windwithme
-
Posts
546 -
Joined
-
Days Won
6
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Posts posted by windwithme
-
-
Default settings, CPU voltage is reduced to 1.0875V
CPUZ at 3184.8MHz, single core used
Idle mode - 50W
CPUZ at 2786.7MHz, 4 cores used
Full loading mode-115W
CPU voltage establishes in 1.0875V, there is no much difference on power consumption under idle mode that is because;
AUTO CPU Vcore is the dynamic control from 0.9V to 1.25 which depends on CPU utilization,
and at idle mode, it’s real working Vcore will be lower than 1.0875V.
But we can find out that 1.25V and 1.0875V power consumption are 19W difference at full speed.
Over clocking status
CPUZ at 3230.2MHz, single core used
Idle mode - 80W
CPUZ at 3230.2MHz, 4 cores used
Full loading mode-142W
This power consumption is higher after OC obviously, especially in full-speed operation; power consumption will reach peaking value.
I have tried OC up to about 3.3.~ 4GHz too, the power consumption reaches 170~185W,
though PSU of the150W is still strong enough to support, but because temperature has already reached more than 90C degrees. Hence,
I do not recommend making an extreme OC on ITX platform if there is not built with a high-end cooler.
DFI LANPARTY MI P55-T36
Advantage:
1. Packaging and color theme of box are looking good
2. Seldom OC BIOS for ITX platform which provided a range voltage and CPU base clock and setting items are plentiful.
3. Though BIOS is range limited on BCLK, but its OC ability is quite good enough for the ITX platform.
4. Digit PWM designed for CPU power source.
5. Base on the Intel P55 Chipset which increased performance a lot of ITX platform
Shortcoming
1. Less market agents of DFI, users are not easy to buy the products of DFI
2. Less ITX Case/PSU that can be matched with ITX boards now.
Performance ★★★★★★★★★★
Materials ★★★★★★★★★☆
Specification ★★★★★★★★★☆
Appearance ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Cost / Performance ★★★★★★★★★☆
I have contrasted the ITX platform products on the market at the same time too.
Most of ITX boards are base on Intel Atom series or required Notebook CPU/DRAM additionally.
Except, performance is not enough as we expected, moreover users need to spend more money to build their own ITX platform.
Products price is we take notice of most that is what I believed.
DFI LANPARTY MI P55-T36 market price about 141 U.S. dollars.
The price is almost similar or even cheaper if we compared with other maker’s ITX products which based on 945, 965,
AMD or VIA chipset, so C/P is worth getting higher in my review.
MI P55 ITX board is one of highest performance and worth choice for user who likes to build a ITX PC to use at car or to be a Media -Center at living room.
DFI combines consume design and industrial size again to create new MI product line of LANPARTY series.
It is really put into a shake and light in consumer market; let most users have chance to build their own machine smaller than Micro-ATX.
And it equips LANPARTY Genie BIOS and OC style, MI P55 gets rid of the traditional impression that ITX can only be used steadily under the default speed.
DFI LANPARTY MI P55-T36 market's prices that make people surprised.
In the past, even an elementary ITX MB which base on a chip group is very old, it was sold to high price.
For newer ITX industrial specification of G45 chip boards are often about 40000 dollars as well.
A par price, high-level materials and design of MI P55, really benefit for users who loved small machine a lot and performance required.
There is a little bit regrettable that DFI promoted ATX and MINI-ITX two P55 platforms only, lack Micro-ATX one.
If DFI can promote the edition of H55 again in the future, I believed DFI can make a plentiful and completed for MI product line,
moreover user gains more opportunities to choice smaller size boards.
-
Over-clocking performance
CPU 170 X 19 =>3230.2MHz
DRAM DDR3 1700 CL7 7-7-21 1T
TurboBoost.C1E function is closed
Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 11m 58.719s
CPUMARK 99 =>499
Nuclearus Multi Core =>19902
Fritz Chess Benchmark =>19.81/9510
CrystalMark 2004R3 =>188265
CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU =>4559
x CPU =>16392
PCMark Vantage =>6968
If I put high to 3189MHz from 2654MHz at the CPU speed, CPU efficiency has 10~15% increasing about around.
But, CPUMARK just add 1 from 488 become to 499,
that is because original design of CPUMARK has required a single core to perform test only, the score of CPUMARK is not big difference.
Due to I use Box’s cooler of Intel, I can't over clocking too higher either.
Otherwise, if under full-speed operation, it is very possible to gain a CPU temperature more than 90C degrees.
DRAM performance test
DRAM DDR3 1328.4 CL7 7-7-21 1T
Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 15552 MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read - 16598 MB/s
DRAM DDR3 1700 CL7 7-7-21 1T
Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 21325 MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read - 16404 MB/s
Intel newest Core i5/i7 CPU built in with DDR3 Memory Controller inside;
it has a lot of times on memory performance even higher more than other 945 and G45 ITX platform.
MI P55 is not needed like most ITX platforms which needs to match DRAM of SO-DIMM either.
SO-DIMM has higher price and lower performance if compare to DIMM.
Power consumption test
Default settings:
CPUZ at 3184.8MHz, single core used
Idle mode - 50W
CPUZ at 2786.7MHz, 4 cores used
Full loading mode-134W
-
If CPU/DRAMCOMP selects open, it cans higher about 1~5 MHz stability in accordance with physique of CPU.
DDR3 detail parameters page
BIOS items of ITX MB should be less as like as Notebook.
Without too much selecting, only a few basic items can be chosen.
DFI combines own LANPARTY style, let BIOS selections as edition of DK P55 ATX abundantly.
But, due to it is a ITX platform, DFI limit 1.25V maximum for CPU Vcore and 170MHz maximum for BCLK.
Such adjustment is for preventing if system was damaged by over-heat or too much power consumption is occurred to against PWM design when over-clocking too much.
Test platform
CPU: Intel Core i5-750 ES
MB: -DFI LANPARTY MI P55-T36
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG6GX3M3A2000C8
VGA: Nvidia Geforce 6200
HD: Seagate 7200.10 320GB
POWER: SEED ITX 150W
Cooler: Intel Cooler
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit
OS application software of DFI
The top of picture is EZ-Flash and it is for upgrading BIOS use
Below is EZ-Tuner, DFI combines many applications to mix together in function.
Dynamic PWM page can be detected CPU output / input the voltage, electric current and watt dynamically.
It can see every phase current of Mosfet array and working temperature too.
EZ-Tuner has other three functions.
Clock Generator; Adjust CPU BCLK and PCIE working speed easily.
