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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. windwithme - msi Wind U135

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

Every year I always spend some time to write an article about mainstream PC platform recommendation for choosing the high C/P value mainstream products. Users can pay less get more performance products. AMD stuck in 65nm for couple year and not much progress. It caused two main weaknesses for Phenom X4 CPU, high power consumption and over heat. That’s why I didn’t write too many reviews with AMD platform. Since 2009, AMD launched 45nm CPU and still keep in parity. After then, AMD announced a series X2/X3/X4 CPU, and also can enable cores and L3 cache. It makes AMD ramp up the market share in 2nd half 2009. Of course, the parity motherboard is also the key factor. Especially the economy crisis in 2009, the users lower their cost in many consumer products. AMD CPU highest C/P one is Athlon II X3 425/435, the price is around 66~75 USD. This CPU may enable quad cores by MB south bridge. However, please be aware that it’s not 100%. If it’s unstable, please back to the tri-core to operate. Another model is Athlon II X4 620/630, the price is around 93~107 USD. The main difference with Phenom II X4 is no L3 cache. It also has opportunity to enable it to be complete Phenom II X4. This time I use Phenom II X2 545 for quad core test. You cannot find this model in the market already. Besides, I use Micro-ATX MB which is AMD main segment in few years. AMD uses their leading UMA performance and lower price to compete with the other chipset provides. This article introduces three 785G MB to enable Phenom/Athlon II being X4 and OC performance. First model is DFI LANPARTY BI 785G-M35 The market price is about 108USD. Lower Left Corner 1 X PCI-E X16 1 X PCI-E X1 2 X PCI LAN chip is JMicron JMC250 Audio chip is Realtek ALC885 and use tantalum chip capacitor for better audio quality Lower Right Corner 6 X black SATAII by SB710. SATA2 and support RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 0+1 1 X IDE Upper Right Corner 4 X DIMM DDR3 support 800/1066/1333/1600(O.C.) The maximum DDR3 capacity is 16GB. DDR3 1600 no need to OC CPU. Next by is 24-PIN power connector Upper Left Corner AM3 CPU Socket, 4+1 PWM Next to heat sink is hynix 128MB DDR3 SidePort Memory Second is GIGABYTE GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H The market price is about 99 USD. Lower Left Corner 1 X PCI-E X16 1 X PCI-E X1 2 X PCI LAN chip is Realtek 8111C Audio chip is Realtek ALC889A supports 7.1 channel and Dolby Home Theater technology Lower Right Corner 5 X light blue SATAII by SB710. SATA2 and support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10 and RAID JBOD。 1 X IDE Upper Right Corner 4 X DIMM DDR3 support 800/1066/1333/1600/1800(OC). The maximum capacity is 16GB DDR3. Next by are Dual BOIS and 24-PIN power connector Upper Left Corner AM3 CPU Socket, 4+1 PWM It also has 128MB DDR3 SidePort Memory

Finally, add CPU voltage, challenge high clock “5GHz” by air cooling CPUZ certification Intel Core i5 661 OC 5G / windwithme About 1.476~1.488V, this range can provide enough voltage for 5GHz into OS. If you want to use Super PI and same level software, I think adding voltage up to 1.52 ~ 1.56V for CPU is necessary. E8400~E8600 also can make CPU run at 4.8~4.9GHz, but voltage and temperature of 32nm are lower. In the future, if Intel makes 32nm better, overclocking dual-core CPU to 5GHz will not be just a dream. BIOSTAR T-Series TH55XE Merits: 1. The design of package makes the product look high quality. 2. The range of BIOS voltage setting is wide; external clock and other options are also plentiful. 3. Power consumption of H55 chipset is very low. 4. Overclocking can make CPU/DDR3 reach 200/2000 steady level. 5. CPU power supply material is applied by better phase design. Demerits: 1. The price of all H55 MB is still too high now. 2. Due to Intel’s structural design, i5 CPU built-in GPU can not show good performance on DDR3. Performance:★★★★★★★★★☆ Material: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Specification:★★★★★★★★☆☆ Appearance:★★★★★★★★★☆ Price:★★★★★★★★☆☆ Price of most H55 MB is about NT$4200 (about US$130). Although the price of BIOSTAR T-Series TH55XE is about US$117, it is a cheaper choice. But I think the price of H55 chipset is still too high; if its price can be reduced to US$100, the product must be more popular. About Clarkdale CPU, there will be both Core i5 6XX and Core i3 5XX series, and the main difference is supporting TurboBoost or not. I find some quotations about this kind of CPU from other websites: Core i5 6XX: US$176~284 Core i3 530/540: US$113/133 respectively; and the price of Intel Pentium G9650 without HT technology is US$87. My personal thinking of “All in One MB” platform, at the initial stage the price of the CPU product that consumers can accept is about US$90 ~ 110. Therefore, Core i3 530 and Pentium G9650 are the products that can fit in with most consumers’ budget. My experience about testing Clarkdale platform this time Supported by 32nm new technology, the CPU, compared with 45nm, has higher clock, lower temperature and power consumption, all of which make a great impression on me. But now owing too high price, Intel still leaves something to be desired to make its products accepted by more consumers. I feel very happy that besides AMD platform, Intel also releases higher performance All in One chipset. Although current Clarkdale C/P value is not high, anyway Intel finally makes great progress on this product field in 2010. I also expect the parity of this new platform is coming soon. The release of Clarkdale provides one more choice in the market, and makes the performance of Intel All in One chipset greater in the future. By the way, I'm also enjoyed the world of DSLR; I actually already had 4 of them since last year, including my latest one - a CANON KISS X3 Kit (500D). In the coming February, I'm going to share my experience of the CANON KISS X3 And again, I truly appreciated for all your support, feedbacks, or even one simple comment; that gives me the power and encourages to continue my sharing. Thank you

