windwithme

Lenovo ThinkPad series is the most well known in their NoteBook product line. Continue IBM prime design tradition, the X series NoteBook is still very popular for commercial users. Especially the previous X201 with CULV version, the price drops a lot. Even the budget concerned user also can have the good commercial grade quality product. The parity ThinkPad is more competitive. Besides the product C/P is enhanced, it also attracts the users sight. I still remember the year before, Intel NoteBook CPU almost are Core 2 Duo. The main models are TX00 and PX00 series. Also CULV CPU is focus on low clock and power consumption. After Q1 2010, you can see many brands use new Intel structure - Core i3/i5/i7 3 CPU series. It’s with new chipset for higher performance. Lenovo next generation 12 inch ThinkPad, model X201. According to CPU level, there are X201i, X201, X201s, and X201t four series. This review is X201i-A22, has 3 versions, with Intel Core i3-330M CPU. First, let’s look the Lenovo ThinkPad X201i outlook, same as X200 series. The chassis is magnesium alloy with special coating. The matt surface is more commercial quality. It doesn’t like bright coating will paint-shed after long time usage. Battery and body shell quality can be better if they are the same. 4Cell battery and the spec is NOM 2.0 AH 29WH The adaptor is smaller version. The cable is quite crude. A22 is the X201i version which is without Windows7. The accessories are simple. Upper lid front has 3 Status LED. Left side From Left: Power in, thermal holes (X200 is copper), USB, D-SUB, RJ45 LAN, ExpressCard, USB(Always On USB), Wifi switch Right Side From Left: USB, earphone, Mic, MODEM phone line jack, HDD, anti-thief lock

FINAL FANTASY XIV => 3331 As the different 3D benchmark software, the score has 5~15% higher. 4.2GHz Core i7-875K has better performance as running 3D software. Temperature Standby - 43~37 CPU Full Speed - 71~89 Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum As OC to 4.2GHz, it also needs to raise the voltage quite much. So you can see the temperature is high as running at full speed. This is the price for OC by air cooling. Power Consumption Standby - 172W CPU Full Speed - 339W Power consumption result is similar with temperature. It’s almost same in standby but raise a lot in full speed mode. 4.2GHz standby and full speed difference is 167W. It’s more than 2 times more. Finally, pull clock to 4508MHz and make CPU-Z certificate. windwithme OC Intel Core i7-875K 4.5GHz Certified Even if you pull the CPU voltage, CPU clock still can be higher but may not be able to pass the burning test and cannot use for long time. I prefer to OC the system under air cooling and can be stable. It will be more useful for most users. Intel Core i7-875K current price is around 11700NTD, about 363USD. The previous top LGA 1156 is Core i7-870 and the price is 19000NTD, around 589USD. The channel has off shelf the Core i7-870 and replace by 875K which is higher C/P value. You can see Intel top LGA 1156 CPU price drop to let user pay less for buying. The price of 875K and 860 are very close. 875K is also unlock, so the C/P is not lower than 860. If you are planning to buy Core i7-860, you can also consider Core i7-875K. Most user worry about the OC needs to have good capability of MB and DDR3, so they give up in the beginning. The unlock 875K make OC be easier. The user only need to set the ratio and voltage. I do hope Intel can have more SKU than 875K/655K. They also can consider to have more entry LGA 1156 CPU for choosing.

Voltage setup page CPU Feature If you want to pull high CPU/DRAM frequency, you need to fine tune QPI/Vtt Voltage base on each CPU capability. If you enable Hyper-Threading to let CPU be 4C/8T, the CPU Voltage also depends on its capability. During test, Core i7-875K OC voltage is very well. 200/2000 at 4.2GHz only need QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.210V and CPU Vcore 1.3000~1.32500V to be stable for all test. CPU 200 X 21 => 4200MHz DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Hyper PI 32M X8=> 14m 28.968s CPUMARK 99=> 653 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 297430 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 7.17 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.43 pts PCMark Vantage => 17389 As OC Core i7-875K to 4.2GHz, the performance increases around 20~30%. The stabilized voltage only needs 1.296V~1.328V. It’s really excellent and can show how mature for Intel CPU manufacture is. Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 24460 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 19253 MB/s DDR3 bandwidth is also very high after OC. Overall DDR3 performance increases around 25~30%. It’s very close to LGA 1366. 3D Performance 3DMark Vantage => P16431 CPU SCORE => 25766 GPU SCORE => 14660 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 => 181.90FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1280 X 1024 => 157.43/142.07/192.42/110.61 fps

Power Consumption Standby - 141W CPU Full Load - 217W CPU standby and full load power consumption difference is 76W. The difference is still in acceptable range. The standby is 141W, but most power consumption is by hi-end VGA... HDD Test Using Intel mainstream version SSD, X25-V 40GB, for RAID 0 X25-V 40GB official spec is reading 170 MB/s and writing 35 MB/s HD Tune Pro 4.01 Benchmark Average 355.9 MB/s，Access Time 0.1ms ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128k test can achieve 392 MB/s for reading and 89 MB/s for writing. CrystalDiskMark - 390.8 Mb/s for reading and 86.74 MB/s for writing. FDEBENCH test result is 327.6 Mb/s for reading and 89.8 MB/s for writing. X25-V 40GB spec is lower performance than X25-M 80GB, reading 250 MB/s and writing 70 MB/s. However, I recommend users can buy X25-V 40GB for RAID 0. The cost is similar and the RAID0 capacity is 80GB also. Also, X25-V RAID 0 performance can reach over 320~350 MB/s for reading and writing is similar with X25-M, is above 80 MB/s. This combo is better than buy just one X25-M 80GB. 4K, writing performance, is also the special strength of Intel SSD. OC Performance First of all, you can refer to my BIOS fine tune set up for 200/2000 BIOS Main page Core i7-875K ratio range : X9~X62 DDR3 Setup