Smart Guardian; It is the monitoring tool which DFI use for a long time
Profile Setting; it has three kinds of settlement value to offer users use.
Default efficiency
CPU 132.7 X 20 =>2654MHz
DRAM DDR3 1329.4 CL7 7-7-21 1T
If “TurboBoost technology” is opened, the multiplier will be changed by CPU utilization,
For example, if rate of utilization is 1~2 CPU cores, maximum is BCLK X 24 times =>3184.8MHz
if rate of utilization is 3~4 CPU cores, maximum is BCLK X 21 times=>2786.7MHz
Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 14m 07.766s
CPUMARK 99 =>488
Nuclearus Multi Core =>17398
Fritz Chess Benchmark =>17.05/8184
CrystalMark 2004R3 =>158257
CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU =>4380
x CPU =>14049
PCMark Vantage =>6096
The default performance of MI ITX is outstanding and other ITX platform can not approach it in now.
Especially, Core i5-750 has 4 Cores and pushes the performance of ITX to new field.
I have tested DTX platform before, it needs to use CPU and DRAM of Notebook.
In general, if you like to build on a ITX/DTX platform which equipped a 4 Cores CPU, you must spend a lot of money and more than 5 times of MI P55.
-
Realtek ALC885 Audio chip supports 7.1 channels and High Definition Audio technology.
The software engineering that has contained Creative X-Fi technology.
User has more difficult to choose, should be some of matching of case.
Most of ITX case have equipped with a PSU, user should not need to look for PSU again in addition. But,
due to this is the platform of P55, it will be more steady to choose PSU above 150~200W to match with.
The one that I used is SEED ITX Case product, the market price is about around 1400 of Taiwan dollars; comparatively belong to the choice of the par.
The model name of SEED product is SQUARE
Above is a 3.5 inch DVD-ROM and below for Power button, earphone hole, Mic and 2 x USB 2.0 port.
Inside the ITX Case, there is a systematic fan which encloses a 8 X 8cm that is increased scattered heat for system.
Appearance of finishing installing the whole platform
I have not put PC for a long time either ...I did out case test that used to.
Regarding the design for VGA card area, length that can be installed an entry level, and high is quite enough for all kind of display cards use.
Seems I am not installing IO shelf board in the photo.
Yes, there is no fault! I finished the DVD RW mounting and just find that I omit installing here ...Please give a strong imagination by oneself.
BIOS picture
Main adjusted page of Over-Clocking and timing items.
CPU feature items
Voltage page
DFI own “O.C. Shut Down Free” technology, it needn't cut out AC power to start the machine again when setup a reasonable range for OC.
CPU Voltage 1.0000~1.2500V
“Power Saving” at “Standard” that is turn off “CPU Vdroop”, if at”Advance” that it will match Intel requirement to low down Vcore generally.
Super VID at “ON” whether EIST/C1E can lock Vcore when starting, it will keep voltage level which selected in BIOS.
CPU VTT Voltage +0.05~+0.697V
DRAM Voltage 1.20~2.60V
-
Over these several years, seem in my impression that seldom having products of ITX specification appeared on the general consumer market.
The only more sources of ITX product information are probably all from the industrial market or other special use.
But this kind of market situation with ATX/Micro-ATX, has begun to have many changes in the past two years
More and more users begin to be interested in the small-scale computer, and can be found out a clue too;
more and more Micro-ATX products existed in the current market.
A lot of users hope the volume of computer can be smaller and smaller to avoid waste on a limited space;
in addition, people are aware of environmental protection and saving energy in recent years.
We can see more ITX platforms or boards in market recently, but they are base on low chip group product comparatively.
As like Atom or ION, etc., they are selling in the majority by CPU +MB integrated or whole platform of ITX size.
If the user hopes to have a high expanding or a high-end ITX board,
to match CPU with high capacity and efficiency, it is very difficult to go to look for.
DFI is a brand taking industrial products,
but it often sees the listing competition of high-end products on consuming type board at the same time.
DFI begin to put out first waves of Micro-ATX P45 products,
they broke past Micro-ATX impression with entry level or low-end chip two years ago.
They make Micro-ATX become to support to LGA 775 CPU of the latest specification on the general market,
this new product route of DFI that is broken through for one of market really.
Three major board makers follow up the concept of the small size products to design their own high-end Micro-ATX P45 platform after DFI successively.
Hence more Micro-ATX X58/P55 boards and a lot of brands can be chosen on the market.
DFI begins to develop and launch more into high capacity and efficiency of smaller size too after guiding out the trend of Micro-ATX high-end boards.
IP55 products of MINI-ITX specification, it called DFI LANPARTY MI P55-T36 and belong to LANPARTY series,
I believe DFI makes it has outstanding OC ability too.
Let’s see the packaging of the products at first; it is using the brief blue color theme.
Accessories enclosed inside:
User’s manual, Creative X-FI software, CPU cover , MB drive disc , IO shield and cables.
Outward of DFI LANPARTY MI P55-T36
Board size has 17 X 17cm only
1 X PCI-E X16
P55 has no GPU integrated, user must install VGA additionally.
But beneficial like this, even Intel newest 32 nm Clarkdale CPU was matched H55 for integrating GPU,
opposite; sharing usage on memory controller will decrease the performance efficiency.
2 X DIMM DDR3, supports the 1066/1333/1600 (OC), maximum DDR3 capacity can be supported to 8GB
I5 750 is used to 133/1333 ratio, if change into CPU of i7 860 or higher, can establish to 133/1600 ratio.
3X Black SATAII, supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 and RAID 5 (P55 chip is offered)
Debug code LED build, make user easy Debug systematic state
On left of the mother-board
Near to LGA 1156 CPU socket area
MI P55 uses 4 phase PWM design for CPU Vcore, each1 phase standalone power supply VTT and GPU.
Design of Mosfet and IC materials nearly.
Installing Intel Core i5-750 and CORSAIR DDR3 2000 2GBX2
IO
5 X USB 2.0
1 X eSATA/USB 2.0 (Pwer eSATA)
1 X S/PDIF fiber/ coaxial output
1 X RJ-45
1 X Clear CMOS button
MI P55 solder-side, we can see the words of LANPARTY
-
5V
It’s between 5.05~5.08V, about 0.59% range.
12V
It’s between 12.42~12.55V, about 1.04% range.
HX750W 3V and 5V voltage vibration range is very low.
It’s really impressive.
You have to pay attention to that 12V consumption is much higher as OC LGA 1156 to 4GHz.
12V voltage drop is only 1.04%. HX750W is the best in my past experience in using power supply.
