windwithme

GIGABYTE launched very rich product line for Intel latest Haswell. Haswell chipset has the most high end Z87, mainstream H87 and B85 and entry H81. Of course, more high-end chipset has more features and expandability. MB price is also higher. GIGABYTE in high-end Z87 has OC series and G1 series. Both series has its? own position. G1, as name said, is for Gaming market. I will share more about this after. OC series has 2 models. Z87X-OC Force is for extreme and Z87X-OC is for mid-high. This review is Z87X-OC, focusing on OC or looking for high performance. First look, you can see the box is black and orange. OC series is black and orange tone. G1 is black and green. I believe most users used to black and red for high end MB. Currently, too many MB use this color. GIGABYTE use different visual design to enhance their recognizable. Color is personal like. Z87X-OC is standard ATX spec. The size 30.5cm x 24.4cm OC is mainly for Overclocking market. There are many exclusive designs for hardware and software. I will explain the details later. Z87X-OC price is only half of Z87X-OC Force. It looks like a good choice for overclockers. Accessories Product manual, software guide, driver CD, SATA cable and IO panel. CrossFireX / 2-Way SLI bridge, wires for the voltage check points, OC Brace. Lower-Left Corner 1 X PCI-E X16, support X16 bandwidth 1 X PCI-E X16, support X8 bandwidth 2 X PCI-E X16, support X4 bandwidth It supports max 4-Way AMD CrossFireX / 2-Way nVIDIA SLI 2-Way AMD CrossFireX/nVIDIA SLI bandwidth is X8 + X8. 3-Way AMD CrossFireX bandwidth is X8 + X4 + X4. 4-Way AMD CrossFireX bandwidth is X8 + X4 + X4 + X4. 1 X PCI-E X1 2 X PCI LAN is Intel GbE LAN chip. Realtek ALC892 audio chip supports 7.1 channels and High Definition Audio. Design in Taipei Lower-Right Corner 6 X Black SATA, provided by Z87 and supports SATA3. It also supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10. 2 X Silver OC Connent / ON/OFF Charge2 Z87 chipset has new design large heatsink. Black round button is CHAT_SW for switching battery. Upper-Right Corner 4 X DIMM DDR3 support DDR3 1066~1600 / 1866~2800(OC) DDR3 max capacity is 32GB. It supports Extreme Memory Profile. Right is 24-PIN power in. Upper-Left Corner Z87X-OC uses the new thermal module. CPU metal cover is plating for better look. Behind top heatsink is 8 + 4Pin power in for high power consumption extreme OC. IO 2 X Black USB 2.0 1 X OC Ignition button 2 X HDMI 1 X DisplayPort 1 X S/PDIF optical output 1 X PS2 KB/Mouse 6 X Blue USB 3.0/2.0 1 X RJ-45 LAN 6 X audio jacks OC Touch area has more new features comparing to Z77X-UP7. There are 8 buttons. 2 set + and - for adjusting CPU or BCLK. Gear is for BCLK gap switching. The other 2 are OC Turbo and Tag. Right side OC PCIe Switch can switch on/off PCIe VGA power. Middle 3 black round buttons and 3 switches enhance OC convenience. There are 12 points in bottom for measuring voltages.

The bottom uses C1100 pure copper nickel plating, the other parts use aluminum fin material, the design technology of Thermalright is quite excellent Overall quality of Archon SB-E X2 is the best one I?ve used, of course the price of which falls on high level market naturally Length, width and height are respectively 150mm X 55mm X 170mm, loaded with 8X 6mm heat pipes to enhance capacity of heat conduction Temperature behavior (room temperature is about33?) System standby - 45~50 It operates IntelBurn Test to make CPU operate at full speed - 74~89 To pass IntelBurn Test, it needs to increase CPU voltage to 1.292V Like Ivy Bridge, the temperature of Haswell framework after overclocking will be higher than that of the last two generations For users of overclocking, it is suggested working with the middle and advanced CPU radiator, so that it is possible to reach stable 4.5GHz It is hoped that temperature can be lower except that Intel pursues progress of manufacturing process in the future BIOSTAR has launched Hi-Fi Z77X since Z77 in the last year, Z87X-3D launches more progressed Puro Hi-Fi 3D Non-Polarized Electrolysis Electric audio capacitors Metal-oxide film resistors carries front sound effect amplifying chip of headphones, which adopts multiple designs of audio grade It is designed with a BIOSTAR Logo metal shied right above the sound effect chip, which will emit red light with power on The sound effect is equipped with THX software supporting Creative THX technology Multi-Channels Calibration could provide the function of adjusting multi-channel PC loudspeaker effect. The following Samrt Ear 3D software is a power amplifier software specially designed for headphones Many sound stage modes are also provided for users to select, so it is a practical software capable of keeping sound quality Difference of Hi-Fi Z77X and Hi-Fi Z87X-3D has been listened in ComputeX before There is more obvious improvement in sound quality and articulation by using Z87X-3D of Puro Hi-Fi 3D technology In the test, it uses the loudspeaker USHER S-520 of Hi-Fi at entry level, music CD is the international HI-END sound exhibition in Taipei In the song of Pear Flower Fragrance, intermediate frequency vocal and high-pitched sounds are both fairly good Performance of low frequency is also above the level, maybe localization of the loudspeaker in low frequency is not so heavy, while articulation is good as well With good performance of built-in sound effect of Z87X 3D, along with the fair price, it should be high value added in MB BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D Advantages 1. Price is only a little higher than entry Z87, specification and material are similar to those of middle-level Z87 in other brands 2. All-Japanese solid capacitor, built-in Power / Reset buttons and LED debugging light signal 3. Visual impression of novel UEFI interface is good, with fast startup speed, rich options and wide range of voltage. 4. For built-in sound effect, it uses better Non-Polarized electrolysis Electric audio capacitors, in addition, sound effect range is also designed by dependent PCB 5. Main power supply includes 13 items, overclocking ability of CPU and DDR3 is also above level 6. It attaches with multiple sound effect softwares, used for users who need different sound fields or other environments Disadvantages 1. There have been no BIOSTAR sales channels in Taiwan at present 2. It suggests using relatively advanced sound effect chip of Creative CA0132 or VIA Envy24MT 3. It is hoped to use gold plated material for built-in sound effect holes 4. UEFI BIOS is suggested being upgraded to high resolution of 1920X1080 Performance ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 82/100 Material ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 86/100 Specification ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 83/100 Appearance ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 83/100 Price-performance ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 88/100 Advantages of the Intel Haswell framework lie in that the Z87 chipset supports 6 sets of SATA3 devices The built-in display HD4600 of the most advanced i7-4770K has 17~39% improvement in 3D performance DDR3 bandwidth performance and the highest overclocking frequency are also improved again, which are all progresses While temperature control and overclocking pulse have not been better on contrary, which are pitiful Fortunately, default performance of CPU has been improved, overclocking to 4.5GHz is similar to overclocking to 4.8GHz of the last generation in air-cooled condition For consumers who have had Ivy Bridge platform, Haswell framework is not so attractive But for users who want to buy a new PC host machine, it suggests choosing Haswell framework directly Price of BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D falls around 150 US dollars, which can be a Z87 MB with a quite fair price Considering the market of Z87, the price is only a little higher than that of entry Z87, material and specification are similar to Z87 with a price of more than 200US dollars Especially in design and material of built-in sound effect chip, it is beyond many middle Z87 level, and sound quality performance is impressive CPU 4.5GHz and DDR3 2800 have stable overclocking performance, which can also reach the supposed performance level of Z87 MB. BIOSTAR is hoped to launch more products with fair price and stronger overclocking in the future, which brings more competition to the consumer market The paper is also published on my Blog WIND3C, 3C fans are welcome to visit and give advice or comments:)

