value is quite good. System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i5-655K MB: GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR CMD8GX3M4A1600C8 VGA: Intel Clarkdale 733MHz HD: CORSAIR Force SSD 60GB POWER: Thermaltake ElementQ 220W Cooler: Intel Cooler OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Case uses Thermaltake ElementQ for OC real test. The product dimension is 130 x 220 x 330 mm Left side is built-in 220W SFX PSU and also can install 2x 3.5” devices and 1x 5.25” device. ElementQ design is for mute. However if you have system fan, it will be great help for internal heat flow. As H55N-USB3 design layout, it causes ElementQ Power/Reset cables are not long enough. Although MB and CASE are good C/P products, but you should know such detail before buying. Real installation test, it should close the chassis and test how long can run normally under OC condition. Performance Test CPU 200 X 20 => 4000.4MHz 1.216V DRAM DDR3 4GB 1600 CL8 8-8-24 1T GPU 733MHz 64MB Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 15m 11.167s CPUMARK 99 => 626 Nuclearus Multi Core => 15752 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 15.19/7293 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 198722 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.36 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.35 pts PCMark Vantage => 14672 655K OC to 4GHz is stable. The full speed temperature is around 70 degree C. The temperature control is also acceptable. If the chassis is opened, using the original cooler can OC to 4.3GHz. The full speed temperature is around 90 degree C. I personally hope to test OC in chassis to find the balance between stable, temperature and performance. After many OC combo test, 4GHz is the most stable condition inside complete close for long time usage. Currently, the best tool to enhance the system performance is SSD. With CORSAIR FORCE SERIES F40, I hope it can have better performance in this ITX system. Size is 2.5” and ID is F60. The highest performance is 285/275 MB/s. Random 4K writing performance can reach 50000 IOPS which improve the 4K writing issue in past SSD.

The normal image of ITX platform for users is hard to find in the market, price is high and old generation chipset. Even it’s the NoteBook CPU socket or SO-DIMM design to make ITX platform price go even higher. Intel launched 32nm Core i3/i5 CPU early this year and also launched H55/H57 chipset at the same time. Also, many MB manufacturers launched LGA 1156 ITX MB. The price is lower than past ITX MB. New spec ITX MB uses PC spec CPU and DDR3 that makes ITX product be more easy to use and cheaper. This review is to introduce the high performance ITX platform with latest products. First of all, the CPU is Intel latest unlocked version, K series, Core i5 655K. Left side is product manual and right side is 655K CPU. The special thing is 655K and 875K don’t bundle original cooler. Intel suppose the unlocked version CPU users will choose better performance cooler. The clock is 3.2GHz supports Turbo Boost technology. The max speed is 3.46GHz. Physical 2 Cores with Hyper-Threading can achieve 4 threads, called 2C/4T. 32nm manufacturing, L3 Cache is 4MB. CPU back design can see the version and different design. The built-in GPU clock is 733Mhz. MB uses GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 2oz cooper PCB, USB 3.0, 3X USB Power, and On/Off Charge are advantage features. 2 X DIMM DDR3 support 800/1066/1333/1600(OC), and maximum capacity is 8GB. 1 X PCI-E X16 for user to install Low Profile VGA card. Realtek ALC892 supports 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio technology. 24 + 4-PIN power connector. 4X blue SATAII support by H55. It’s SATA2 and no RAID function. IO 1 X DVI-D 1 X HDMI 1 X D-SUB 2 X USB 2.0(Yellow) 2 X USB 3.0(Blue) 1 X eSATA/USB 2.0 combo (Yellow) 1 X S/PDIF fiber output

Another desktop PC test is in AMD platform. Using GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD5, the SB is SB850, the most hi-end AMD Chipset so far. It also supports SATA3. Supports ATI CrossFireX, On/Off Charge, USB 3.0 with 3X USB Power Test Configuration CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition MB: GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD5 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400 VGA: ATI Radeon HD 5830 CrossFire HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid0 POWER: ANTEC HCG 620W Cooler: Thermaltake V1AX OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit ATTO DISK Benchmark 64k above test can achieve reading at 446.3 Mb/s and writing at 445.2 MB/s. EVEREST File Benchmark64k above test can achieve over 400 MB/s. EVEREST Linear Read Average 422.3 MB/s CrystalDiskMark reading at 240.9 Mb/s and writing at 106.6 MB/s. AMD Raid0 has no “Write-back cache” item, so the performance is lower. I hope AMD can add in this feature in Raid tool to enhance own chipset performance. Of course, if we also disable “Write back” in Intel platform, the performance will be similar. I also have some friends use SSD as NoteBook system drive and use 2.5” external HDD as data drive. For desktop users can have higher performance with SSD as building Raid0 by 2 pieces 40GB SSD. The performance will be much higher than single 80GB. However, the previous SSD version has lower performance issue after using for long time. The most new versions SSD all support TRIM to solve this issue, but it’s only for single drive now. Due to Matrix Storage Manager doesn’t support Raid0 TRIM instruction, the performance dropping issue is still exiting. The solution is clear SSD Raid0 mode and all data. Then re-build the Raid0 to recover the original performance. For Raid0 not support TRIM issue has none solution now. We only can expect Intel launches new Matrix Storage Manager to support it. Just can let Intel chipset with SSD Raid0 users to really enjoy Raid0 performance and worry free for performance dropping issue. Intel SSD product has very high level standard. The 4K writing performance is almost the best. CORSAIR F40 uses Intel 29F32G08AAMDB and new controller, SandForce SF-1222TA3-SBH. Except the high 4K writing performance, it also improves the overall performance of Intel NAND FLASH IC. Force series can be the new generation high performance SSD spec. It’s also the key factor to ramp up the SSD market share. CORSAIR Force series has 40/60/80/120/160/240GB. The users can buy by budget. More SSD capacity provides more flexibility. Force 40GB price is around 125US. Comparing to the other brands, the price is not too high. There are more and more controllers in the market. It also improves the performance. At least the different chipset has different strength. In the future, the price and capacity still impact the SSD coverage. I do want to see it happens soon. Recently, I got a DC - Canon IXUS 200IS, official from Taiwan disti. If I have time, I will make a preview. The content has outlook and experience sharing. Thanks for your time to read this SSD review by windwithme. It also post in my blog.WIND'S 3C Welcome you to come and comment.