PCMark Vantage => 15310 Core i7-875K already has very high performance at default clock as with Turbo Boost OC technology. As per CPU utilization rate, the clock will be in between 2.93~3.60GHz. It should be affordable for most application. Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 19460 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 14717 MB/s Even though LGA 1156 has dual channel structure, not like as triple channel in LGA 1366, so the DDR3 bandwidth is lower. Core i7 CPU built-in Memory Controller design makes LGA1156 DDR3 bandwidth be higher than dual channel PC platform over 1.5 times more. PSU is be quiet! latest power4 DELUXE 530W which is high C/P value product. 100% Japanese solid capacitors, 12cm low acoustic fan, 2-way 12V output designs. In this CPU Core i7-875K and VGA HD5830 platform, it can adequate OC or high loading system. 530W is also enough for ATI CrossFireX 3D Performance 3DMark Vantage => P14430 CPU SCORE => 19866 GPU SCORE => 13224 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 => 168.64FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1280 X 1024 => 146.92/131.13/182.86/100.72 fps FINAL FANTASY XIV => 3076 3D gaming performance is relied on VGA capability. However, the higher performance CPU can enhance 3D performance around 10-20%. Core i7-875K performance is quite high standard, so when you use with ATI HD5380 for better 3D. Temperature Stnadby - 37~40 CPU Full Load - 53~59 Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum Under room temperature is 28℃, CPU full speed is still lower than 60℃. For 4C/8T spec, Core i7-875K temperature is very good.

Intel has launched LGA 1156 structure around 1 year, and the CPU product line is also plenty. If we divided into Chipset, P55 is mainly for Core i5-750/Core i7-860 and 870. They are 4C/4T or 4C/8T structure, more CPU Cores, better performance and ATX form factor MB. Another 2 chipset are H55/H57. H57 is not popular due to its high price. H55 is mainly for All In One. The CPU built-in GPU is the new design. Main CPU product line has Core i3-5X0/Core i5-6X0 2 series, and they are 2C/4T Cores mainly. Of course, both series CPU can be installed with P55/H55. But P55 has no VGA output function, you still need external VGA with Core i3-5X0/Core i5-6X0. Core i5-750/Core i7-860、870 CPU don’t built-in GPU. Even install in H55still need external VGA. Users need to understand the LGA 1156 features you need to pay attention to. Normally, Intel has un-locked CPU known as Extreme Edition. The price usually is around 999USD. The models are LGA 1336 Core i7 965/975/980X. Or LGA 775 platform has QX6850/QX9775. The models above are Intel Extreme Edition un-locked CPU. LGA 1156 hasn’t seen this segment CPU since launched. Intel finally launched 2 LGA 1156 Unlock CPU on 6/1. The code is Core i7-875K for P55 MB and Core i5-655K for H55/H57 MB. LGA 1156 platform unlock CPU called K series. This review is about Intel Core i7-875K Clock is 2.93GHz, supports Turbo Boost can reach 3.6GHz performance. Physical 4 Cores with Hyper-Threading, total can achieve 8 threads named 4C/8T. 45nm manufacturing, 8MB L3 Cache and it’s all top spec in LGA 1156. Core i7-875K back can see the difference in every version and design. MB is GIGABYTE P55A-UD4P, which is hi-end P55 design and spec. The price is around 7000NTD. In P55 market, it’s mid-high end market position. Smart Dual LAN, 3X USB Power, On/Off Charge port. The features above are GIGABYTE main technology for UD4P. Support SATA3 and ATI CrossFireX Provide CPU 12-phase PWM, and 2-phase for memory. Configuration CPU: Intel Core i7-875K MB: GIGABYTE P55A-UD4P DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG4GX3M2A2000C8 VGA: ATI Radeon HD 5830 HD: Intel X25-V 40GB RAID 0 POWER: be quiet! power4 DELUXE 530W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Default Setting CPU 133.2 X 24 => 3197.8MHz DDR3 1598.8 CL6 6-6-24 1T Hyper PI 32M X8=> 18m 33.250s CPUMARK 99=> 496 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 236739 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 5.44 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.08 pts

StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 => 207.50FPS Biohazard5 Benchmark 1280 X 800 => 157.3fps DEVIL MAY CRY4 1280 X 1024 => 281.75/228.55/322.73/192.28 fps The Last Remnant 1280 X 720 => 173.71 fps 3DMark Vantage and Biohazard5 performance increase a lot as using 980X. The other 3D benchmark is similar with 960. The Last Remnant performance is even lower than 960. I used to read some reviews and many 3D GAME only can support 2 Cores CPU mode. So the test result shows 4~6 Cores doesn’t help much for 3D performance. DRAM DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 30063 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 18738 MB/s 980X DDR3 bandwidth, it’s lower 10% than 960 in the same condition. 2 CPU in NB Frequency are 3800 and 4000MHz. It also makes the difference of memory performance. Power consumption Standby - 354W CPU full speed - 527W 980X has good performance of power and temperature because of 32nm technology. I original expect 6C/12T 980X power and temperature is higher. After real test, it’s similar to 4C/8T i7 CPU. GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD9 Good at 1.X58A-UD9 uses UNLOCKED POWER design which support 1500W for CPU 2.Built-in NF200 to support both 4WAY ATI CFX and NVIDIA SLI 3.SATA3 uses more hi-end Marvell 9128 and USB is Japanese NEC 4.BIOS items are rich, higher voltage range and CPU/DDR3 OC ability is good 5.Built-in 6 SATAII, 2 USB/eSATA combo and 2 USB 3.0 6.Hybird SILENT-PIPE enhance the thermal solution and NB also support water block. Bad at 1.UD9 price is 23000NTD, around 720USD. It’s the most expensive X58 in the market. 2.Product accessories are not luxury enough. 3.LAN and Audio are Realtek. Should consider to change higher grade. Performance ★★★★★★★★★★ Components ★★★★★★★★★☆ Specification ★★★★★★★★★☆ Outlook ★★★★★★★★★★ C/P Value ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Entry X58 product price is around 7000~8500NTD, around 220~266USD. High end X58 price is around 11000~16000NTD, 345~500USD. UD9 price is 23000NTD, around 720USD. If it can be lower than 580USD, the C/P value will be higher. For the accessories, if it has audio card, Intel LAN or more cables, it will be more attractive in components and spec. GIGABYTE X58A-UD9 is the mark in the market. It has broken many OC world records. So far there are also 2 brands have the similar product, and the form factor is bigger than ATX. High price X58 design has hi-end components and OC. Also VGA support is another key factor. 4 PCI-E X16 and built-in NVIDIA NF200 can support both VGA 4WAY GPU technologies. For high performance users, CPU can OC to higher standard and multi-GPU also can enhance the 3D perforamcne. GIGABYTEX58A-UD9 shocks the X58 market. The price is record high. Components and design are more focus on the body but not accessories and other spec. But UD9 make GIGABYTE build a new mark in the market and better choice for extreme users. As this kind of product, it’s used to build the leading position in branding. It’s not much helpful for selling. For the users who interested in X58, GIGABYTE X58A UD3R~UD7 are better C/P value choices. This is my, windwithme, 14th X58 review in 2 years. For the past Core i7 4C/8T and 6C/12T difference is the key subject for this review. I do hope this review can provide you more info about i7 CPU and X58 products.Thanks

Power consumption Standby - 369W CPU full speed - 514W CPU standby and full speed, the power difference is 145W. If GPU also run full speed, the consumption will be even much higher. The 2nd half performance is using 6Cores Core i7-980X Extreme Edition. Clock is 3.33GHz. Support Turbo Boost and can reach 3.6GHz. Physical 6 Cores and Hyper-Threading. It’s total 12 threads, known as 6C/12T. Latest 32nm and 12MB L3 Cache. OC Performance CPU 200 X 21 => 4200MHz DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Hyper PI 32M X 12=> 14m 04.851s CPUMARK 99=> 658 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 323954 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 10.76 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.46 pts PCMark Vantage => 21105 As single core performance, 960 and 980X are similar under Hyper PI and CPUMARK test. However, in multi-tasking, you can see the strength of more cores 980X is better than 960. If you have high demand for coding/decoding or video, 980X is your better choice. Temperature Standby - 39~45 CPU full speed - 75~85 Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum 32nm makes 980X operating temperature is similar with 960 even it has 2 more cores. 980X temperature is very impressive. I think users is looking forward 32nm can be more popular. 3DMark Vantage => P29195 CPU SCORE => 65536 GPU SCORE => 24640

Temperature System standby - 48~53 CPU full speed - 70~76 Intel Burn Test v2.4，Stress Level Maximum The room temperature is around 25 degree C, and I think it’s acceptable. If Core i7 enable HT, you need higher voltage and the power and temperature will be higher. VGA is GIGABYTE GTX260 OC SLI 3WAY plus PhysX For PSU, I recommend to use big watt product. The CPU and GPU power consumption is extreme huge. I use Antec TPQ-1200 which pass 80Plus silver TPQ-1200 packing and body are black and red. It’s racing car style. 3DMark Vantage => P28391 CPU SCORE => 52156 GPU SCORE => 24647 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 => 206.39FPS Biohazard5 Benchmark 1280 X 800 => 147.4 fps DEVIL MAY CRY4 1280 X 1024 => 278.86/230.45/326.68/190.17 fps The Last Remnant 1280 X 720 => 189.31 fps In this high spec PC, in common 3D benchmark software, you can see the result as below. If the resolution is 1920 X 1200 above and enable all effects, the page will be as low as 50~100FPS. The pity is GTX260 only can support 3WAY SLI. The 4th GTX260 use for PhysX, so it doesn’t help much for 3D performance. DRAM DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 32800 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 21000 MB/s LAG1366 platform strength is 3-channel DDR3. It enhances DRAM performance a lot. Even LGA 1156 also cannot reach it as P55 only support dual channel DDR3.