Nuclearus Multi Core => 17945 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 17.69/8489 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 219569 CINEBENCH R10 1 CPU=> 6371 x CPU=> 14569 PCMark Vantage => 15076 When Core i5 661 is overclocked to 4.6GHz, 1.3V voltage can make the system steady. 32nm design makes dual-core CPU total clock raised 300 ~ 500MHz further. H55 does not provide RAID function, so I used a SDD to test transfer rate. CORSAIR CMFSSD-64GB2D, specification is 220/120 MB/s From the test of SDD with high transfer rate, I find read/write performance of H55 is less 5 ~ 10MB/s than ICH10R. I think the possible reason is deviation value, or the performance of single chipset could be lower. As result, H55 shows fine performance on HDD. GPU OC 1167MHz 128mb 3DVANTAGE => 563 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1024 X 768 => 7455 Users can overclock built-in GPU by BIOS options. The GPU performance can be raised 15 ~ 20% after overclocked. DRAM performance test CPU 133 X 25 => 3333MHz DRAM DDR3 1333 CL9 9-9-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 11709 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 9259 MB/s CPU 200 X 23 => 4600MHz DRAM DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 17848 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 13613 MB/s About DDR3 2000, BIOS setting is CL8, but CPUZ shows CL9, EVEREST CL10. I’m not sure why they are different; probably something related to BIOS setting. Concerning DDR3 bandwidth performance, I thought Clarkdale can show great result like P55 dual-channel/ X58 tri-channel. The design that Intel makes Memory Controller built-in can make the bandwidth of these new platforms 150~250% faster than LGA 775. It's pity not able to take advantage on its high bandwidth infrastructure due to GPU engine integrated inside Clarkdule Core i5 processor.

CrystalMark 2004R3 => 155768 CINEBENCH R10 1 CPU=> 4832 x CPU=> 10794 PCMark Vantage => 10706 CPU voltage is only 0.948V when system is standby; the voltage rises to 1.128V when CPU is in full loading. Moreover about TurboBoost, when the system is standby, only single core is used, and CPU clock also rises to 3.6GHz. When dual cores are in process, CPU clock will change to 3.46GHz. In other words, under the condition of single core, CPU multiplier can be plus X2; of dual cores, plus X1. The default CPU clock of Core i5 661 is very high, and the performance of the CPU is also great, suitable for non-conversion or drawing software. For most software that do not support multitasking, CPU clock at this moment is more important. 3DVANTAGE => 486 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1024 X 768 => 7011 Clarkdale shows similar performance in 3DMARK2006 and 3D like 785G. However, H55, without overclocking, gets higher scores in 3DVANTAGE than 785G. StreetFighter IV also shows high performance; of course, built-in GPU products are what we use to compare. The result also means Intel has made great progress in GPU design. PSU is quiet in latest series E7 Cable Management, watt is 480W Module design makes it easier to place cables in order. When H55 platform is used as word-processing, 350W PSU is enough to support the system. But if running at higher-performance VGA or hard drives will be added in the future, 400W ~ 500W PSU are recommended. Test of power consumption Standby: - 34~39W When CPUZ displays 3600MHz, this condition means single core is being used. Full speed: - 79~89W When CPUZ displays 3466MHz, this condition means 2 physical core + 2 virtual HT cores are being used. The combination of Intel Core i5 661 and H55MB saves more power; when the system is in standby mode, the lowest power consumption is only 34W. And, the range of power consumption is 79 ~ 89W when CPU is at the full speed 3.46GHz; hence, 32nm platform can save more power than ever. But I also find that different PSUs bring dissimilar results: when the system is standby, the power consumption is mostly 38 ~ 42W for common 400W PSUs; and, 34 ~ 36W for 480W PSU (80 PLUS also help save energy). OC performance CPU 200 X 23 => 4600MHz DRAM DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T GPU 900MHz 128mb Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 12m 49.813s CPUMARK 99=> 709