HD Tune Pro 4.60 Benchmark Read - Average 520.0 MB/s Access Time 0.085ms Write - Average 488.6 MB/s Access Time 0.017ms Random Access Extra tests Sequential middle Read - 522.673 MB/s Write - 528.175 MB/s Random seek 4KB 62779 IOPS File Benchmark ATTO DISK Benchmark 8k above transfer rate is 563.1 Mb/s at reading and 531.5 MB/s at writing. CORSAIR F40 in HD Tune Pro test also has very high performance. Both read/write are all over 500 MB/s which are very impressive transfer rate. The seek time is below 0.1ms and even achieve 0.017ms. This is also very outstanding. ATTO DISK Benchmark can also achieve over 560/530 MB/s, read/write performance. It really shortens the PC access time. EVEREST Read Test Suite - Linear Read(Middle) 527.0 MB/s. FDEBENCH gets the reading at 247.6 Mb/s and writing at 136.5 MB/s. CrystalDiskMark gets the reading at 308.0 Mb/s and writing at 89.52 MB/s. EVEREST Linear Read Average 526.2 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark Seq Read - 296.41 MB/s Write - 92.24 MB/s 4K-64Thrd Read - 198.54 MB/s Write - 86.68 MB/s EVEREST Random Read 515.5 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark 4K-64Thrd Read - 51293 iops Write - 20921 iops CrystalMark Sequential Read 521.37 MB/s Sequential Write 495.65 MB/s SiSoftware Sandra 481.72 MB/s EVERSET many items are over 500 MB/s. The others like CrystalMark、SiSoftware Sandra are also similar. The most surprise is some items of AS SSD Benchmark and FDEBENCH didn’t reach the highest performance. After repeating test and check the internet, I found it is caused by controller chip. SandForce SF-1222 in other SSD products is also having this issue. CrystalDiskMark 50/100/500/1000MB comparing test According to the different file size, you can see the improvement of CrystalDiskMar Seq performance. F40 high light point is having better transfer rate in smaller file. This is normal for high performance 4K file type SSD. IOMETER 2008 4KB test - 100% Write 100%/Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second 68653.32 4KB file IOPS writing performance is COSRAIR F40 strength. The test is not achieve double performance as Raid0. It’s also possible the limitation of SB. However, the benchmark is still over 68600. I will test with RAID card to compare this in the future.

SSD full name is Solid-State Drive. It’s new booming hardware within 2 years. It really enhances the PC/NB transfer performance. The main reason is SSD using NAND Flash instead of diskette design. SSD normal capacity are 32/40/64/80/128GB. Recently, SSD market price is dropping a little bit. The main reasons for users to buy are transfer performance; seek speed, anti-shock ability and MTBF. Especially for NoteBook users, SSD is also lower power consumption and lighter. However, SSD price and capacity are still the key factors to impact the selling ramping speed. Related to SSD products, USA brand, CORSAIR, also put lots of efforts. They have 6 SSD product lines. Per performance, it divides into Force/Nova/Reactor/Performance/Extreme/Legacy series. This review is CSSD-F40GB2, belongs to Force series. It has 3 years warranty. CORSAIR F40 SSD position is similar to Intel X25-V 40GB. This review will focus on RAID0 in PC. First to check the packing, CORSAIR FORCE SERIES F40 Product size is 2.5”, code is F40, and the highest performance is 280/270 MB/s. Random 4K writing performance is 50000 IOPS. 4K writing performance is the weakness of most SSD. Black metal shell and brushed finish surface look great. Official weight is 80g which is lighter than 2.5” HDD. The website showed the controller IC is SandForce SF-1222TA3-SBH. MLC NAND FLASH is Intel 29F32G08AAMDB, total 10 pieces 4 GB chip. The sticker above is warranty notice. The warranty will be invalid if it’s broken. SATA supports SATAII which is for PC or NB. This review uses desktop with different SB chipset to test RAID0 performance. I believe this combination is very popular now and using SSD for booting drive. And use big capacity 3.5” 7200rpm HDD for data drive. Desktop uses Intel platform, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5. SB is ICH10R, the most high end Intel chipset currently. I use it to test performance. Built-in USB 3.0 and SATA3, 2 latest MB technologies. Test Configuration CPU: Intel Core i7-930 MB: GIGABYTE X58A-UD5 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400 VGA: ATI Radeon HD 5830 CrossFire HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid0 POWER: ANTEC HCG 620W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit

ECS Black Series P55H-AK Advantages 1. High-level P55 motherboard products are rare in the market, and the external appearance and packaging are both well-done 2. Internal NVIDIA NF200 chip, 3D expanded to 3-way NVIDIA SLI / ATi CrossfireX 3. Uses newest USB 3.0 and SATA3 chips, improving the highest bandwidth for motherboard transmission interfaces 4. Added PLX PEX 8608 chip, increasing PCI-E overall bandwidth 5. DDR3 bandwidth performs better, excellent CPU external clock overclock range Disadvantages 1. CPU voltage values are at default during standby mode 2. DDR3 2000+ stability has room for improvement 3. USB 3.0 performance sometimes drops Efficiency ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Materials ★★★★★★★★★☆ Specs ★★★★★★★★★☆ Appearance ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Price ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ The ideal CPU to match the LGA 1156’s P55 chipset would be the i5 750/760 or i7 860/870/875K. After Intel lowers the price of CPUs, this platform’s C/P numbers will exceed that of the highest level X58. In addition, every motherboard manufacturer is releasing quite a few P55 motherboard products, giving consumers many options. Prices range from around NT$3500 (around US$110) to around NT$10,500 (US$330). I suggest that before buying the LGA 1156 you look at your budget, and then buy a P55 motherboard product that suits your needs. In terms of design and components, the P55H-AK meets the standards of major three-channel motherboard products, which is something that is definitely worth noting. Motherboards being sold for around NT$9500 (US$298) now are high-level P55 motherboards. If the prices can be pushed down a little, I believe it will increase C/P values, and could become more acceptable to more consumers. Since ECS has not entered the field of high-level overclocking products for very long, there are a few details that could be done better. For example, increase BIOS options, or strengthen BIOS stability during extreme overclocking; this would increase the level of performance. ECS is a major global motherboard manufacturer; if they can establish themselves in high-level overclocking products; this would greatly improve their brand image. When purchasing a motherboard, many consumers look for an option outside the major three manufacturers, and ECS is certainly worth consideration. I hope that for future high-level products, like the modified X58 or the yet-to-be-released P67 chipset, ECS will be able to produce even better products.  This article is also posted in my blog: WIND'S 3C Welcome 3C fans to drop by.

PCMark Vantage => 16381 P55H-AK takes the CPU overclocking to 4.2GHz after passing numerous kinds of software stability testing, while the power requirements are about the same as other P55 products. In conjunction with the i7 875Kexternal clock, 210MHz can be achieved stably, which is a pretty good performance for the P55 level. In terms of CPU voltage, we can only get statistics for default voltage during standby mode, and can only achieve the voltage values of user-set BIOS settings at full speed. During relatively larger overclocking, some negative effects was still seen; I hope ECS can improve this in the future. DRAM Efficiency Testing DDR3 1680 CL8 8-8-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 21889 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 20980 MB/s DDR3 2000 CL9 9-9-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 25067 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 21868 MB/s DDR3 bandwidth testing showed better results than other P55 motherboard products, perhaps because the default parameters were tighter, or perhaps because the OEM fine-tuned it better. The P55H-AK DDR3 bandwidth performed about as well as the LGA 1366 three-channel bandwidth tested. 3D effects Testing Three GTX 260 were used for testing, P55H-AK is one of the few that support NVIDIA 3-way SLI P55 products 3DMark Vantage => P28536 CPU SCORE => 52795 GPU SCORE => 24746 Street Fighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 8XAA => 132.97FPS Devil May Cry 4 DX10 1600 X 1200 8XAA => 109.63/97.68/108.19/125.07 fps Final Fantasy XIV 1920 X 1080 => 4008 Star Craft II: Wings of Liberty Settings at High - 62 Lost Planet 2 DX9 1920 X 1200 TEST A - 44.9 fps DX9 1920 X 1200 TEST A - 40.1 fps 3DMark Vantage and Final Fantasy XIV both support 3-way SLI, so the numbers are much higher than the single-chip GTX260. However, the testing of other games, which did not support SLI, showed that they were unable to take advantage of its functions. For many games, not only is there the problem of GPU SLI/CF support, but there is also a great deal of room for improvement for supporting four-core (or more) CPUs.