EasyTune6 default support few OC modes. You also can fine tune the voltage and frequency to enhance system performance. Smart6 SMART QuickBoot, SMART QuickBoost, SMART Recovery, SMART DualBIOS, SMART Recoder, SMART TimeLock. Dynamic Energy Saver 2 New GUI is more detail and easier to understand the power consumption status. Auto Green It’s feature combine with Bluetooth. You can use this to save system power. This review use Intel Core i7-960/Core i7-980X Extreme Edition First half performance use 4Cores Core i7-960 for test Clock is 3.2GHz, support Turbo Boost technology. The highest can reach 3.46GHz performance. Physical 4 Cores and Hyper-Threading. It’s total 8 threads also known as 4C/8T 45nm, 8MB L3 Cache OC Performace CPU 200 X 21 => 4200MHz DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Hyper PI 32M X8=> 13m 23.838s CPUMARK 99=> 660 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 309673 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 7.19 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.46 pts PCMark Vantage => 16087 Intel Core i7 960 is 45nm and OC range is very wide. 1.344~1.360V can reach 4.2GHz. The system after OC, it can afford for most software and using. Of course, speed is never fast enough. More and more fast PC performance is always the target to trace.

CPU related items C1E is for power saving. Intel Turbo Boost is opposite with C1E. It can speed up CPU in high loading mode. DDR3 Multiplier page Memory setup page Advanced parameters setup Voltage page Load-Line Calibration Standard/Level1/Level2 CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.075~2.015V IOH Core 1.000~2.000V CPU PLL 1.000~2.580V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V Load-Line Calibration has 3 modes Standard by Intel VDroop voltage standard Level 1 Lightly adjust VDroop Level 2 Moderately adjustVDroop USB、LAN、SATA、eSATA tuning page PC Health Status X58A-UD9 is the GIGABYTE most top product. The BIOS voltage and items are very rich. But the items are similar to the other X58A series. I cannot the difference from this top model. Below is my setting for Core i7 980X. You can refer to it if you have similar hardware. I hope it’s useful for UD9 users to overclock. System configuration CPU: Intel Core i7-960/Core i7-980X Extreme Edition MB: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD9 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG6GX3M3A2000C8 VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC SLI 3WAY + PhysX HD: CORSAIR CMFSSD-128GBG2D RAID 0 POWER: Antec TPQ-1200 Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit

LGA1366 socket brand is LOTES NB heat pipe also support water block. Under the SB heatsink is Marvell SE9128 chip which supports SATA3. UD9 design is more beautiful and better look than UD7. USB 3.0 chip is NEC D720200F1 It uses 3x USB power design. Every USB PORT has individual power chip which provide 3X power. It can avoid read/write error as connecting the external devices. Full look after installing Hybird SILENT-PIPE This external thermal module also used in X58-EXTREME and UD7. Boot screen BIOS main page Main BIOS tuning page, M.I.T. CPU 200Mhz/DDR3 2000 setup page

November 2008, Intel launched their next generation platform, Core i7. It’s been over 2.5 years after launching X58+ICH10R. 2009, all MB makers were busy to sell Intel P55/H55. Some users misunderstood the P55 is the latest platform. I used to emphasize my view that P55 is for mid-high range and X58 is still the most hi-end product of Intel. It’s approved by the market, however, X58 has been quiet for a long time. 2010, many MB makers start to push USB3 and SATA3. Also, Intel announced 32nm 6Cores CPU to support X58. Most MB makers revised their X58 models and make it be more popular in the market. GIGABYTE launched new X58A series which add USB3 and SATA3 spec. Year beginning, they launched X58A-UD7 for higher spec and performance users. I used to think UD7 is the most hi-end X58 product from GIGABYTE. Last month, GIGABYTE announced a more hi-end model, X58A-UD9. X58A-UD9 packing is much bigger than normal MB. UD9 looks like a very powerful X58 MB. The components using is also the most luxury in the market. It’s XL-ATX, 34.5cm x 26.2cm. I recommend to find the suitable chassis before purchasing. All slots are X8/X16 PCI-E Accessories SATA/eSATA cable, external USB Port 2~4WAY CrossFireX/SLI bridge Product manual, software manual and driver CD Lower-Left Corner 4 X PCI-E X16 support X16 for CrossFireX and 2~4WAY SLI. 3 X PCI-E X16 support X8. Realtek 8111E dual LAN support Teaming and Smart Dual LAN. Realtek ALC889 supports 7.1CH and High Definition Audio/Dolby Home Theater. Design in Taipei Lower-Right Corner 6 X blue SATAII, provide by ICH10R. It’s SATA2 and support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 2 X white SATAII, provide by GIGABYTE SATA2 chip. It’s SATA2 and support RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD 1 X IDE, provided by GIGABYTE SATA2 chip. 2 X white SATAIII, provide by Marvell 9128. It’s SATA3 and support RAID 0, RAID 1 Dual BIOS, dual protection, and built-in Debug LED Upper-Right Corner 6 X DIMM DDR3 support 800/1066/1333/2200. The max capacity is 24GB. The Cyan big button is Power switch. Blue small one is for reset. DDR3 use 2-phase PWM, and next is 24-PIN power connector. Upper-Left Corner LGA 1366 CPU socket. The CPU metal cover is cladding for better look. UD9 use 24-phase PWM which support dual 12-phase alternative mode. The maximum power is 1500W. It’s the most hi-end X58 PWM design. Back side has 2 8PIN design to enhance the system stability in high loading mode. IO 4 X USB 2.0(Yellow) 2 X USB 3.0(Blue) 2 X RJ-45 LAN 2 X eSATA/USB 2.0 combo 1 X S/PDIF fiber/coaxial output 1 X 1394a clr CMOS button