FRYRENDER Running Time => 3m 49s x264 FHD Benchmark => 29.9 4770K is 12.4% higher in x264 FHD Benchmark PCMARK7 - 7596 Windows8 WEI - CPU 8.3 The frequency of stable running for the new generation of Intel i7-4770K in air-cooled environment is about 4.5GHz It can be seen that most testing data are a little bit better than the last generation of i7-3770K overclocking 4.8GHz in performance We can conservatively consider the highest air-cooled stable frequency of the two generations of 4770K 4.5GHz and 3770K 4.8GHz to be equivalent The above is the performance comparison after overclocking, while defaults of the two types of CPU are 3.5GHz for the same, highest to 3.9GHz Default performance of i7-4770K is more or less improved than that of the last generation, which is similar to advancement extent of each generation of Core i framework DRAM bandwidth test DDR3 2800 CL11 14-14-35 2T ADIA64 Memory Read - 33686 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 31243 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 32187 MB/s The following is comparison between the two frameworks of Haswell and Ivy Bridge Frequency is still set to DR3 2800 2T i7-4770K is about 20% higher in Sandra Memory Bandwidth i7-4770K is about 13% higher in MaXXMEM Memory-Copy i7-4770K DDR3 2800 2T compares i7-3770K DDR3 2400 1T ADIA64 Memory Read is about 27% higher, we are sorry for data contrast about ADIA64 Bandwidth data of 3770K DDR3 2800 1T is not tested before, estimating that it won?t exceed 27000 MB/s even for the same setting Haswell framework has obvious progress in DDR3 bandwidth, and it is possible for the highest frequency to reach over 3000 if further adjusted Intel HD Graphics 4600 performance test GPU frequency is UEFI BIOS, 1400MHz by default 3DMark Vantage => P7553 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 135.90 FPS FINAL FANTASY XIV 1280 X 720 => 2440 For Haswell framework, it is the built-in CPU that is improved the most in performance Compared with the built-in HD4000 of the last generation of i7-3770K, HD4600 increases 31% in 3DMark Vantage, and 17% in StreetFighter IV FINAL FANTASY XIV also increases about 39%, which is an advantage for users who need built-in 3D In environment of 1920X1080 high resolution, it can be used smoothly except for advanced 3D GAME or too many special effects enabled Power consumption test System standby - 64W It operates IntelBurn Test to make CPU operate at full speed - 172W 4770K 4.5GHz with same 22nm manufacturing process is lower in power consumption than that in 3770K 4.8GHz It can be considered the same power consumption, because the difference is only about 3~5W, and performance is similar, too The radiator uses Archon SB-E X2 launched by Thermalright before It is located on the advanced CPU radiator, supporting a fan of12~14cm on left and right sides For users of LGA 1150 platform, it may make a fan stuck easily if working with the DDR3 with a high order cooling fin This won?t occur if LGA 2011 platform works with the DDR3 with general height

BIOSTAR changes to the design style of the new version in UEFI interface Some data of the current hardware are shown on the left, the background is also changed to red which has the sense of speed, and the resolution is 1024X768 It offers English and simplified Chinese for switching Main page of overclocking and effect adjusting Main page of CPU effect adjusting External frequency of 4770K is fixed at 45, i.e. 4500MHz It closes CPU C status energy-saving technology, the lower part is the clock rate and options of built-in GPU DDR3 uses CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 2800C11 It is able to reach stable high efficiency of DDR3 2800 easily after opening XMP technology Voltage page CPU voltage adopts options of increasing or decreasing, the CPU Voltage Offset(mV) is set as 120 overclocking of 4.5GHz Then, CPU voltage will turn to 1.284V shown on the left Without CPU of K version, it can also use external frequency for overlocking in the framework of Haswell, which is an advantage of the new platform The above sets CPU and DDR3 respectively to 4500 / 2800MHz through the overclocking method for conducting doubling frequency and increasing voltage to 4770K Because overclocking frequency of Haswell does not reach the stable level as the Ivy Bridge of the last generation which can reach 4.8GHz in the same air-cooled environment While the following test will compare the performance of the two different frameworks once again, for the frequency is possibly not equal to efficiency after all Testing platform CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K MB: BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D DRAM: CORSAIR Dominator Platinum CMD16GX3M4A2800C11 VGA: Intel HD Graphics 4000 HDD: Samsung 830 Series 128GB SSD POWER: XIGMATEK Tauro 400W Bronze Cooler: Thermalright Archon SB-E X2 OS: Windows8 64bit Intel Core i7-4770K overclocking performance CPU 100 X 45 => 4500MHz 1.284V DDR3 2800 CL11 14-14-35 2T 1.668V Hyper PI 32M X8 => 10m 30.456s CPUMARK 99 => 781 It compares performance of CPU through 3770K OC 4.8GHz and 4770K OC 4.5GHz 4770K is 3.6% higher in CPUMARK 99 Nuclearus Multi Core => 33835 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 36.37/17456 3770K is 2.7% higher in Fritz Chess Benchmark CrystalMark 2004R3 => 412719 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 9.86 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.96 pts 4770K is 2.9% higher in multiplexing CPU performance 3770K is 4% higher in CPU (Single Core)