The whole platform full speed loading is over 700W.
HX750W body temperature is still low, around 40 degree C by hand-touch feeling.
Also, power supply back temperature is around 55 degree C. It’s acceptable range.
12cm fan speed acoustic is hard to hear. It’s rare performance for such high power consumption as HX750W.
The last part is using accurate power meter to measure.
Standby
5V measurement is 5.14V. It’s a little higher than MB value, 5.08V.
OCCT full speed
Voltage range is between 5.14~5.15V. Voltage rise 0.01V comparing to standby.
Standby
12V measurement is 12.12V It’s a little lower than MB value, 12.55V.
OCCT full speed
Voltage range is between 12.12~12.13V. Voltage rise 0.01V comparing to standby
As using meter, 5V and 12V are very still during standby and full speed.
Even the voltage change is only 0.01V. According to this measurement result, HX750W voltage stabilization is very high level.
Especially the 12V vibration range, very few power supplies can be as stay still as HX750W.
CORSAIR HX750W Conclusion
Good
1.CORSAIR package and accessories are good quality and also provides 7 years warranty.
2.Modulized design and 100% Japanese solid capacitors usage.
3.Passed 80PLUS Silver certificate and transfer efficiency is 90.02%
4. Temperature-controlled fan is very silent in normal usage. Even it’s hard to hear noise in full load condition.
5.Voltage vibration range is very low in high load. Especially the 12V is really impressive.
Weak
1.4 X PCI-E 6+2 Pin connectors are too less.
2.Matte paint outlook is easy to be scratched.
Performance ★★★★★★★★★★
Components ★★★★★★★★★☆
Specification ★★★★★★★★★☆
Outlook ★★★★★★★★☆☆
C/P Value ★★★★★★★★★☆
Someone think why I don’t use professional equipments to test power supply.
Maybe instrument test make readers feel more professional and credibility.
However, I think many brands power supply have made many test before selling.
If I use the same configuration as users real usage and test it in full load condition, it will be close to reality.
I used to suffer that a power supply passed professional instrument test, but has stability issue as installing to computer.
There is one more mystical thing. CORSAIR HX750W package shows 80 Plus Silver Certificate.
When I check in 80 Plus website, HX750W is Gold certificate and the power transfer efficiency is 90.02%.
CORSAIR designed it by Silver level, but some items have achieved Gold level.
It caused HX750W got Gold in 80 Plus, but still advertise it as Silver certificate.
This way is different as some brands only care about 80 Plus certificate but not product design and components.
CORSAIR HX750W owns high quality and high performance. Also, its package and components are good as well.
Plus above Silver level power efficiency, even though it’s 750W, but the power consumption is not much higher than low watt PSU during usage.
CORSAIR also provides 7 years warranty. You can see the vendor is very high confident with HX750W quality.
The CORSAIR HX750W price is around 150 USD.
But for middle high power supply, I think CORSAIR HX750W is still a very good C/P value product.
It’s in your must buy list if you are looking for same segment PSU.
-
HX750W product spec
+12V only 1 loop and total is 62A. The max is 744W.
The test configuration is GIGABYTE P55A-UD6, the very high end spec in LGA 1156 products.
In the beginning, I planned to use LGA 1336 with Gulftown CPU to do the power consumption test.
However, base on my recent experience, when OC LGA 1156 to full speed, the 12V consumption is extremely high.
UD6 has USB 3.0 and SATA3, latest MB spec.
Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i7-870
MB: GIGABYTE P55A-UD6
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG4GX3M2A2000C8
VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC SLI
HD: Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB
POWER: CORSAIR HX750W
Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit
OS system set up
CPU 200 X 20 => 4000.6Mhz
DARM DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T
OCCT V3.1.0
POWER SUPPLY mode, Shader Complexity 8
Above spec is the configuration for this review. It shows the power consumption status during test.
I use Power Angle measure number to the reference.
Enter to OS desktop - 230~231W
Running power supply test item in OCCT
i7-870 OC 4GHz, quad physical cores and quad HT virtual cores run in full speed plus GTX260 SLI 2WAY and GTX260 PhysX - 707~730W
Power Angle measure data is only for reference.
It only measures the approximate power consumption value. It’s not very accurate.
Even I didn’t use 3WAY SLI to reach the max 3D performance by full system load.
However, install one more GTX260 for PhysX also can increase some power consumption. It’s also some help for high loading test.
OCCT test result
CPU voltage variation
Standby is around 1.36V and full speed is always stay at 1.38V
CPU voltage vibration range is related to MB voltage quality.
3.3V
Max is 3.34V and it’s between 3.3~3.31V during test, about 1.20% range.
-
Past few years, power supply products had big change.
Users can see more and more power supply brands in the market and spec is going higher and higher.
Few years ago, the manufacturers started to promote APFC and after then the high end power supply uses modulized design.
These two years, power saving becomes the power supply new spec.
80 Plus is the most popular one to count power efficiency of power supply.
CORSAIR is long history memory brand. His DRAM product has very good reputation in the market.
Even though CORSAIR just enters power supply market for few years, its products are good quality and stability.
COASAIR divides his power supply into 3 series.
HX series is the highest. It’s in modulized design. High quality also means high performance.
TX series has non modulized design, bigger watt and fair price.
VX series watt is smaller than TX. It’s suitable for users who have budget concern.
Last year you could see many CORSAIR power supply discussion and most strings are HX750W.
Recently, CORSAIR announced HX850W, but this review is still HX750W.
750W in watt combination and market price will be more acceptable for users.
Let’s look at the package first. It’s a bigger paper box.
Currently, most power supply provides 3~5 years warranty. HX750W has 7 year warranty.
It shows COSAIR’s confidence with their quality system.
HX750w also passed 80 Plus Silver certificate. Now the most common spec is Bronze certificate.
Accessories
High quality cables pack, multi lingual manual, cable ties, screws and power cables.
Modulized cables
4 X PCI-E 6+2 Pin
12 X SATA
8 X 4 Pin
2 X Floppy
Power supply packed by flannelette bag
CMPSU-750HX body
Cables extended from power supply
1 X ATX 24/20 Pin
1 X EPS/ATX12V 8/4 Pin
Back side deign is common cellular holes.
Active PFC in 110~240V
Modulized cable connectors
If they have some instruction stickers, that will be easier for users to understand clearly.
12 X 12 cm silent fan. The rotation rate is controlled by watt utilization.
Noise level, below 525W is 25dBA and 525~750W is 26~34dBA
-
Full speed - 171W
CPUZ shows 4600MHz and 2 physical cores + 2 HT virtual cores utilize status.