DRAM DDR3 2006.6 CL9 9-9-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 13484 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 9726 MB/s To upgrade to DDR3 1800 is the character of AMD 890FX, the previous AMD chips only can run DDR3 under 1600~1700. If BIOS can be improved more, it’s possible to reach to DDR3 1900~2000. AMD has upgraded their supporting on DRAM frequency to a standard level, but it will be prefect if AMD platform can emphasize more enhanced frequency performance in the future design. AMD new series of Phenom II X6 bring a very good help to the customers who need multiple operations, also the temperature and power consumption is less than my expectation under 45nm proceeding technology. Furthermore, the price of X6 CPU is pretty reasonable to compare with the similar high level products. If you just intend to upgrade your PC to Phenom II X4, I think it’s a very good choice to make it directly to Phenom II X6 1055T with only few expense. For those users who already have AMD3 chipset, most of them are also quite easy to have it supported with Phenom II X6 by using the BIOS update. Recently AMD put out a series of product lines just like 880G/870/890GX/890FX to support their own new CPU models. The over-clocking frequency and the data transfer rates are also better are higher with 890FX North bridge chip I tested, and the SB850 South bridge chip also supports SATA 3.0. But I think it would be wonderful to make AMD chipsets fully functional if which can also supports USB3.0 by single chip. Although the performance of AMD CPU is not as well as their competitor’s on the same frequency level, but the “multi-core” & “pricing” strategy seem workable and helpful to expand their market a lot. Just liked I mentioned before that it is the new CPU generation in 2010 after INTEL and AMD individually launch their 6-Core CPUs, and which has started a new generation of competition. Rely on the pricing advantage, let’s expect that AMD will put out more Phenom II X6 series on the market in the near future. Users will be able to upgrade their PC to Phenom II X6 with a lower pricing or they can still keep their old MB by using the BIOS update. We believed it will be a great advantage for both AMD and all users.

3D efficiency -ATI Radeon HD 5830 CrossFire Hour pulse of GPU/GDDR5 875/1200 3DMark Vantage CPU SCORE =>20584 GPU SCORE =>21123 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 =>162.81FPS Biohazard5 Benchmark 1280 X 720 =>109.1 fps Call of Juarez 1024 X 768 =>Avg 84.5 There’s no much MHz can be adjustable based on the enclosed program of ATI Catalyst, There are 5~20% of efficiency can be improved under the different 3D software, if you want to advance its performance; you need to find VGA software in addition. The power consumption testing The stand-by of the system -155W CPU at full speed -280W The different power consumption between stand-by and full speed is 125W or so, it can be acceptable after the comparison between Power consumption data and efficiency that CPU improved. DDR3 efficiency Corsair DOMINATOR-GT CMD4GX3M2B1600C7 will be best match with AMD DRAM DDR3 1605.4 CL7 7-7-21 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 13563 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 9361 MB/s DRAM DDR3 1873 CL8 8-8-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 15101 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 10296 MB/s

Exceed the efficiency frequently CPU 281 X 14.5 =>4073.9MHz DDR3 1873 CL8 8-8-24 1T BIOS setting of the picture Hyper 12 X PI 32M=> 19m 09.894s CPUMARK 99 =>559 Fritz Chess Benchmark =>29.29/11298 CrystalMark 2004R3 =>252869 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU =>1.22 pts CPU(Single Core) =>7.09 pts PCMark Vantage =>13898 After we over-clocked X6 1090T to 4073MHz frequently, the records from most testing programs are going up 20-30%. But the strange thing is that there is no big difference from the PCMark Vantage, Generally speaking, the more cores we have the lower over-clocking range it performs, but it can be stable by using 1.45V, so it means the over-clocking capability of X6 is not lower than X4, If we add more voltage on X6 to make it over 1.6V, it might be able to reach to 4.3-4.4GHz. Due to the stability is not steady, I didn’t do more relative testing on it. Temperature performance The stand-by of the system -29/43 OCCT at full speed -48/54

The full speed of OCCT -37/45 The data of temperature, the radiator of quality and inaccuracy of the software must be taken into account, however, based on AMD 6Cores made under 45nm to produce it that the performance of temperature is outstanding no matter at stand-by or full speed. 3D performance - ATI Radeon HD 5830 CrossFire Hour pulse of GPU/GDDR5 800/1000 3DMark Vantage CPU SCORE =>16667 GPU SCORE =>19308 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 =>148.58FPS Biohazard5 Benchmark 1280 X 720 =>90.9 fps Call of Juarez 1024 X 768 =>Avg 80.7 The performance of ATI Radeon HD 5830 is very close to the high-end VGA level The power consumption testing The stand-by of the system -140W CPU at full speed -206W There is only 76W different from the power consumption on X6 1090T between full speed and stand-by mode. And the total power consumption is 140W, AMD is doing very well in consumption this time. The efficiency of south bridge Efficiency specification 220/180 MB/s of CORSAIR CMFSSD-128GBG2D SSD ATTO DISK Benchmark exceeds above 128k, read can be 217 MB/s at most while testing and write can be 190 MB/s CrystalDiskMark that read can be 230.9 Mb/s, writes can be 175.1 MB/s FDEBENCH that read can be 230 Mb/s, write can be 177 MB/s The reading efficiency of the new edition south bridge can reach to 217-230 MB/s. And there is no big difference with the average writing speed, which is still between the range of 175~190 MB/s by the official report. The SB850 not only supports SATA 3.0 but also performs very well in SATA transmission. And next time, I will test the RAID0 function, And hope which will be also better than the previous AMD chipsets.