At the beginning of June this year, Intel released a new generation of framework as scheduled, with the model name of Haswell The pin of the last two generations is LGA 1155. It is the biggest difference that the new platform is changed to LGA 1150. In a short time, Intel Core i series has advanced to the fourth generation of framework with better specification for each generation The code of the most advanced chipset is Z87, bringing out the six SATA3 interfaces which have been waited for by many people for a long time And CPU has recovered to the ability to exceed external frequency in the first generation of Core i, while the two aspects are both good improvements The MB is BIOSTAR Z87X 3D, imitating design of Hi-Fi material as well PCB uses black mist side material, cooling fin is blue, and color of appearance is similar to that of a middle and advance-level Z87 Hi-Fi Z87X 3D uses Z87 chipset, price of which is relatively fair compared with other brands in material and design At present, BIOSTAR launches two Z87s in Z series, the other is Hi-Fi Z87W, belonging to a cheaper version Intel has entered the fourth-generation framework of Core i series, names of CPU also begin with 4 The testing focus is the most advanced Core i7-4770K in Haswell framework, the codes followed by k all have function of adjusting doubling frequency The CPU radiator is on the right, for 4 Cores CPU, Intel all uses radiators with copper material at the bottom Total frequency of 4770K is 3.5GHz, supporting Turbo Boost technology, and top performance can reach 3.90GHz Entity 4 Cores is integrated with Hyper-Threading technology, which can reach 8 threads in total, called 4C8T for short It has the same 22nm manufacturing process with Ivy Bridge, with higher consumption of 84W, and 8MB of L3 Cache in total Lower left of the main board 2 X PCI-E X16 3.0, supremely supporting AMD CrossFireX/nVIDIA SLI technology, and bandwidth is X8 + X8 1 X PCI-E X16 2.0, bandwidth is X4 3 X PCI-E X1 Network chip is Realtek RTL8111F Sound chip is Realtek ALC898, highest to 8 sound channels of Blu-ray Audio and THX TruStudio Pro technology Lower right of the main board 6 X black SATAs, offered by Z87 chipset, in the specification of SATA3 The above can establish RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 in a mix way, the maximum performance of which depends on the SATA device installed Power / Reset button and LED debugging light signal, black of the upper part is a front USB 3.0 Upper right of the main board 4 X DIMM DDR3, supporting DDR3 1066~1600 / 1866~2800(OC) DDR3 can supremely support 32GB，supporting Extreme Memory Profile technology, and 24-PIN power input is on the right Upper left of the main board CPU on both sides have enhanced passive thermal modules, and 8PIN power input is on the upper side IO 1 X PS/2 keyboard 1 X D-Sub / DVI-D / HDMI 4 X USB 2.0(black) 2 X USB 3.0(blue) 1 X RJ-45 network hole 6 X Audio sound holes

After then, I fine tune it to DDR3 2800 CL11 14-14-35 1T 1.65V. The official spec 2T with 1.65V is more conservative. Hyper PI 32M X 8 => 11m 14.440s CrystalMark 2004R3 MEM => 95465 MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 29007 MB/s ADIA64 Memory Read - 26384 MB/s SoftPerfect RamDisk PCMark Vantage Memories Score => 14892 / HDD Score 1507704 ATTO DISK Benchmark max read is 4227.9 Mb/s and write is 3496.3 MB/s CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 13325 MB/s Write - 15267 MB/s DDR3 2800 at same CL and other parameters, 1T and 2T performance are similar. Most benchmark software above has better performance in 1T. However, 2T set up has better stability. As DDR3 2400 and 2800 difference, DDR3 high clock does have better bandwidth. I would like to mention AIRFLOW cooler temperature performance at DDR3 2800 2T setup. If without AIRFLOW, the max temperature is around 47.5, otherwise it's about 37.6. The temperature drops 9.9 degree C. It's helpful for stability for sure. Intel new structure always advantages DDR3. Either pull higher clock or performance improved as same bandwidth. Last generation, Sandy Bridge, max is DDR3 2133. Ivy Bridge max is DDR3 2800. Regarding to DDR3 clock improvement, if CPU clock can pull higher than 100MHz, the clock will be higher. These 2 generations structure sync CPU clock with PCI-E clock. If you pull CPU clock too high, the system stability is a question. So this review only set CPU clock at 100MHz. CORSAIR most high end DDR3 product line, Dominator Platinum, has several clocks. The official site shows 5 models from DDR3 1600 to DDR3 2800. Higher clock is higher price. DDR3 is no more competition for clock performance and capacity. As RamDisk software becomes more popular, more DDR3 capacity provides richer and more convenient applications. Especially, the incredible bandwidth leverages the performance. This review, Dominator Platinum DDR3 2800 CL11, performance is excellent. I hope it will have 8GX4 version soon. It will show us another milestone of DDR3 performance. DDR3 can be higher or not? 8G price can be more parity? I think these are what end users care about. Hopefully, after 2nd June, Intel new Haswell structure will fly over DDR3 3000. This article is also post in my blog - WIND3C, Any comments are welcome.

Let's start with the comparison between DDR3 2400 and DDR3 2800. Enable XMP in UEFI BIOS. The first pic is DDR3 2400 CL11 14-14-35 2T. Hyper PI 32M X 8 => 11m 39.698s The 2nd pic is DDR3 2800 CL11 14-14-35 2T Hyper PI 32M X 8 => 11m 24.254s Hyper PI 32M can test stability and arithmetic performance. You can see DDR3 2800 is 15 seconds faster than DDR3 2400. CrystalMark 2004R3 MEM => 83220 MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 27972 MB/s CrystalMark 2004R3 MEM => 91528 MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 29007 MB/s DDR3 2800在CrystalMark 2004R3 MEM is about 9.9% higher. MaXXMEM Memory-Copy is 3.7% higher. ADIA64 Memory Read - 23600 MB/s ADIA64 Memory Read - 26037 MB/s ADIA64 Memory Read DDR3 2800 improves about 10.3%. Then, I installed SoftPerfect RamDisk. I set 8192MB capacity for RamDisk test. PCMark Vantage Memories Score => 14297 / HDD Score 1438588 PCMark Vantage Memories Score => 14428 / HDD Score 1435109 In PCMark Vantage test, no matter Memory or RamDisk HDD test, you can see the difference is minor. ATTO DISK Benchmark max read is 4093.6 Mb/s and write is 3286.8 MB/s. CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 12702 MB/s Write - 15024 MB/s ATTO DISK Benchmark max read is 4160.7 Mb/s and write is 3807.2 MB/s CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 13094 MB/s Write - 15086 MB/s After RamDisk, DDR3 2800 performance improves in most benchmark software. Maybe the performance is much higher than the regular usage, the DDR3 clock impact becomes smaller. Ivy Bridge structure, when set CPU frequency as 100MHz, max DDR3 clock is 2800. Even though, the DRAM quality really impacts the DDR3 2800 stability. The CPU built-in Memory Controller must be good, also the MB. There are many conditions. However, DDR3 2800 bandwidth is worth for that.