BIOSTAR’s G.P.U Phase Control CPU Load Line option is also put in this page. Built-in GPU option, named IGD Graphics 32/64/128MB can be selected to share RAM. Main page of CPU technology options Common C1E, HT, VT, etc technology all can be set enabled or disabled from here. When built-in GPU is used, all of these options will appear They can be overclocked with built-in GPU, with range from 133 ~ 2000MHz For BIOS setting, I set steady configuration according to the ratio of CPU to DDR3 is 200 to 2000. When external CPU clock is set over 166 ~ 175MHz, built-in GPU becomes unsteady. So, if you want to overclock CPU over 200MHz, external VGA is suggested. I find this special situation when I use Clarkdale; one possible reason is that GPU is built in CPU, so the design affects overclocking capability indirectly. Testing platform: CPU: Intel Core i5-661 ES MB: BIOSTAR TSERIES TH55XE DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG6GX3M3A2000C8 VGA: Intel Clarkdale 900MHz HD: CORSAIR CMFSSD-64GB2D POWER: be quiet E7 Cable Management 480W Cooler: Mega Shadow(Deluxe Edition) OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit BIOSTAR’s exclusive software TOverclocker, multifunctional OS software, allows user adjust external clock, voltage, and performance modes from this programme directly. Hardware Monitor The upper software allows user to change boot logo directly; FOXCONN also had similar software before. G.P.U Energy-saving software: it is suggested to disable this utility when overclocking to remain system steady. BIOSTAR now provides more and more software and professional functions as a big manufacturer should have. From software user aspects, I believe Biostar team should improve and make it more user friendly. Below is the test result of Intel new 32nm platform. CPU uses Intel Core i5-661, 4 Threading, clock is 3.33GHz, L3 Cache 4MB GPU is 900Mhz, 87W, official price is US$196 Default performance: CPU 133 X 25 => 3333MHz DRAM DDR3 1333 CL9 9-9-24 1T GPU 900MHz 128mb Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 18m 00.891s CPUMARK 99=> 550 Nuclearus Multi Core => 13523 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 13.07/6273

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 2.0 1 X S/PDIF Out 1 X IEEE 1394 Under heatsink of TSERIES is H55 Mosfet uses a smaller heatsink LAN chipset Realtek 8111DL Audio chipset Realtek ALC888, surrounded by Japanese solid capacitors Boot logo Main page of adjusting frequency, voltage Page of voltage CPU Vocre -0.080~+1.260V CPU VTT Voltage 1.150~2.080V CPU PLL Voltage 1.800~2.730V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.545V PCH PLL Voltage 1.100~2.030V PCH Voltage 1.10~1.25V IGD Voltage 1.18~1.78V Intel PPM Configuration, many C-STATE can be selected from here DDR3 Timing Configuration Users can adjust arguments according to their DRAM quality.