PowerCache high electric capacity of compensation, 80mm PWM a pair of ball fans…etc to add its character. VGA is HD5830 of ATI latest series After AMD merged ATI, it feels that AMD developed a very well market on VGA in the past two years. ATI is comparatively fast to lunch new products, and the C/P rates seem also higher to make the two “A” group creating a bigger market for themselves. By the way, high-end VGA board seems a little bit longer than previous ones. The 5830 on hand is longer than GTX260. And the “Black/Red” of ATI VGA seem a very good match on AMD MB. Let’s go outside and take some fresh air and then we are going to do some function tests later on. Test platform CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition MB: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR CMD4GX3M2B1600C7 VGA: ATI Radeon HD 5830 CrossFire HD: CORSAIR CMFSSD-128GBG2D POWER: Antec TPQ-1200 Cooler: Thermaltake Frio OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Preserve efficiency CPU 200.7 X 16 =>3210.9MHz DDR3 1605.4 CL7 7-7-21 1T Hyper 12 X PI 32M=> 23m 18.745s CPUMARK 99 =>494 Fritz Chess Benchmark =>23.54/11298 CrystalMark 2004R3 =>212169 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU =>5.67 pts CPU(Single Core) =>1.09 pts PCMark Vantage =>13009 The records of Phenom II X6 1090T seem much higher than Phenom II X4 by the major testing programs. Especially the efficiency of Phenom II X6 1090T can be higher 50% more than X4. Phenom II X6 also can save some operation time for users if they require “multi-high-loading” software. Temperature The stand-by of the system -27/38

The CPU market has made its great improvement recently. All we saw before were 2-Core or 4-Core models on the market, but nowadays, we could find some 6-Core models released after Q2 / 2010. AMD is the one of the biggest CPU manufacturer in the world, they launched two types of Phenom II X6 CPU at the end of April 2010, meanwhile, they also issued the next generation of high-end 8-Core series chips which combined north bridge 890FX with south bridge SB850 together, which made AMD platforms toward the new field. There are two versions of AMD Phenom II X6 have been launched, one is middle level version of 1055T, the other is the high-end version of 1090T Black Edition. The market price of the 1055T is at around $6,300 NTD and the 1090T Black Edition is at around $9,300 NTD in Taiwan, based on 6-Core CPU that the pricing this time can be regarded as the par route. We can say AMD thirst for the popularization of the market rapidly. The more noteworthy one is the new Turbo Core technology, which is similar as the function of automatic over-clocking. For example, the normal frequency of the 1090T Black Edition is at 3.2GHz, but it can be achieved to 3.6GHz by opening Turbo Core function through BIOS settings. But the function is limited which only can be actuated by using 3-Core; if higher than 3-Core, the frequency won’t be increased to 3.6GHz. In the past few years, AMD put out all in one chipset with IGP function quite often and the updates were also very fast. But for the high-end models, we hope the performance of AMD 890FX can be higher than 790FX which was released 2-3 years ago. Let’s introduce more basic information about AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition, the core name is Thuban, 6-Core, 45nm, TDP 125W, supports Turbo Core, frequency is 3.2GHz and 3MB for L2 Cache / 6MB for L3 Cache. The back stitch of X6 1090T is compatible with AM3, users don’t need to pay extra expense to upgrade the platform, what we need to do is to update new BIOS for 785G. For MB segment, Asus Crosshair IV Formula is best partner to collocate AMD together. The red and black match colors is in At bottom left of the MB 4 X PCI-E of frequency is 2 X8 for 2 X16, to support CrossFireX 2 X PCI Realtek 8111D dual network chip, to support Teaming SupremeFX X-Fi uses VIA sound result chip, to support 8 sound channel and High Definition Audio/X-FI/EAX Advanced HD 4.0 technology Power.Reset and also have over-clocking button At the bottom right of the MB 6X Red SATA, SB850 is offered, SATA3 specification, to support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 At the right top of the MB 4 X DIMM DDR3, to support the 1066/1333/1600 (O.C. ) / 2000 (O.C. ), the supreme DDR3 capacity can be 16GB 24 - PIN power beside it At the left top of the MB The installation place of AM3 CPU, adopt 8+2 phases to supply power Above see by USB the 3.0s NEC chip IO 7 X USB 2.0 2 X USB 3.0 (blue) Network hole of 1 X RJ-45 1 X eSATA 1 X S/PDIF Out 1 X 1394a Clr CMOS presses the button PSU is the supreme TPQ-1200 from Antec, the matching of red and black is suitable for this kind of high-end AMD platform This PSU is certificated with 80 Plus silver medal certification for high efficiency and energy-conservation.