After installing 9600GT, it increases 30W in standby mode.
It’s still very green.
When using built-in GPU, 4.5GHz full speed power consumption is 135W and default clock, 3.33GHz full speed power consumption is 83W.
You can see the power consumption rise up obviously after OC.
Especially for CPU with HT technology, full speed will make temperature and voltage be much higher.
GIGABYTE H55M-USB3
Good
1.With GIGABYTE 2oz, USB 3.0
2.One of few H55 products that supports dual PCI-E CrossFire
3.Wide BIOS voltage range, frequency range and rich BIOS features.
4.CPU OC range is good. 200/1600 ratio can rise CPU to 218MHz
5.External SATA chip to make up H55 without RAID
6.H55 overall power consumption is low
Weak
1.There are only two 4Pin FAN connectors.
2.During OC DDR3, the compatibility needs to improve
3.As Intel design structure, built-in GPU in i3/i5 CPU, the DDR3 performance is not outstanding.
Performance ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Components ★★★★★★★★★☆
Specification ★★★★★★★★★☆
Outlook ★★★★★★★★★☆
C/P Value ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Still remember several surreptitious prerelease H55 products by 8th Jan? The price are all above 4000NTD, around 125USD.
After official launch, many models in the market and the price drops to 3300~4300NTD, around 103~135USD.
For CPU price, most acceptable SKU are Pentium G6950 and i3-530.
Through the market price adjustment, users can accept this price range.
Not just see higher CPU and H55 MB price.
It will make many users who look for Intel Clarkdale platform hang back.
GIGABYTE H55M-USB3 market price is around 4100NTD, 128USD.
The lower version is GIGABYTE H55M-UD2H and price is 3700NTD, around 115USD.
Two H55 boards price gap is not big. The main difference is NEC USB 3.0 chip. You can pick up the suitable one after consideration.
The latest Intel All in one platform supports new manufacturing CPU + GPU design, and also make the price be higher.
Even though H55 MB price is reasonable now, CPU price still need to be lower to reach mainstream segment.
GIGABYTE H55M-USB 3.0 has good spec, OC ability and acceptable price segment.
This is my 5th P55+2nd H55 review in LGA1156 platform.
I hope it can help the users who would like to purchase H55 board can refer to my review. Thanks:)
-
ATTO DISK Benchmark over 64k test, the max reading is 152 MB/s and writing is 158 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark reading is 152.4 Mb/s and writing is 156.4 MB/s
FDEBENCH reading is 148 Mb/s and writing is 123 MB/s
USB 3.0 bandwidth break away from the limitation, 30~35 MB/s speed of USB2.0.
For users who using 2.5 or 3.5 inch external HDD box, they can get much higher speed acceleration.
Precondition is waiting for USB3.0 products become more popular, more users can enjoy the high performance from new technology.
As H55 doesn’t support RAID, I changed to use single SDD to test transfer rate.
CORSAIR CMFSSD-128GBG2D official spec is 220/180 MB/s
ATTO DISK Benchmark over 64k test, the max reading is 234 MB/s and writing is 188 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark reading is 220.4 Mb/s and writing is 178.2 MB/s
FDEBENCH reading is 214 Mb/s and writing is 182 MB/s
CORSAIR top SSD performance is extremely high. Even it is MLC, the performance is close to SLC.
Back to H55 chip, the HDD transfer ability is around 3% lower than X58/P55. It’s acceptable range.
OC Performance
CPU 200 X 23 => 4600MHz
DRAM DDR3 8GB 1600 CL9 9-9-24 1T
GPU 9600GT 512MB
Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 13m 54.305s
CPUMARK 99=> 708
Nuclearus Multi Core => 17951
Fritz Chess Benchmark => 17.35/8331
CrystalMark 2004R3 => 215783
CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU=> 6289
x CPU=> 14639
PCMark Vantage => 16604
32nm manufacturing can make dual core CPU clock be OC to higher.
This Core i5-660 quality is not better than 661. It needs 1.360V to reach 4.6GHz.
Of course, if you use original Cooler to OC, you need higher voltage to ramp up the speed.
Rising up the CPU voltage to achieve 5GHz in air cooling.
CPUZ official certificate.
Intel Core i5 660 OC 5G / windwithme
Last is power consumption in OC condition.
CPUZ shows 4500MHz and IGP built-in VGA.
Standby - 73W
Full speed - 135W
CPUZ shows 4500MHz and 2 physical cores + 2 HT virtual cores utilize status.
CPUZ shows 4600MHz and 9600GT
Standby - 107W
-
Intel Clarkdale built-in IGP performance
733MHz
3DMARK2006 => 1767
StreetFighter IV Benchmark
800 X 600 => 27.50FPS
Biohazard5 Benchmark
800 X 600 => 19.5fps
Call of Juarez
1024 X 768 => Avg 12.3
IGP OC 920MHz
3DMARK2006 => 2069
StreetFighter IV Benchmark
800 X 600 => 33.06FPS
Biohazard5 Benchmark
800 X 600 => 22.9fps
Call of Juarez
1024 X 768 => Avg 20.3
i5 660 GPU OC range is around 733~920MHz. The 661 is about 933~1200MHz.
Comparing to these 2 SKUs, I think 661 GPU is better picked SKU for higher clock version. The 3D performance is also higher.
After last Clarkdale review, some readers asked for more test in GAME section. This review will add two 3D games test.
If this platform is for worksheet only, Clarkdale 3D performance can meet most entry 3D software.
Using 9600GT to compare 3D performance
3DMARK2006 => 10937
In USA, some readers would like me to compare Clarkdale with 9500GSO.
Unfortunately, I only have 9600GT, so I just test 3DMARK2006.
Also can let you know mainstream VGA and built-in GPU performance gap.
For higher 3D performance request, you can install additional VGA card to enhance overall 3D performance.
USB 3.0 test with BUFFALO 1.0TB external HDD. Now there is still less USB3.0 products.
-
More detail DDR3 parameters set up page
Voltage page
CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V
QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.050~1.490V
GraphicsCore 0.200~1.680V
PCH Core 0.950~1.500V
CPU PLL 1.000~2.580V
DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V
PC Health Status
The above is H55M-USB3 BIOS menu introduction.
I set the BIOS as running stable at 200/1600.
You can refer to the setup if your equipments are similar.
Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i5-660 ES
MB: GIGABYTE GA-H55M-USB3
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR CMD8GX3M4A1600C8
VGA: Intel Clarkdale 733MHz
HD: CORSAIR CMFSSD-128GBG2D
POWER: be quiet E7 Cable Management 480W
Cooler: Mega Shadow(Deluxe Edition)
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit
Default performance
CPU 133 X 25 => 3333MHz
DRAM DDR3 8GB 1333 CL7 7-7-21 1T
GPU 900MHz 128mb
Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 18m 09.803s
CPUMARK 99=> 550
Nuclearus Multi Core => 13547
Fritz Chess Benchmark => 13.11/6295
CrystalMark 2004R3 => 163715
CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU=> 4813
x CPU=> 11014
PCMark Vantage => 11878
Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 12107 MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read - 9526 MB/s
Intel Core i5-660 default performance is close to i5-661.
The main difference is 3D performance which caused by clock. However, the performance is not big different.
DDR3 performance is the key weakness of Clarkdale platform.
Intel builds in GPU into CPU and this structure lower the memory controller’s performance...
As 32nm Clarkdale CPU and H55 DDR3 bandwidth, it’s not much higher than LGA775 or AM3 platform.
-
IO
1 X DVI-D
1 X HDMI
1 X D-SUB
4 X USB 2.0(yellow)
2 X USB 3.0(blue)
1 X eSATA/USB 2.0 combo
1 X S/PDIF fiber/coaxial output
1 X 1394a
H55M-USB3 uses 4 phase PWM design. It is mid range components in H55 MB.
USB 3.0 chip is NEC D720200F1
Also using 3x USB power design which each USB port had independent chip to supply voltage. It’s 3 times current more.
It can avoid access problem for external devices power shortage.
H55 chipset heat sink
Due to H55 heat is not high, it doesn’t need big surface heat sink.
Boot up screen
MB Intelligent Tweaker, also known as M.I.T.
The below is BIOS version and other status.
Adjust CPU ratio, clock and DRAM clock items
F3a BIOS will show the GPU clock item
CPU related technology items. I have introduced many times in other articles.
Advanced DRAM setup page
-
Intel officially launched new Clarkdale platform on 8th Jan.
According to Intel UMA chipset, the 3D performance was falling behind AMD.
Even Intel last generation G45 chipset, the 3D performance still cannot compete with his competitor.
As Clarkdale platform launched, Intel royalty customers will look forward it.
All users can find the price in internet and the Clarkdale platform price is still high now.
Clarkdale structure is different with the chipset controller stage. Intel builds in GPU into CPU this time.
It lets users misunderstand the 3D performance will be improved dramatically. Even some of my friends also think in this way.
Actually, my last Core i5 661 review has showed the Clarkdale 3D performance just catch up AMD 785G.
It’s been long time that Intel IGP products 3D performance is far away behind. At least Clarkdale platform is same as AMD IGP products.
Before launching H55/H57, I think this is new segment for all MB makers well preparing for.
This time, the review board is GIGABYTE latest GA-H55M-USB3.
GIGABYTE is one of the three MB brands.
Of course, this time they will provide many H55 models for choice.
H55M-USB3 is with latest USB 3.0. It should attract many users who look for latest technology.
Let’s start with MB package.
Keep GIGABYTE consistent design style. Using white color for back and add in spec and features wording.
2oz PCB design, USB 3.0 spec are this H55 model key features.
It bundle with manual, driver CD, Smart 6 user guide, quick installation guide, cables and I/O panel.
GIGABYTE H55M-USB3 board
Intel LGA 1156 32nm CPU double side
The pic is Core i5 660, 2 physical cores and 2 virtual cores by HT(4 threading)
CPU clock is 133 X 25, 3.33GHZ. The built-in GPU clock is 733MHz
The difference with last 661 is the GPU clock is 900MHz.
Back to MB outlook
Lower Left Corner
2 X PCI-E X16, supports CrossFire dual VGA technology and bandwidth are X16+X4
2 X PCI
LAN Chip is Realtek 8111D
Audio Chip is Realtek ALC889, 7.1 channels and support Dolby Home Theater surround sound technology.
Lower Right Corner
5 X blue SATAII, provided by H55
2 X white SATAII, GIGABYTE SATA2 chip provides. Support RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD.
1 X IDE，GIGABYTE SATA2 provides.
Dual BIOS, dual protection
Upper Right Corner
4 X DIMM DDR3, support 800/1066/1333/1600/1800/2200+
Max DDR3 capacity is 24GB and can OC to achieve DDR3 1600 up.
DDR3 uses 2 phase PWM and next is 24-PIN power connector.
Upper Left Corner
LGA 1156 CPU socket
Intel LGA 1336/LGA 1156 pin design is not as solid as LGA 775.
This CPU socket design is very weak.
Please read the installation guide in advance and insert carefully.
-
MSI Wind U135 Conclusion
The Good
1. The U135 looks better compared to previous MSI netbook models
2. The keyboard feels better and the chiclet keyboard is now the preferred NB deign
3. The AC transformer doesn't heat up as much as other models on the market while charging
4. Good HDD performance so the system boots up and shuts down more quickly. Software applications also launch faster as well.
5. Good cooling system that doesn't produce any obvious noise at full load or in standby. The chassis also has good temperature control.
5. The 6-cell battery doesn't weigh more than 1.3kg and the official specs didn't round off the weight to make it look lighter.
7. The NM10 chipset uses less power compared to the 945 GSE.
8. Good video conferencing quality so quality webcam components were obviously used.
The Bad
1. The Intel Pinetrail platform doesn't offer any improvements on CPu and 3D performance
2. The Intel Pinetrail platform costs 20~30% more than the previous Atom platform at launch
3. The Special Edition U135 doesn't retain the matt display from the U100.
4. The glossy coating is eye-catching but also shows finger prints
5. The sound quality from the speakers leave something to be desired
Performance ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Build ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Specifications ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Appearance ★★★★★★★★★☆
Price ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
When it comes to the speakers
The mid-range is clear but not rich enough
The upper range can go very high but sounds too sharp
The bass performance feels fuzzy and flat.
This is the weakest link.
While most users don't expect too much when it comes to sound quality on netbook products,
Consumers will probably prefer better speaker units.
Color and brightness during video conferencing looks good and the overall presentation works well.
When set to 1.3M, the U135 offers good resolution and video quality.
The MSI Wind U100 netbook offered excellent C/P value when it was first released.
Now priced at between NT$10,000 ~ NT$11,000, it continues to offer high C/P value in a saturated market with many competing vendors.
The new special edition released after two years uses the latest Intel architecture
but unfortunately offers no real improvements on Atom's performance.
This indirectly impacts the attractiveness of the MSI U135.