DDR3 has been in the market for long time. It changes year by year. Ex: price change or capacity improves. Like last year, 4~8GB became the mainstream capacity. Most users use 4GX2 or 8GX2 as their PC spec. Besides capacity, high clock DDR3 is the other key factor of performance improving. CORSAIR focus on high performance DDR3 for years. High clock DDR3 products are Dominator series mainly. After that, it's with GT or GTX code. Last year, CORSAIR launched DDR3 most high end series, Dominator Platinum. This review is the current highest clock modules, Dominator Platinum. The model is CMD16GX3M4A2800C11. This is DDR3 2800 CL11, the top specs. The high end Dominator Platinum bundles with exclusive AIRFLOW. The package is much bigger than the regular DD3 modules. The back side lists the PCB and other technologies. DDR3 2800 4GB X 4, CL11 14-14-35, 1.65V Dominator Platinum DDR3 2800 has CL11 and CL12 versions. Product manual and AIRFLOW cooler. AIRFLOW texture and fan design are much better than former one. Dominator Platinum front and back. CORSAIR own DHX (Dual-path Heat eXchange) Cooling technology which flaunts it's better cooling capability. The top is white metal heat sink. I guess this is name, Platinum, from. After powering on, you can see the white light. It really enhances the product texture. They also have upgrade kit, Light Bar Upgrade Kit. I have seen some pics in internet. It has rich light effects. I choose Intel Ivy Bridge Z77 as test platform. Z77 is the current highest DD3 platform. I use GIGABYTE Z77X-UD4H. The spec and price are mid-range in Z77 market. It's Ultra Durable 4. CPU PWM is 8 phases design. It has 4 built-in GPU outputs. It has 3 PCI-E X16, 3 PCI-E X1 and 1 PCI. The design, components and expandability are quite balance. As LGA 1155 Sandy Bridge structure, DRAM can reach DDR3 2133 as none overclock CPU. The other LGA 2011 Sandy Bridge can reach DDR3 2400. LGA 1155 Ivy Bridge is the current highest DDR3 clock platform. It can reach DDR3 2666~2800. It's must for DDR3 2800 platform. Intel keeps improving Memory controller built in PU. Test Platform CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K MB: GIGABYTE Z77X-UD4H DRAM: CORSAIR Dominator Platinum CMD16GX3M4A2800C11 VGA: Intel HD Graphics 4000 HDD: Samsung 830 Series 128GB SSD POWER: XIGMATEK Tauro 400W Bronze Cooler: CORSAIR Hydro Series H100 OS: Windows8 64bit

CORSAIR Neutron GTX Raid 0 mode performance is excellent. Most benchmark is almost double the performance. Most software has 70% improved, also write curve is very stable. Intel Rapid Storage Technology starts to support Raid 0 Trim in 7 series chipset. For the enthusiasts or requiring high speed transfer, this is a good news. Also make SSD be used in more environment. CORSAIR Neutron Series extends warranty to 5 years and uses latest LM87800 Controller. Neutron uses ONFI NAND Flash which is lower price and full 256GB capacity. Neutron GTX uses Toggle NAND Flash which is higher performance with 16GB buffer. This is the difference in two Neutron 256GB models. SATA3 SSD read performance has reached 500 MB/s since long time ago. Recently, SSD design is more on writing performance to reach 400~500 MB/s or 4K performance to 300 MB/s. Another goal is non-declining at 85~95K Random 4K IOPS after using for long time. You can see SATA3 SSD trying hard to utilize 6Gb/s bandwidth. The performance is getting higher and higher. CORSAIR Neutron GTX is most benchmark are one of the best in SSD market. The price is slight higher. With new controller, it brings another options to users in high end SSD market. This article is also post in my blog - WIND3C, Any comments are welcome.

Neutron GTX 240GB Installs Windows7 Ultimate 64bit for booting time test All drivers except LAN and Intel Smart Response Technology installed. BootRacer Time to Logon 3~4 seconds Time to Desktop 9.373~10.436 seconds Install LAN driver and plug in LAN cable Time to Logon 4~5 seconds Time to Desktop 9.202~11.964 seconds Basically, after entering desktop, LAN will search for a while, so you can see the booting time is 1~2 seconds longer. Neutron GTX booting speed is excellent. It takes less than 12 seconds with all drivers installed. Of course, the booting speed will be slower due to users installed TSR. This is just for your reference. 2nd part is using tow 240GB with Raid 0 mode Two CORSAIR Neutron GTX 240GB install on SATA3. It's Non-OS system drive without data. Test performance on Intel Z77 platform. HD Tune Pro 5.00 Black Size is a special feature. Left side is default 64K and right is 8MB. 64K - Read - Average 1044.0 MB/s Access Time 0.035ms 8MB - Read - Average 1047.6 MB/s Access Time 0.034ms 64K - Write - Average 888.5 MB/s Access Time 0.013ms 8MB - Write - Average 886.9 MB/s Access Time 0.013ms In Raid 0 mode, no matter Black Size set at 64K or 8MB, all can get very high speed. The speed is almost double the single SSD performance. File Benchmark Sequential 4KB randon Read - 110266 IOPS / Write - 129829 IOPS ATTO DISK Benchmark over 8KB test can reach max read 1109 Mb/s and write 930.2 MB/s. Sequential 4KB randon Read increases 18% and 4KB random Write increases 54%. ATTO DISK Benchmark in 8KB is almost reaching the highest performance already. If you are using more small size files, you still can experience Neutron GTX high speed. CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 1019 MB/s Write - 900.5 MB/s <All 0xFF, 0Fill> Read - 1036 MB/s Write - 901.2 MB/s <All 0x00, 1Fill> Read - 1006 MB/s Write - 900.6MB/s CrystalDiskMark benchmark is almost same as HD Tune Pro. It's close to double performance. AS SSD Benchmark - 1897 Seq Read - 994.13 MB/s Write - 900.63 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 553.72 MB/s Write - 508.71 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark total score increases around 67%. Seq Write performance is even 2 times more than single SSD. PCMark Vantage - HDD Score : 96420 SSD Benchmark TOTAL => 7779.48 PCMark Vantage - HDD Score increases 67%. SSD Benchmark TOTAL is 70% more. Neutron GTX 240GB Raio 0 installed Windows7 Ultimate 64bit to test booting time. All drivers except LAN and Intel Smart Response Technology installed. BootRacer Time to Logon 3~4 seconds Time to Desktop 9.248~10.216 seconds Raid 0 booting speed is almost the same. However, 9.2~10.2 is the fastest speed I have ever seen. Former several SSD still took 11~14 seconds.