In the past six months, we often saw a lot of news about Intel 32nm CPU on the internet; more information was about Core i7-980X, also LGA 1366 6 physical cores + 6 virtual HT cores (12 Threading). The orientation of 32nm CPU belongs to Intel future highest-level LGA 1366 platform, which most consumers show less interest in because of higher price. Now take a look at Intel LGA 1156 platform. About this new product line, there will be some 32nm CPU products put on sale, including Core i5 6XX and Core i3 5XX series, and named Clarkdale. The market orientation of these two series is different from previous Intel CPU. The main reason is that Intel defines new CPU structure, not putting GPU into chipset like before but into CPU directly. Intel’s such new design will affect PC market style “All in One MB” is becoming the future. On chipset side, Intel releases H55/H57 to support new CPU design, and main difference is with or without RAID function. Same as P55 chipset, a single-chip is adopted in the new chipset; I assume Micro-ATX form factor will be the main design for H55/H57 motherboards. Of course, some manufacturers also released ATX form factor for higher-level H57, seeming to direct compete with AMD 785G/790GX. Especially, Micro-ATX products of AMD hold a special attraction for consumers for a quiet sometime now. Therefore, Intel wants to increase his market share counting on this new product line this time. This time I used BIOSTAR T-Series TH55XE as my MB platform, which using Intel H55 chipset without RAID function, and its street price is around US$115 (about NT$3750). Firstly, we can see the black is the main colour for the package. I think the matching colour is exactly moderate, and package design is very special. Product manual, driver CD, related cables and IO panel are attached. BIOSTAR TSERIES TH55XE itself Intel latest LGA 1156 32nm CPU front/reverse side The CPU in the picture is Core i5 661, 2 physical cores + 2 virtual HT cores (4 Threading). CPU clock: 133 X 25 = 3.33GHz; built-in GPU clock = 900MHz Lower-left of the motherboard 1 X PCI-E X16 1 X PCI-E X4 2 X PCI LAN chipset: Realtek 8111DL Audio chipset: Realtek ALC888，7.1 channels and supports HD Audio Lower-right of the motherboard 5 x yellow SATAII，H55 provides SATA2 specification Power、Reset buttons、debug indicators Upper-right of the motherboard 4 x DIMM DDR3, supports 800/1066/1333/1600(OC)/2000(OC), maximum capacity of DDR3 is 16GB。 1 X IDE, by JMB368 With 24-PIN power connector Upper-left of the motherboard LGA 1156 location, adopting CPU 4+ VTT 2+GPU 1 phases power supply BIOSTAR adopts IR DirectFET phase design for power supply, with higher cost and better quality than common material.

For the DRAM test, supporting 3 channels is big advantages for X58 platform. I use the famous extreme memory maker, CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG6GX3M3A2000C8, supports 3-channel. Black/Red color make GT be more attractive DDR3 2100 CL8 8-8-24 1T, BIOS set as 1.600V SP2004 3 X Blend mode, 5.88GB stable in full load Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 30925 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 21274 MB/s DDR3 OC can reach 2100 CL8 easily and only need 1.600V Besides DOMINATOR-GT CMG6GX3M3A2000C8 quality is great, the X58A-UD7 OC capability is also in good standard. It makes the combination be even greater. Comparing to P55 dual channel performance, X58 3-channel bandwidth is much higher. The CPU is Gulftown, 6 cores and HT technology work as 12 It’s not selling in the market yet, but there are many CPU test since August. CPU OC to 4GHz to see some future structure performance CPU 175 X 23 => 4025MHz DDR3 2100 CL8 8-8-24 1T Hyper 12 X PI 32M=> 14m 53.289s CPUMARK 99=> 620 CINEBENCH R10 1 CPU=> 5662 x CPU=> 31983 PCMark Vantage GTX260 SLI 2WAY=> 20313 GTX260 SLI 3WAY=> 27205 During the test, you can see many software only support 4-8 cores. In physical 6 cores plus HT, some benchmark scores decreased rather than increased. I think the software need to improve more in this condition. SLI 3WAY is also the same. CrystalMark 2004R3 scores is decreased. So far, some software cannot support this high spec 100%. However, Gulftown with SLI 3WAY really get the higher benchmark scores. GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD7 Good 1.X58A-UD7 uses GIGABYTE most high end components and technologies 2.Support 3WAY SLI and CFX. NV system can use PhyX to build 4 VGA 3.SATA3 use high end Marvell 9128 chip. USB 3.0 uses NEC chip 4.BIOS items are rich and wide voltage items. CPU/DDR3 OC ability is great. 5.Built-in 6 SATAII, 2 USB/eSATA and 2 USB 3.0 6.Hybird SILENT-PIPE enhance the thermal solution. NB also support water cooling block Weak 1.Hybird SILENT-PIPE will block one PCI-E X1 2.LAN and Audio chips are all Realtek. They could consider for some better one. Performance ★★★★★★★★★★ Components ★★★★★★★★★★ Specification ★★★★★★★★★☆ Outlook ★★★★★★★★★☆ C/P Value ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ GIGABYTE X58A-UD7 is really the new blood for X58 platform Except enhance the components, it also implements latest USB 3.0 and SATA3 LGA 1156 doesn’t sell well because i7 CPU plus P55 price is almost the same as LGA 1366 After LGA 1156 i3 CPU launch, the platform should be cheaper and rise the C/P value. For the current market, LGA 1366 is still the most high end one. SATA3 is helpless for users who only use 1~2 HDD. 7200rpm HDD performance is around 100~120 MB/s. However, for milti-HDD and SSD users, SATA3 is a great improvement. The most attractive part is USB 3.0. USB2.0 has been using for years. 30~35 MB/s bandwidth is too slow for most USB external storage users. USB 3.0 can reach 150 MB/s in test which is almost 5 times faster. This technology is more practical. GIGABYTE announced GIGABYTE X58A-UD7 is high standard in overall performance. Previous GIGABYTE X58 series can support Gulftown 6 cores CPU by upgrading BIOS. It’s a pity that LAN and Audio can use better chip to match their high end components level. If you want to build a top level PC, LGA 1366 is your best choice. For top MB, X58 price is higher, but compare to the same price range X58 products, UD7 is still competitive.