BIOSTAR TA890GXE Merits: 1. Motherboard material adopts whole Japanese solid capacitors, SATA 3.0, and 4+1 phase power supply. 2. The matching colour red makes the product appearance eye-catching. 3. The range of voltage adjusting in BIOS is wide, and options of other setting are many. 4. The overclocking range of CPU frequency is wide; after the testing, 300MHz is very steady. 5. The clock of HD4290 is higher, and has wider range for overclocking. Demerits: 1. BIOSTAR products are not very common in some countries. 2. The overclocking range of DDR3 is only about 1700, and compatibility of BIOS leaves some to be desired. 3. USB 3.0 is suggested to add on this motherboard. Performance: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Material: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Specification: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Appearance: ★★★★★★★★★☆ Price: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ The default clock of 890GX HD 4290 is about 700MHz, a bit higher than 500MHz, the default clock of 785G HD 4200. At default setting, 3D performance improves a little; moreover, the overclocking range of HD4290 is wider than that of HD4200. Although AMD does not change GPU structure a lot, 890GX, with the rising clock, can improve 10~20% 3D performance. The main features of BIOSTAR products are parity and overclocking. This time, TA890GXE also shows excellent overclocking ability. The latest version of TA890GXE also supports ACC technology, and it is convenient for users with X2~X3 CPU. For consumers wanting to buy AMD Micro ATX platform in the near future, two options are being provided: cheaper 785G, and 890GX with higher price and specification. In my opinion, budget is the primary concern because it is easy to update X6 CPU in future; most AMD products are easy to expand with moderate price. In near future, I shall share testing report of AMD high-level platform—X6 CPU with 890FX chipset. I hope AMD can make newer Leo structure perform higher performance, and release cheaper and better high-level products.

Overclocking performance testing: CPU 300 X 12.5 => 3750.2MHz DDR3 1600 CL7 7-7-21 1T VGA 1009MHz Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 20m 42.477s CPUMARK 99=> 496 Nuclearus Multi Core => 16524 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 19.06/9150 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 212111 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.26 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.13 pts PCMark Vantage => 11667 Due to the differences of every testing software, 910e, after overclocked to 3750MHz, has 20~30% performance improved. C3 process has been adopted, so DRAM arguments are better; besides, the whole clock can be overclocked more 100~200MHz. 3DMARK2006 => 2547 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1024 X 768 => 30.10FPS Biohazard5 Benchmark 800 X 600 => 17.6 fps The advantage of HD4290 is that CPU can be overclocked higher clock, and it is not necessary to add too much voltage to make the CPU reach 1009MHz. About the result of 3DMARK2006, compared with that of HD 4200, the 3D performance of HD4290 has 10~15% improved. As to Biohazard5 needing higher 3D ability, it is suggested to add extra VGA to make the game run more fluently. DDR3 bandwidth testing: Default CPU Frequency: 2600Mhz DRAM DDR3 1600 CL7 7-7-21 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 12525 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 8976 MB/s Default CPU Frequency: 3750Mhz DRAM DDR3 1600 CL7 7-7-21 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 13513 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 9526 MB/s DDR3 performance of AM3 structure is so-so, bandwidth performance is just ok. As for DDR3 frequency, the frequency was limited about 1600~1700, and some 890GX/890FX MB of the new generation performs over DDR3 1800. It is judged that AMD wants to improve DDR3 frequency first, hoping to improve DDR3 bandwidth performance with new structure in future.

PSU: be quiet! latest version Straight Power Deluxe 400W, certified by 80Plus Bronze. Japanese solid capacitors, quiet 12cm FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) fan, and 87% conversion efficiency all make it possbile that there will be enough power supply to update this AMD platform, either using X6 CPU or basic VGA. Default performance testing: CPU 200 X 13 => 2600.1MHz DDR3 1600.2 CL7 7-7-21 1T VGA 698MHz Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 26m 48.425s CPUMARK 99=> 361 Nuclearus Multi Core => 10859 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 13.43/6447 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 163303 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 2.32 pts CPU(Single Core) => 0.79 pts PCMark Vantage => 9673 AMD Phenom II X4 910e, although without high clock, still can easily deal with almost all software; particularly with X4 multi-cores, this CPU shows great performance on drawing, conversion, multimedia, etc. 3DMARK2006 => 2247 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1024 X 768 => 25.66FPS Biohazard5 Benchmark 800 X 600 => 14.2 fps Most consumers expect that for the sake of higher 3D performance, 890GX should be with the next generation HD 5X00; however, HD4290 is adopted finally. Compared with that of 785G HD4200 and 890GX HD429, the 3D performance shows little difference. Therefore, this time some people feel a bit of pity that 3D performance is not as expected after AMD releases new chipset.

4+1 phases power supply, with bigger silver aluminium heatsink: Heatsink of southbridge SB850: The main feature of BIOS is overclocking. The following illustration is TA890GXE with 300Mhz. Main page of T-TSERIES setting: CPU information: If frequency is overclocked over 300Mhz, it is suggested that NB FID should be lowered to 1400MHz. Clock setting of built-in GPU HD4290: Voltage adjusting: Memory Over Voltage -0.600~+0.945V HT Over Voltage +0.015~+0.315V NB Over Voltage +0.015~+0.900V NB IO Over Voltage +0.05~+0.15V NB 1.1V Over Voltage +0.05~+0.15V SB Over Voltage +0.05~+0.15V Side Port Over Voltage +0.05~+0.15V DDR3 Timing Configuration Setting of built-in IGP: Including Internal Graphics Mode, UMA Frame Buffer Size, and SIDEPORT Clock Speed. Testing platform: CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 910e MB: BIOSTAR TA890GXE DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR CMD4GX3M2B1600C7 VGA: ATI Radeon HD 4290 HD: CORSAIR CMFSSD-128GBG2D POWER: be quiet!Straight Power Deluxe 400W Cooler: Thermaltake V1 AX OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 910e is used, with 65W, and also an AMD low-voltage product.