It supports 3 PCI-E X16, 3 PCI-E X1 and 1 PCI. In design, components and upgradability are all good. Intel chipset always has better IO transfer rate. Also, 7 series chipset officially supports Raid 0 Trim. System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K MB: GIGABYTE Z77X-UP5 TH DRAM: CORSAIR Dominator Platinum CMD16GX3M4A2400C9 VGA: Intel HD Graphics 4000 HD: CORSAIR Neutron GTX 240GB / TOSHIBA 5400rpm 500GB POWER: XIGMATEK Tauro 400W Bronze Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Single CORSAIR Neutron GTX 240GB installed on SATA3. It's Non-OS system drive without data. Test performance on Intel Z77 platform. HD Tune Pro 5.00 Black Size is a special feature. Left side is default 64K and right is 8MB. 64K - Read - Average 448.0 MB/s Access Time 0.028ms 8MB - Read - Average 521.7 MB/s Access Time 0.029ms 64K - Write - Average 173.5 MB/s Access Time 0.024ms 8MB - Write - Average 389.5 MB/s Access Time 0.026ms In 64K Write, it's not stable. However, some parts have good performance. Especially, Access Time is less than 0.030ms. It's really helpful for shorten waiting time. File Benchmark Sequential 4KB randon Read - 93132 IOPS / Write - 84069 IOPS ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128KB, the max read is 550.3 Mb/s and write is 465.1 MB/s. In Random 4K test, the max read performance is 90 IOPS and max write is 85 IOPS. You can see the performance is almost same as official specs. CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 533.6 MB/s Write - 457.5 MB/s <All 0xFF, 0Fill> Read - 533.7 MB/s Write - 458.7 MB/s <All 0x00, 1Fill> Read - 533.7 MB/s Write - 457.8 MB/s CrystalDiskMark default test in random and sequential are the same performance. This part is similar to Marvell Controller. it's one of LM87800 Controller advantages. By the way, Write Seq and 4K QD32 are higher than Marvell Controller. AS SSD Benchmark - 1136 Seq Read - 516.87 MB/s Write - 440.97 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 363.93 MB/s Write - 302.26 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark total score is 1136. For most SATA3 SSD, this score is really high. 4K-64Thrd breakthrough 300MB/s is another index for new high performance SSD. Compression Benchmark is consistent straight line. Read is above 510MB/s and write is about 429MB/s. PCMark Vantage - HDD Score : 75785 SSD Benchmark TOTAL => 4577.92 5 minutes - 100% Read / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 94687.41 5 minutes - 100% Write / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 84414.03 As you can see IOMETER 2008 Random Read / Write 4KB benchmark is very good. The important thing is running after 30 minutes, it doesn?t decline as SandForce. Neutron GTX uses LM87800 Controller should be same as Marvell flaunting non-declining technology.

These years, Solid-State Drive becomes key weapon to enhance PC performance. For 3D performance, VGA is the key. For multi-tasking and graphic design, high end CPU is the must. Besides these, for on/off PC, saving files or executing programs all need SSD. Intel and AMD launched several native SATA3 chipset in 2 years. Now, every SSD providers are designing for the best performance in SATA3 6Gb/s. So far, CORSAIR has 6 series SSD product lines. They use different controllers and NAND Flash to rich SSD performance and diversity. As mainstream SSD, Corsair has specific models for SandForce and Marvell controllers, CORSAIR Performance and Force Series. In 2012, they launched a new SSD line, called Neutron Series, which is the one in this article. Neutron Series has general and GTX product lines. Let?s start from the packing. You can see the model name is Neutron GTX. The performance is higher. Contents Left side is black 2.5? to 3.5? adapter, SSD installation screws and product manual. Right side is Neutron GTX 240GB. The shell is metal with gray coating. The touch texture is more like matte with grain. CORSAIR provides 5-year warranty. The capacity has 120/240/480GB. Size is 2.5?. Capacity is 240GB. As per official specs, ATTO Disk Benchmark max read/write is 550/470 MB/s. Random 4K read can reach 90 IOPS and Random 4K write is 85 IOPS. Backside is same material and color as front. Lower right is SATA3 and power connectors. There are 2 silver laser stickers on shell. As warranty and internal hardware security, you better leave it as origin. Neutron Series both lines, the thickness is 7mm. For PC users, It's no impact. For slim NB, it provides better upgradability. Many slim NB change 2.5? SATA to 7mm HDD. This is perfect fit to it. Neutron GTX 240GB Inside Front and back sides are without screws. It's fixed by latch. I would like to warn you that sticker moved will void the warranty. Please don?t try if it's not necessary. The PCB has 8 TOSHIBA TH58TEG7DDJTA20, Toggle NAND Flash memory Left has one Samsung K4T1G084QF, DDR2 800, and 128MB. You need to take our 3 screws to see the other side PCB. There is one more Samsung K4T1G084QF to make 256MB DRAM Cache. There are also 8 TOSHIBA TH58TEG7DDJTA20 NAND Flash which is same specs as Plextor M5 Pro. 19nm TOSHIBA NAND Flash single capacity is 16GB, so total is 256GB. Using similar design as SanForce structure, 16GB is moved for buffer, so the model is 240GB. Controller is the key selling point for CORSAIR Neutron Series, Link_A_Media LM87800 Controller. Between shell and chipset, they also put thermal paste. What?s the performance difference between SandForce and Marvell? You will see in following test. System is Intel Z77 chipset, GIGABYTE Z77X-UP5 TH. It's mid-high end in Z77 market. It provides 2 latest Thunderbolt Ports. Ultra durable 5 uses IR3550 PowIRstage to make MOSFet temperature lower.

Temperature(Room is 22˚C) Enter to OS Desktop - 40 CPU Full Speed - 55 LinX 0.6.4 Disabling AMD C&Q power saving feature do testing. 32nm APU and FX CPU are low temperature in most software. Sometimes, even lower than room temperature, like 8~16. As CPU is not thermoelectric Cooling, it should be higher than room after power on. It?s impossible numbers, so just ignore the AIDA. As EasyTune6, CPU temperature is 55 as full speed which is quite good with mid end cooler. As 32nm, the temperature performance is good. I recommend you to use MB bundle software or UEFI BIOS to check the accurate temperature. Power Consumption Enter to OS Desktop - 44W CPU Full Speed - 165W LinX 0.6.4 CPU and GPU both Full Speed - 183W OCCT Power Supply Test Even disable AMD C&Q power saving technology, it?s only 44W as OC to 4.5GHz. CPU full speed is 165W which still too high. GPU full speed only increase 18W is very good. Power consumption is weakness for AMD. Finally, it moves to 32nm, but the power consumption doesn?t decrease efficiently. GIGABYTE F2A85X-UP4 Pros 1. Black PCB with good quality. Trinity APU structure makes high end MB parity. 2. Using IR3550 PowlRstage PWM to lower MOSFET tmeperature 3. 7 SATA3 and 1 eSATA3 for better expandability 4. IO has 4 different video output ports and supports 4 USB 3.0 devices 5. Build in debug LED and 3 buttons for bare system users Cons 1. CPU full speed power consumption is too high 2. Better to have 2 PCI slots Performance ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 81/100 Components ★★★★★★★★★☆ 86/100 Specifications ★★★★★★★★★☆ 88/100 Appearance ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 83/100 C/P Value ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 82/100 As the test above, you can see the difference between FM2 Trinity APU and FM1 Llano APU. Trinity APU advantage is CPU clock can pull high and DDR3 clock is one level higher as well. Temperature and power consumption are similar as they are both 32nm. 5800K built-in 3D performance improves a lot, especially in DX11 supported games. Latest Trinity APU still focus in mid to low end market to provide more parity options. New chipset specs are better than A75 and supporting more SATA3. If you own FM1 already, you don’t really need to upgrade to FM2. If you are planning to buy a new entry PC and require 3D performance more than CPU, Trinity APU can be a good choice for you This article is also post in my blog - WIND3C, Any comments are welcome.