Since the U135 is being priced at around NT$13,900, this is probably due to the higher price of the new chipset.
When the other manufacturers release their own Pinetrail-based models, their prices will probably not be any cheaper.
All that the Intel Pinetrail platform appears to offer is lower power consumption.
In all other aspects it is practically identical to the previous Diamondville platform.
One wonders why Intel is releasing what it claims to be a new platform in 2010 yet it is basically just the old architecture in a new packaging.
Maybe they are trying to push up Atom prices?
I personally feel that the Diamondville-based Netbook products now flooding the market offers better value for consumers.
As for MSI, it seems to be catching up to the big names when it comes to NB products and is very fast on product updates and releases.
It has certainly been quick to launch NB products for 10" Netbooks, CULV and the more recent Core i7 and Pinetrail platforms.
While the new U135 is handicapped by the high cost of Intel's new chipset, it does show how much effort MSI is putting into the market.
If they can go back to using the matt-finish LCD or making the chassis even thinner, once Intel reduces its chipset prices,
the MSI Wind U135 may become a netbook product that offers good C/P value.
Once again, I've used the Spyder2 color calibrator to produce a color calibration file for all U135 users.
-
CPU temperature performance
Standby
Core Temp – 25˚C
CPUID Hardware Monitor - 31˚C
Under full load
Core Temp – 35˚C
CPUID Hardware Monitor - 50˚C
The temperature near the exhaust vent feels close to the Core Temp but the actual temperature is probably a few degrees higher.
The CPUID Hardware Monitor's temperature readings seem a little high. Even when running at full load the exhaust felt only slightly warm.
MSI performs well when it comes to system cooling and noise. This was already demonstrated on the preceding U100 model.
Power consumption benchmarks
The battery is removed and the AC transformer connected
Standby – 9W
Full load – 13W
The power consumption is probably around 5~7W lower than the previous 945GSE platform.
This is a strength of Intel's new platform and the NM10 chipset effectively reduces netbook's power consumption even more.
It's unfortunate that the integrated GMA 3150 chipset doesn't support hardware decoding of 1080p.
CPU load when playing test videos
For 720p the CPU load was around 50~70% though it occasionally went up to 80~90%.
For 1080p the CPU load was around 70~85% but sometimes went up to 90~99%.
The CPYU load was quite high when playing 1080p video with occasional lags and skipped frames.
After shutting down Task Manager and all unnecessary applications, it was possible to play 1080p videos at an acceptable rate.
The frame rate then stayed above 24 frames per second and there was almost no obvious lag.
Battery life
6-cell battery tested with Battery Eater Pro V2.70 (Wireless networking disabled, Bluetooth enabled, LCD brightness set to 50%)
Full load – 4:03:03
Standby – 6:15:32
The Battery Eater Pro benchmark runs the CPU load with 3D graphics so this should produce the shortest endurance.
In cinema mode, the U135 can run for 4 hours and 50 minutes. Standby performance was above average.
My previous personal experience with various netbooks running on 6-cell batteries suggests a battery life of around 5~7 hours under normal use.
-
The U135 features a very eye-catching color scheme.
Performance benchmarks
MSI Wind U135 uses Intel's latest Pinetrail platform.
The ATOM N450 CPU is clocked at 166x10 = 1.66GHz with 512K of L2 cache. The single core CPU supports HT technology.
The NM10 chipset reduces the number of chips from the three in the previous 945GSE to just two.
The U135 is loaded with Windows 7 Starter edition as its operating system.
The hardware information in Device Manager:
The default factory-loaded desktop software
Upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit edition.
Windows 7 performance benchmarks
CPU performance benchmarks
Super PI 1M => 1m 50.714s
CPUMARK99 => 115
Nuclearus Multi Core => 1704
Fritz Chess Benchmark => 1.65/791
CrystalMark 2004R3 => 27926
CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU => 559
x CPU => 861
OpenGL => 291
The N450 CPU's performance is about the same as the previous N280 and both are clocked at 1.66GHz.
I am personally not too surprised that there has been no major improvement in CPU performance.
The OpenGL scores were around the same as 945GSE as well.
The 3MARK2003 results were also in the 700 range just like the 945GSE.
HDD benchmarks
FUJITSU MJA2250BH G2 5400rpm 250GB
The new 250GB FUJITSU HDD performs well even if it's just the 5400rpm version.
The peak transfer rates of 84~89MB/s in fact approach the performance of last generation's 7200rpm 2.5 HDD.
It looks like 2.5 HDD products are now evolving more quickly and their performance is getting better as well.
-
This is the chiclet keyboard and one of the biggest differences between the U135 and U100.
The power button is to the top right of the keyboard.
It turns blue when the power is on.
The hinge between screen and the chassis is also located nearby.
The 10" 16:0 mirror LED display with a resolution of 1024x600.
At the top is a 1.3M webcam and on the left is the microphone.
The I/O ports on the left side of the chassis
Keyhole/ AC power in / larger heat vent / USB 2.0 x 2
Right side of chassis
USB 2.0 x 1 / SD slot / Audio out/in / D-Sub display output / Network port
Close up shot of the keyboard. It looks a little different from traditional keyboards.
The keys don't feel too soft or too hard when typing.
The 6-cell battery used with the U135 weighs 1275g.
The official specs say 1.3kg. It's good that they didn't exaggerate on weight.
This shows the inside of the U135 with the bottom casing removed.
If you want to install DDR2 ram or other hardware upgrades, the word from online forums is that you can take it to a MSI support center.
Removing the casing yourself is not recommended because you might damage the manufacturer warranty stickers and lose the warranty protection.
The U135 offers one DDR2 DIMM slot for expanding the DRAM.
The included Hynix DDR2 667 1GB is soldered directly to the IC. The Nm10 chipset supports up to 2GB of DDR2 memory.
The cooling fan on the U135 is larger than those on other netbooks.
One advantage with the U135 is that while the fan seems to produce a lot of air flow when it's running, there is no real noise.
The HDD is a FUJITSU 250GB. We'll look at how it performs a little later.
-
MSI has gained a strong market since it launched its first 10" netbook in 2008.
It has also released many new notebook products in the last two years and these have helped to boost the image of the MSI brand.
When MSI released its first netbook, the only netbooks on the market were in the 7 to 8.9" range.
For most consumers, MSI's first 10" U100 Netbook offered a bigger screen compared
to the other 7~8.9" netbooks at the time while weighing around the same as 8.9" models.
MSI then continued to refine their netbook offerings with some offering longer endurance while others emphasized 3.5G support.