Over these years, AMD’s All in One products, with ATI technology in the field of GPU, have been very popular in the market; moreover, AMD built-in GPU chipset also shows great 3D performance, usually being in the lead. AMD released several Micro ATX products, such as AMD 780G/790GX/785G, all of which were also very popular. Recently, the highest C/P All in One motherboard should be AMD 785G. Another advantage of AMD CPUs is more parity. Therefore, MB manufacturers released plenty of 785G motherboards, and 785G with ACC (Advanced Clock Calibration) technology was more popular. In March and April this year, AMD rapidly released new chipset—Northbridge 890GX and Southbridge SB850—to update its product line. At the early stage of marketing, since new SB850 did not support ACC function, most MB manufacturers made 890GX use or unlock hidden cores by updating version, modifying BIOS, or adding jumpers. 890GX motherboards can be classified two specifications according to their size: the price of ATX is higher, and that of Micro ATX lower. However compared with that of 785G, the price of 890GX is much higher. This time I use BIOSTAR TA890GXE, and the price is about USD 120, $20~30 lower than other MB manufacturers’ Micro ATX 890GX motherboards. The appearance: The main matching colour of recent BIOSTAR products is bright red: 890GX of ATX-version: GIGABYTE released higher-level 890GPA-UD3H, and the price is about USD 140 The latest version 2.0 supports ACC technology; version 1.0 also supported this function by updating BIOS. Back to the introduction of BIOSTAR TA890GXE: Lower-left of the motherboard: 1 X PCI-E X16 1 X PCI-E X1 2 X PCI LAN chipset: Realtek RTL8111DL Codec: Realtek ALC892, with 8+2 channels and supporting Blu-ray Audio Lower-right of the motherboard: SB850 provides 5 X red SATA3 ports, supporting RAID 0 / 1 / 5 / 10 Power button, reset button, and debug indicators Upper-right of the motherboard: 4 X DIMM DDR3, supporting 800/1066/1333/1600(OC), maximum capacity of DDR3 is 16GB 1 X IDE, 24-pin power connector Upper-left of the motherboard: Location of AM3 CPU, with 4+1 phases power supply IO: 1 X D-SUB 1 X DVI-D 1 X HDMI 4 X USB 2.0 1 X RJ-45 1 X eSATA/USB 1 X S/PDIF Out 1 X IEEE 1394 Heatsink of Northbridge 890GX, beside it is 128MB DDR3 SidePort Memory.

Power Consumption Test System Wait Time - 49W OCCT - 100W Intel Burn Test v2.4, Stress Level Maximum To compare power consumption before and after overclocking, the CPU at standby was 11W, and only 73W at full-speed operation. Hopefully, we can soon see Intel able to use 32nm CPUs in its 4 cores so a lower temperature, lower power consuming CPU will become common in the market. ECS H55H-I Strengths 1. The color of the external packaging gives a good feel to the product. 2. ITX motherboards rarely have many so BIOS options. The voltage range is large, and the external viewing and adjustment option are numerous. 3. With the internal IGP, the CPU can overclock to 180MHz, which is higher than many ATX or M-ATX H55s. 4. The overall performance of the ITX platform can be increased using the H55 chipset with newer CPU support. 5. Price is around US$80. With ITX motherboards usually being more on the expensive side, the C/P’s pricing is reasonable. Disadvantages 1. The outer appearance would have a better feel if the PCB was black. 2. Changing to all solid state capacitors would make consumers have more faith in the quality of the product. 3.CPU-Z and EVEREST are still unable to acquire the proper CPU voltage for the H55H-I Performance ★★★★★★★★★☆ Components ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ Specs ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Appearance ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Price ★★★★★★★★★☆ In terms of CPUs, the Intel Pentium G6950 follows the Core i7 high-level framework, even though it only has Dual Core and L3 3MB specs. Its performance is not inferior to Core 2 Duo CPUs. The 32nm CPU allows for a wider overclocking range, and also effectively reduces temperature and power consumption. Even more importantly, the 32nm CPU enjoys higher performance and better C/P values when coupled with an IGP platform,. The Core i5 level 32nm is currently priced a bit higher. If the price is lowered in the future, consumers will be able purchase high-performance HTPC platforms more easily. As a result of the release of the H55 chipset, which replaced previous generation Intel G4X chipset products, early this year, the overall 3D performance of PC platforms was increased. In the current market, the H55 is a very popular among products with M-ATX specs. Motherboard manufacturers are now successively releasing various models of H55 motherboard products. In the past, rudimentary versions of the ITX motherboards were about TWD4500 (US$143) or more, which is quite expensive. Industrial ACP-level ITX motherboards mainly use high-quality components, and if coupled with a GM45 chipset, cost US$300 or more. ITX products are generally more expensive than ATX/M-ATX products and seem to be on the path to even higher prices. The ECS H55H-I follows the trends of the average consumer market, so when the mini-ITX spec H55 motherboard was released, it is more favorable in terms of pricing. Due to its adoption of Intel’s newest IGP chipset, the commonly-seen BIOS overclocking options won’t lose out to other large-size H55 motherboards. If ECS were able to further improve the components it uses, I believe it could provide consumers with an additional option for affordable, high-performance motherboard products. 