FRYRENDER Running Time => 10m 39s x264 FHD Benchmark => 13 PCMARK7 => 3644 Windows8 Experience Index - CPU 7.4 FM2 5800K clock after OC is much higher than FM1 3850. As 5800K using dual module quad core structure, the clock and OC ability are improved a lot. If we just look at performance in CINEBENCH, the CPU single and multiple threads numbers are as below. FM2 5800K OC 4492MHz and i3-3220 default 3293MHz. i3-3220 Single Core CPU is 26.2% higher, and 5800K multi-CPU is 14.5% higher. FM2 5800K OC 4492MHz and FM1 3850 OC 3540MHz 3850 Single Core CPU is 14.8% higher and 5800K multi-CPU is 7.4% more. As multi-tasking Fritz Chess Benchmark, these 3 CPUs performance is similar. It?s up to your requirement to decide which one is more suitable for you. 2134.8 CL10 11-9-32 ADIA64 Memory Read - 12368 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 15474 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 11136 MB/s FM2 default clock can pull to 2133 which is higher than FM1 1866. In ADIA64 Memory Read, the bandwidth increases 20%. However, in Sandra and MaXXMEM, it?s lower than FM1. As new structure characteristic and bandwidth performance, you can decide by high clock or bandwidth. 3D Performance Test Built-in AMD Radeon HD 7660D 3DMark Vantage => P6155 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1080 => 71.70 FPS FINAL FANTASY XIV 1920 X 1080 => 1245 Unigine Heaven Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 34.8 FPS 3DMark Vantage is 20% higher than previous Radeon HD 6550D with 3850. StreetFighter IV Benchmark and FINAL FANTASY XIV performance is similar. However, Unigine Heaven Benchmark test DX11, it?s almost double the 3D performance. 5800K built-in AMD current most high end Radeon HD 7660D, the 3D performance is excellent. This is the advantage of AMD APU platform. It?s designed for pull high built-in 3D performance for entry 3D demand users. SATA3 Test SSD is CORSAIR Force GS 240GB AS SSD Benchmark - 719 Seq Read - 524.01 MB/s Write - 270.50 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 214.89 MB/s Write - 194.63 MB/s ATTO DISK Benchmark over 512KB test can reach 540.5 Mb/s read and 517.5 MB/s write. SSD Benchmark TOTAL => 4020.13 Trinity APU latest A85X chipset supports 8 native SATA3 ports. For users who own many HDD o SSD, the transfer rate is a key factor. In the past, AMD SATA transfer rate is not as good as Intel. However, it improves step by step. Form the test above, you can see overall read/write performance and 4K - 64Thrd are both in good level. However, for 4K read/write performance is only 50~60% of Intel chipset. It must improve in the future. Also as SSD Raid 0 Trim technology and performance, I hope AMD new chipset can catch up as well.

UEFI Screen CPU Clock Ratio adjusts from 38 to 45. It means OC 5800K to 4.5GHz. DDR3 enables Extreme Memory Profile to run at 2133. DRAM Advanced Parameters, manually setup as CL10 11-9-32 Voltage Page CPU Vcore 0.80000~2.30000V DRAM Voltage 1.100~2.620V CPU set as 1.46250V and DRAM set as 1.600V PC Health Status As OC setup above, the CPU temperature is over 41 degree C. It?s more accurate in UEFI temperature info. As CPU temperature, I will have further test later. Test Configuration CPU: AMD A10-5800K MB: GIGABYTE F2A85X-UP4 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT DDR3 1866 8GX2 VGA: AMD Radeon HD 7660D HDD: CORSAIR Force GS 240GB POWER: XIGMATEK Tauro 400W Bronze Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 OS: Windows8 64bit Performance Test CPU 99.82 X 45 => 4491.76MHz DDR3 2129.4 CL10 11-9-32 Hyper PI 32M X 4 => 24m 19.084s CPUMARK 99 => 525 Nuclearus Multi Core => 13711 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 15.77/7568 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 223483 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.64 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.15 pts

AMD launched Llano APU with FM1 socket in July 2011. Later on, AMD launched Socket FM2 in Oct 2012. FM2 and FM1 CPU sockets are not compatible. Please be aware of it before upgrade. In the past, the advantage of AMD platform was compatible sockets. It?s too fast for this transition. FM2 code is Trinity APU. It combines AMD AM3+ Bulldozer structure. The price is lower to make APU platform parity. Chipset can use A75 and A55, but supports FM2 Socket. AMD also launched a new chipset for Trinity APU, more high end A85X. CPU is current most high end Trinity APU, A10-5800K. 32nm, 4-Cores, 3.8GHz, Turbo Core to 4.2GHz Max TDP is 100W and built-in GPU is AMD Radeon HD 7660D FM1 and FM2 CPU are 32nm which is no improvement in manufacturing. FM2 socket is 904Pin and FM1 is 905Pin. There is one pin less as you can see in pic. MB is GIGABYTE most high end for FM2 Socket, F2A85X-UP4 The price is just a little bit higher than A10-5800K. Building high end FM2 platform is not too costive. It?s black and gray as main design of GIGABYTE high end MB. It?s own durable design. Blink of an eye, it?s 5th generation. 2oz PCB and 60A Ferrite core choke and latest IR3550 PowIRstage chip. In my previous review, I have shared the good temperature performance of IR3550 PowIRstage. Lower-Left Corner 3X PCI-E X16, they are X16, X8 and X4. Supporting AMD Dual Graphics and MD CrossFire 3 X PCI-E X1 1 X PCI Realtek ALC892 audio supports 7.1 channels and High Definition Audio Realtek RTL8111F LAN chip and TPM slot Lower-Right Corner 7 X Black SATA provided by A85X, supporting SATA3 It Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and JBOD. Right side is debug LED and dual 64 Mbit Flash BIOS Upper-Right Corner 4 X DIMM DDR3 support 1066/1333/1600/1866. Max DDR3 capacity is 64GB. It supports AMD Memory Profile / Extreme Memory Profile. Next is 24-PIN power connector and front USB 3.0 connectors. Upper-Left Corner F2A85X-UP4 CPU left side is iron-gray sink. It?s 8-phase digital PWM. Upper-left is 8Pin power connector. FM2 socket supports AMD A and Athlon series CPU Red button is power, blue is Reset and black is Clear CMOS. IO 1 X PS2 KB/Mouse 1 X D-Sub / DVI-D / HDMI / DisplayPort 4 X USB 3.0/2.0(Blue) 2 X USB 2.0(Black) 1 X S/PDIF optical outpur 1 X eSATA 6Gb/s Port 1 X RJ-45 LAN 6 X audio jacks

StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 143.98 FPS FINAL FANTASY XIV 1280 X 720 => 2472 You can see the 3D performance increase 3-4 times more after using Radeon HD 7700. General ITX Case is designed for saving space. You only can use short or Low Profile cards. You have to put this into your consideration. Power Consumption Enable C1E, Enter to OS Desktop - 24W Disable C1E, Enter to OS Desktop - 33W Enabling and disabling CPU C1E power saving cause 9W difference. It?s about 37.5% power saving. Running LinX to make CPU full speed - 51W Running OCCT Power Supply Test - 70W CPU full speed and CPU+GPU full speed are 19W different. It means HD Graphics 2500 full speed will consume 19W. Adding AMD Radeon HD 7700 and running OCCT Power Supply test - 95W After changing to AMD Radeon HD 7700, power consumption increases 41W. AMD Radeon HD 7700 consumes less power in general usage. It?s quite power saving. Intel latest ITX platform is saving power dues to 22nm manufacturing. Many ITX Cases bundle with 150~200W Power Supply which are enough for general use. GIGABYTE B75N Pros 1.B75N uses black PCB for better texture 2.Dual LAN and dual HDMI for better video and network transmission. 3.Built-in Mini PCI-E slot to install WiFi card 4.Using 22nm entry dual core CPU, the temperature and power consumption performance is good. 5.DDR3 max clock and integrated GPU performance also improve by Ivy Bridge structure. Cons 1.Price should be more competitive. 2.DDR3 1866, enable XMP, only shows DDR3 1796 Performance ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 80/100 Components ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 83/100 Specifications ★★★★★★★★★☆ 86/100 Appearance ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 82/100 C/P Value ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 84/100 GIGABYTE launched H77N WIFI and B75N LGA 1155 ITX both are competitive. Comparing to the others, the specs are impressive and price is also acceptable. Especially, H77N WIFI bundles BT4.0/WiFi card and antenna, the price is just a little bit higher than B75N. For users has WiFi demand, it?s a good C/P value ITX MB. All major MB brands have several ITX MBs in the market and price is very reasonable. Just like B75N, it is little higher than other Micro ATX B75 MBs. In the past, ITX MB price was 50~100% more than M-ATX. Parity ITX platform is a trend, if you would like to build a small PC or HTPC. Windwithme has 5-6 athletic shoes. I just bought one basketball and one running shoes. I will make a review as I have free time. ADIDAS CROSS 'EM basketball shoes. After trying on, the price and comfort are both good. The other is ASICS GEL-KAYANO 18. I make quite much research and try on before buying. The online reviews are very positive. I hope my first ASICS try can be a good experience. This article also post in my blog - WIND3C, All comments are welcome.

For ITX platform users, most will use Intel original CPU Cooler. Besides the convenience, it?s also hard to find ITX CPU Cooler. Thermalright, high end cooler maker, just launched a high end cooler for ITX platform. The model is AXP-100. Packing is corrugated paper with black printing. Contents Left is manual, right is installation parts, and lower right is cooler. The fan spec is L 108.25mm X H 101.5mm and Noise Level is 22~30 dBA. AXP-100 body is nickel-plated. 6 heat-pipes improve thermal conduction. L 121.1mm X W 105.47mm X H 44.15mm, the height with fan is 5.8cm. CPU contact face is mirror polished. It looks like a boutique, and the price is also high. If you would like to build a high end ITX PC or look for better heat dissipation, AXP-100 is one of the options. However, big CPU cooler will interfere with DIMM1, you also can use standard height DDR3. Temperature (Room is 19) Enter to OS Desktop - 23~27 CPU Full Speed - 41~43 LinX 0.6.4 Comparing AXP-100 with Intel original cooler, when entering to OS desktop, it?s 1~3 lower and full speed is 5~6 lower. The cooler performance is good at full speed condition, but the improvement is not huge. It dues to Core i3-3220 is low heat. If I used Core i5 or i7 CPU, I believed AXP-100 would be much better. 3D Performance Test Intel Core i3-3220 built-in HD Graphics 2500 3DMark Vantage => P1761 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 45.00 FPS FINAL FANTASY XIV 1280 X 720 => 726 HD Graphics 2500 is 30~50% faster than HD Graphics 2000. However, the score is only entry level. If you use ITX PC as media player or limited 3D usage, it?s good enough. If you would like to play 3D games, I do recommend you to install VGA. Adding AMD Radeon HD 7700 3DMark Vantage => P7994

CPU is Intel Core i3-3220, most entry Ivy Bridge so far. The clock is 3.3GHz, physical 2 Cores with Hyper-Threading for 4 threads, called 2C4T. It?s 22nm, TDP 55W and 3MB L3 Cache. System Performance Test CPU 99.8 X 32 => 3292.41MHz DDR3 1796 CL9 10-9-27 2T Hyper PI 32M X4 => 14m 14.585s CPUMARK 99 => 514 Nuclearus Multi Core => 14268 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 13.29/6378 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 191818 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.17 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.32 pts PCMARK7 => 3099 Windows8 Experience Index - CPU 7.2 Core i3-3220 single thread performance is very high. 2C4T structure also works well for multi-tasking. If you have higher performance demand for file converting or graphics related applications, you can consider Core i5 or i7 CPU. It will improve the performance. DRAM Test DDR3 1796 CL9 10-9-27 2T ADIA64 Memory Read - 18452 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 22463 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 19663 MB/s DDR3 1995.4 CL9 11-10-27 1T ADIA64 Memory Read - 19416 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 25345 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 20886 MB/s Ivr Bridge Momory Controller improves a lot. B75 chip can reach DDR3 2000. Previous Sandy Bridge CPU with entry chipset only supported DDR3 1066~1333. Comparing Intel two generations, DDR3 clock improves a lot. The bandwidth increases 25%. Temperature (Room is 19) Enter to OS Desktop - 26~28 CPU Full Speed - 47~49 LinX 0.6.4 The test above is using Intel original cooler. The result is quite good already. 22nm is another Ivy Bridge advantage. Core i3-3220 temperature is quite low in default clock. If installing in chassis, I estimate the temperature will rise 5~8 degree C more which is still acceptable.