Consumer response was quite positive and the MSI brand has come up in the conversation
when some of my friends were looking for new netbooks.
The last two to three years have obviously made MSI's notebook and netbook offerings more visible in the market.
After all, having another brand to choose from is good for the consumer!
The new model from MSI is a special edition based on Intel's latest Pinetrail platform to celebrate the sale of one million 10" U100 netbooks.
The special edition is available in either blue or red.
Let's take a look at what improvements MSI has made for the Wind U135.
First, we have the product packaging.
The icons in the lower left corner put the emphasis on the keyboard, styling, power and touchpad.
Featured on the back is the previous U100 in black and white.
The two netbooks on the front show off the two colors available for the Special Edition U135.
Accessories
Product warranty, driver CD and user manual.
The MSI Wind U135 itself. This hands-on review will feature the red version.
According to the manufacturer, the striped design uses Color Film Printing technology.
The U135 looks a little more stylish than its preceding U100.
The design of the base looks similar to the U100.
There is no convenient access to the RAM or HDD. Users looking for an upgrade will have to remove the entire lower casing.
A 6-cell battery rated at 4400mAh 49Wh is included.
Judging from the experience with U100, MSI will properly offer both a 4400mAh and a 5200mAh version.
The transformer uses the smallest size available on the market.
It's made by LITEON, another well-known brand.
The AC transformer is only slightly warm to the touch when charging so they've obviously paid attention to this area.
There are eight status lights to the lower right of the keyboard.
You need to hold down the Fn key to turn on some of the functions.
The sticker on the left side shows the hardware specifications.
The 20% wider touchpad will be more comfortable to use.
The glossier finish means it feels nice as well.
-
3DMARK2006 => 1700
OC 750/1600 => 2478
CrystalMark 2004R3 and PCMark Vantage scores have big difference.
The main reason is these 3 models HD 4200 default clock are different.
The other benchmark scores are similar.
We can treat the small drop as allowable error.
Built-in VGA HD 4200 performance, because DFI default clock is 700MHz, it causes 3D performance is higher.
But the DRAM BIOS is only 1333.
GIGABYTE has VGA DRAM option to 1600.
It also enhance the 3D performance.
BIOSTAR can OC core to 820MHz. It’s the highest one in these 3 models.
Even though, I think they all use same 785G chipset and also some drop in different chipset lot.
So you can treat they are same level in performance.
Using DFI LANPARTY BI 785G-M35 to test power consumption
AMD Phenom II X2 545 3000Mhz
System Standby - 73W
CPU Full Speed - 102W
AMD Phenom II X4 B45 3750Mhz
System Standby - 75W
CPU Full Speed - 153W
AMD platform power consumption in X2 and X4 are same as standby condition.
After enable X4 CPU and pull clock to 3.75GHz full speed, it is 51W more than X2.
Using quad core CPU will be more power consumption.
However, it’s still acceptable.
The CPU OC ability is almost same for these 3 models.
BIOS options are very rich to let users can tune up the performance.
Besides enable X4, they all provide enable X3 option.
It makes X2 CPU tunes up easily.
These three 785G has their own advantages.
GIAGBYTE has full features, DFI has better heat design and BIOSTAR non-solid capacitor design makes it be cheaper.
Also they all have different lack points, so I think it’s unfair to pick up any one be the best choice.
For choosing AMD CPU, I think the best C/P is Athlon II X4 620.
X4 620 can enable L3 cache to increase the performance.
Athlon II X3 425 is cheaper and also has L3 cache. However, if you are unlucky,
the 4th core cannot be enabled, 425 L3 performance is lower than 620 with quad core.
Not all Athlon II X2/X3/X4 CPU can guarantee to be able to enable L3 or X4.
So when you buy AMD CPU, I suggest you can choose X4 620.
Of course there are more brands in the market for you to choose.
This article bases on my personal configuration to make the OC and Performance reference guide.
You can choose your own best one by budget, requirement and brands.
The test above is just for the users who have same budget or requirement as me to refer.
Finally, wish all of you can build up your highest C/P and best matched quad core PC in 2010.
Windwithme wish you all the best in 2010. Thanks.
This is my latest toy.
12/17 2009, Sony launched the very popular game FF13 and PS3 combo limited edition.
Recalling my memory, I haven’t been playing game for long time.
My PS2 is under dust over 4 years.
Only this AMD OC guide takes me 4 weeks to face some unstable and tuning performance.
I always reinstall OS, fine tune BIOS and repeat run the benchmark software.
This article really takes time to get it done.
I wish I could have time to play games in 2010. I think it should be good for leisure time.
-
DFI LANPARTY BI 785G-M35 Performance
CPU 300 X 12.5 => 3750MHz
DDR3 1600 CL8 8-8-20 1T
VGA 700/1333
Nuclearus Multi Core => 16779
Fritz Chess Benchmark => 19.01/9124
CrystalMark 2004R3 => 195212
CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU=> 4206
x CPU=> 14571
PCMark Vantage => 7170
3DMARK2006 => 2351
OC 750/1600 => 2482
BIOSTAR TA785G3 HD Performance
CPU 300 X 12.5 => 3750MHz
DDR3 1600 CL8 8-8-20 1T
VGA 500/1333
Nuclearus Multi Core => 16537
Fritz Chess Benchmark => 19.09/9161
CrystalMark 2004R3 => 185839
CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU=> 4235
x CPU=> 15733
PCMark Vantage => 7172
-
DDR3 is CORSAIR DOMINATOR CMD8GX3M4A1600C8
Due to the interference with Cooler, the test configuration changes to 2GBX2
The spec is DDR3 1600 CL8 8-8-24 1T 1.65V
2GBX2 version is all black and 2GBX4 version is partial blue.
Two versions are different.2GBX2 price is around 130USD.
Using GIGABYTE GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H to test DDR3 performance
DDR3 1600 CL8 8-8-20 1T 1.600V
Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 8981 MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read - 13735 MB/s
DDR3 1600 CL7 7-7-21 1T 1.750V
Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 9415 MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read - 13760 MB/s
You can see DDR3 bandwidth are some different in CL8 and CL7
Besides, AMD CPU built-in memory controller hasn’t improved for years, which are why DRAM bandwidth is still far behind Intel platform.
If you use 790FX chipset, DDR3 bandwidth will be higher 500~1000 MB/s. 790FX can set this memory set in CL6.
More high-end AMD chipset also improves more DDR3 bandwidth.