Test Configuration CPU: Gulftown 2.40GHz ES MB: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD7 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG6GX3M3A2000C8 VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC SLI 3WAY HD: Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB POWER: CORSAIR TX950W Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit GIGABYTE “A” version means supporting SATA3 and USB 3.0 technologies First, let’s see the difference of SATA3. This time I use Seagate latest Barracuda XT. It supports SATA3 and backward compatible with SATA2 In SATA2, bandwidth 3Gbps HD Tune Pro 3.50 average read is 110.0 MB/s ATTO DISK Benchmark over 8k can reach highest read in 142 MB/s and write in 139 MB/s CrystalDiskMark is read 143.1 Mb/s and write 137.6 MB/s HD Tune Pro 3.50 average write is 104.5 MB/s In SATA3, bandwidth 6Gbps HD Tune Pro 3.50 average read is 110.0 MB/s ATTO DISK Benchmark over 8k can reach highest read in 142 MB/s and write in 137 MB/s CrystalDiskMark is read 143.1 Mb/s and write 139.1 MB/s HD Tune Pro 3.50 average write is 104.1 MB/s As the test in SATA2 and SATA3, the performance is not big different in normal application. After all, SATA2 bandwidth is 3Gbps, means 300MB/s and SATA6 is 6Gbps, 600MB/s This spec is for max bandwidth, especially for multi-HDD RAID5 or SSD RAID0. SATA3 will bring the max bandwidth into full play in such conditions. USB test is using BUFFALO 1.0TB external HDD. It’s very rare USB 3.0 product so far Plug into USB 2.0 port HD Tune Pro 3.50 average read is 33.2 MB/s ATTO DISK Benchmark over 64k can reach highest read in 35 MB/s and write is 32 MB/s CrystalDiskMark is read 35.25 Mb/s and write 32.76 MB/s Plug into blue USB 3.0 port HD Tune Pro 3.50 average read is 120.4 MB/s ATTO DISK Benchmark over 64k can reach highest read in 154 MB/s and write in 159 MB/s CrystalDiskMark is read 154.3 Mb/s and write156.2 MB/s FDEBENCH test is read in 126 Mb/s and write in 136 MB/s Formerly, USB 2.0 max bandwidth is around 30~35 MB/s. It’s fatal wound for USB devices. FLASH mostly is MLC, is very hard to reach 30 MB/s. However for users who using 2.5/3.5” USB external box, HDD performance is above 50 MB/s~100 Mb/s USB 2.0 bandwidth will limit the products performance. This issue will be solved soon as more and more USB3.0 MB.

The screw holes next to NB heat sink are used to install Hybird SILENT-PIPE This heat pipe also supports water cooling system. The user can install the pipe into it without buying a water cooling block. USB 3.0 chip is NEC D720200F1 3x USB power design to provide 3 times electric current by independent chip for all USB ports. It can solve the insufficient power issue which may cause read write lose as using external storages. I will test USB 3.0 performance later. Below SB heat sink is Marvell SE9128 chip which supports SATA3 SATA3 ports is SATA6 and SATA7 in upper side. Boot Screen MB Intelligent Tweaker, also called M.I.T. DDR3 parameters setting. X58 supports three channel, so there are 3 sets items Voltage Page Load-Line Calibration StandardLevel1/Level2 CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.120~2.000V IOH Core 0.850~2.080V CPU PLL 1.000~2.580V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V Advanced CPU Features C1E is power saving and lower frequency feature. It runs automatically as low CPU utility rate. Intel Turbo Boost is opposite with C1E. It will increase clock in full speed operation. You can find many articles in internet. Because of the limited space, also I had detail review in previous product, so I won’t explain Intel Turbo Boost PC Health Status X58A-UD7 is GIGABYTE most high end product. The voltage and items in BIOS are rich The setting is stable at 175/2100. If your hardware OC capability is good, you can refer to this set up. I hope it is valuable for your configuration.