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H Performance
CPU 300 X 12.5 => 3750MHz
DDR3 1600 CL8 8-8-20 1T
VGA 500/1066
Nuclearus Multi Core => 16620
Fritz Chess Benchmark => 18.99/9115
CrystalMark 2004R3 => 191161
CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU=> 4224
x CPU=> 15236
PCMark Vantage => 6833
3DMARK2006 => 1774
OC 750/1600 => 2406
-
Built-in HD4200 default clock Core/Memory is 700/1333
DFI also provides enable core 3 only option
BIOSTAR TA785G3 HD BIOS screen
User can decide your own core leveling
Built-in HD4200 default clock Core/Memory is 500/1333
All three brands 785G can run stable at 300Mhz
The main BIOS option is setting HT Link Frequency/CPU NB Clock Ratio to X7 or 1.4GHz
Due to the high competition in MB market and OC market ramp up, even Micro-ATX also provide more OC options.
You can see three models BIOS options are rich for user to do fine tune.
Configuration
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 545
MB: BISOATR/DFI/GIGABYTE 785G
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR CMD8GX3M4A1600C8
VGA: ATI Radeon HD 4200
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
POWER: CORSAIR CX400W
Cooler: Thermaltake S18
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit
Enable cores and OC will generate more heat, so you need to pay more for a powerful cooler.
I pick the lower price one, Thermaltake S18, around 16 USD.
The disadvantage of S18 is installing in AMD platform, the heat pipe position is not good.
It may interfere with the DDR3 with heat sink.
-
Third one is BIOSTAR TA785G3 HD
The price is around 80USD, the cheapest in these 3 models. It’s also the only one without solid capacitor design.
Lower Left Corner
1 X PCI-E X16
1 X PCI-E X1
2 X PCI
LAN chip is Realtek RTL8111DL
Audio chip is Realtek ALC888 supports HD Audio 8+2 channels.
Lower Right Corner
6 X yellow SATAII by SB710.SATA2 and support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10
1 X IDE
Power、Reset buttons and debug LED
Upper Right Corner
4 X DIMM DDR3 support 800/1066/1333/1600(OC). The maximum capacity is 16GB DDR3.
Next by is 24-PIN power connector
Upper Left Corner
AM3 CPU Socket, 4+1 PWM
Next to heat sink is SAMSUNG 128MB DDR3 SidePort Memory
IO comparison from up to down are GIGABYTE-DFI-BIOSTAR
You can see GIGABYTE has eSATA and 1394
DFI has complete S/PDIF fiber and coaxial output
Three 785G models all have different advantages.
No matter they are good components, better spec or lower price.
User can choose by budget, brand, after service and personal like.
In picking MB, there is no better or worse at all.
BIOS will be more focus in OC setup.
The below setups are 785G running at 300MHz below.
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H BIOS screen
It also supports enable core 3 only option.
If your CPU cannot be stable in quad core, you can back to try 3 cores as well.
Built-in HD4200 default clock Core/Memory is 500/1066
DFI LANPARTY BI 785G-M35 BIOS screen
AMD Mid-end MB with Phenom II X4 910e OC Review
in General hardware discussion
Posted
Since AMD 45nm CPU was more popular in 2009, AMD is more aggressive in CPU, Chipset and VGA products this year.
You can see AMD launched more new product lines to ramp up their market share.
In VGA, ATI has been in market for long time and good market share.
For CPU, it cannot implement 45nm for long time. It caused CPU power consumption, temperature and clock is in bad performance.
These factors make AMD CPU was failed in 2008.
Finally, they only could drop price to maintain the CPU market share.
However, AMD 45nm production technology was more stable in 2009, they started to launch more CPU SKUs.
Phenom II X4/Athlon II product lines are defined by 2~4 CPU cores, L3cache and frequency.
Besides, there is some official way that users have chance to enable extra cores and L3 cache of low end AMD CPU.
It makes AMD X3/X4CPU price be lower. It’s a good news for CPU market.
Previous review, I shared "AMD 3x 785G models Unlock Cores and OC Guide " to show the higher C/P value.
If users can get the capable one, it’s really super value. However, it’s not 100% guaranteed.
As the users who don’t rely on luck, I suggest you can pick AMD Phenom II X4 CPU is better.
AMD launched several CPUs to compete with Intel Core i3/Core i5 recently.
This review is about new Phenom II X4, quad core CPU, structure to assembly a performance and style mid-end AMD PC.
CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 910e, power consumption 65W which is lower than the other Phenom II X4 95W.
Core name is Deneb. The voltage range is 0.85-1.25V, clock is 2.60GHz with L2 2MB and L3 6MB
The price is around 169USD. The Taiwan market popular one is 905e so far.
DRAM
I use my most favorite CORSAIR XMS3 DDR3. The clock is 1600 CL8 8-8-24 1.65V.
In USA internet shop, you can see CMX4GX3M2A1600C7, 2GBX2 1600 CL7, price is only 125USD.
CL7 version is more suitable for AMD platform and the price is cheaper.
Due to AMD DDR3 high clock is not so well, I recommend users can just purchase 1333 or 1600.
This review is using ORSAIR DDR3 2GBX3 three-channel version to test 2GBX2.
As budget concerned users, you can choose lower clock or higher CL one.
MB
I use the most popular All in one 785G chipset.
GIGABYTE GA-785GMT-USB3 is with the latest USB3.
The price is around 3100NTD, 97USD.
The pity is 785GMT-USB3 has no SidePort Memory.
If you need better 3D performance, SidePort Memory does help 785G product.
Power Supply
For this AMD platform, all in one MB power consumption is not high.
I pick be quiet! power4 350W. It’s capable to supply this platform.
The price is 1690NTD, around 53USD.
It passed 80Plus certificate. 100% Japanese made solid capacitors and 5 years warranty. The spec is quite good.
Chassis
Normally, I don’t use chassis to write this kind of review. However, my friend’s experience show me that the good chassis is also key factor of building a PC.
This time, I choose Antec Performance One Mini P18, a high end Micro-ATX chassis.
The price dropped to 3900NTD recently, around 122USD. This chassis is also a good option for high end users.
Suddenly the pic turns to outdoor scene. I am not used to it yet, but everything needs the first time.
For 2010 articles, windwithme will show the review in varied way.
The back is 12cm fan, above is 20cm fan and both with rpm control and in 3 steps.
In front is 2x USB 2.0, 1x eSATA and audio output/input.
Although the size is similar with normal ATX Chassis, 43.5 cm(H) x 21.2 cm(W) x 43.6 cm (D).
However the quality and extendibility is very good. 5x 3.5/3x 5.25 and it’s able to install the VGA long cards.