2012, almost all active MB brands launched ITX boards. ITX advantage is smaller dimension. If using high performance CPU, GPU or WiFi technology support, it may create more value to PC as competing with smart phones, tablets or laptops. GIGABYTE former two generations Intel ITX MB specs were normal and late. For Ivy Bridge structure, the specs are improved a lot. It?s capable to compete with the others. Taiwan has two models, H77N WIFI and B75N. The PCB designs are almost the same. The main difference is H77N WIFI built-in BT4.0 / WiFi card and antenna. H77 chipsets supports two SATA3 devices, but B75 only supports one. This article is testing GIGABYTE B75N. It uses better texture black PCB. If you have WiFi demand, you can choose H77N WIFI. CPU PWM is 4+1 phases. B75 cannot adjust CPU ratio, so it?s enough for Core i7. B75N market price is higher than other B75 ITX MB. However, the specs and components are quite high level. Lower Side 1 X PCI-E X16 3.0 supports X16 bandwidth. Dual LAN chips are both Realtek RTL8111E. Audi chip is Realtek ALC892, supporting 7.1 channels and High Definition Audio technology. Right Side 2 X DIMM DDR3 support 1066/1333/1600(Must use Ivy Bridge CPU) DDR3 max capacity is 16GB, supporting Extreme Memory Profile technology. Upper Side 1 X White SATA, support SATA3 by B75 3 X Black SATA, support SATA2 by B75 Upper left corner is Mini PCI-E slot for installing WiFi/BT 4.0 card. Lower left corner is 24-PIN power connector. IO 1 X PS/2 KB/Mouse 2 X USB 3.0(Blue) 2 X HDMI 1 X DVI-I 4 X USB 2.0(Black) 2 X RJ-45 LAN 1 X S/PDIF Optical output 5 X Audio jacks In 3D BIOS main screen, it shows major parts explanation as cursor over. UEFI DaulBIOS the other interface is traditional screen. Most users are more familiar. Test System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 MB: GIGABYTE B75N DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT DDR3 1866 8GX2 VGA: Intel HD Graphics 2500 / AMD Radeon HD 7700 HDD: Seagate Momentus 500G POWER: XIGMATEK Tauro 400W Bronze Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 OS: Windows8 64bit

PCMark Vantage - HDD Score : 77278 CrystalMark Sequential Read 1045.61 MB/s Sequential Write 940.61 MB/s PCMark Vantage HDD Score is same as single drive. I think it?s software issue. CrystalMark still has almost double speed. IOMETER 2008 1 minute - 100% Read / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 75398.85 3 minutes - 100% Read / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 68926.28 IOMETER 2008 Random Read 4KB increases 24~35%. 1 minute to 3 minutes later, the performance drops 9%. 1 minute - 100% Write / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 112569.77 3 minutes - 100% Write / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 112823.49 IOMETER 2008 Random Write 4KB increases about 23%. SSD Benchmark TOTAL => 7455.18 This software also increases 48%. Windwithme mentioned several times when sharing SSD Raid 0 test. That moment, Intel Rapid Storage Technology didn?t support Raid 0 Trim mode. So the speed would drop after using for long time. Few months ago, Storage Technology Drive 11.5 released and official support Raid 0 Trim. This is really a good news for Raid 0 mode users. It also pushes SSD further performance and applications to wider range. SandForce SF-2281 controller has been launched over 18 months. From high end SATA3 SSD position to current 80% market share, the price is close to entry SATA3 SSD. As different service terms and warranty, the price is different. Popularity and price is SandForce strength. The weakness is random write beginning is risng from 200 more MB/s to 500 MB/s slowly. This time, CORSAIR Force GS uses different NAND Flash ICs. Some performance is improved a little. As Max Random 4k Write (IOMeter 08) over 90k IOPS (4k aligned) is the major improvement. This article shares you the different performance of SandForce SF-2281 controller with different NAND Flash. Also, Intel Rapid Storage Technology Drive high performance in Raid 0 mode. You can use it as your reference for further SSD purchasing. This article is also in my blog - WIND3C, Any comments are welcome.

3 minutes - 100% Write / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 91553.28 The former review of SandForce SSD, the performance is lower after 3 minutes. It may be caused by firmware. As GS using SandForce controller, IOMETER 2008 Random Read / Write 4KB test are very good. 1 minute and 3 minutes test difference is minor. You can treat it as acceptable deviation. SSD Benchmark TOTAL => 5026.30 This result is much higher than 3700 by Marvell 88SS9174-BKK2 controller SS. You can see SandForce controller SSD still has his advantage in some software. Second part is two 240GB GS runs at Raid 0 mode. Two CORSAIR Force GS 240GB both install at white SATA3 port. None OS system drive without any data. Test at Intel Z77 platform. HD Tune Pro 5.00 Black Size is the special part of this software. Left side default is 64K and right side is 8MB. 64K - Read - Average 1028.7 MB/s Access Time 0.123ms 8MB - Read - Average 1040.1 MB/s Access Time 0.122ms 64K - Write - Average 325.8 MB/s Access Time 0.094ms 8MB - Write - Average 891.9 MB/s Access Time 0.153ms Read - Random Access & Extra tests Write - Random Access & Extra tests File Benchmark Sequential 4KB randon Read - 84750 IOPS / Write - 169440 IOPS ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128KB test, max read is 1118.4 Mb/s and max write is 1047.5 MB/s CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 1012 MB/s Write - 529.9 MB/s <All 0xFF, 0Fill> Read - 1064 MB/s Write - 993.1 MB/s <All 0x00, 1Fill> Read - 1063 MB/s Write - 875.5 MB/s HD Tune Pro 5.00 most items are almost double speed. CrystalDiskMark scores are also the same. ATTO DISK Benchmark is a good software to test SSD best read/write performance with short time. The max score is almost double as well. You can see the Raid 0 mode really improves the performance. AS SSD Benchmark - 1423 Seq Read - 1031.05 MB/s Write - 517.00 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 456.30 MB/s Write - 407.31 MB/s In Raid 0 mode, AS SSD Benchmark score increases about 75%.

64K - Write - Average 336.7 MB/s Access Time 0.143ms 1MB - Write - Average 331.4 MB/s Access Time 0.108ms Read - Random Access & Extra tests Write - Random Access & Extra tests File Benchmark Sequential 4KB randon Read - 66732 IOPS / Write - 91984 IOPS ATTO DISK Benchmark over 512KB test, max read is 557.9 Mb/s and max write is 535.6 MB/s CrystalDiskMark Seq Read - 524.1 MB/s Write - 288.7 MB/s <All 0xFF, 0Fill> Read - 527.4 MB/s Write - 524.9 MB/s <All 0x00, 1Fill> Read - 527.6 MB/s Write - 525.1 MB/s CrystalDiskMark default test is random. You can see right side performance is lower. It?s characteristic of SandForce controller. It has lower performance in random algorithm. Left pic is CrystalDiskMark sequential mode. The write performance is close to official specs. AS SSD Benchmark - 811 Seq Read - 519.43 MB/s Write - 274.13 MB/s 4K - 64Thrd Read - 224.70 MB/s Write - 214.04 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark Seq Write is similar to CrystalDiskMark. Compression Benchmark write starts from 280MB/s to over 480MB/s. SandForce in Sequential Write uses special algorithm, this is key weakness of SandForce controller. In sequential or random read, 4K performance and continuous write, SF-2281 controller is very good. PCMark Vantage - HDD Score : 78671 CrystalMark Sequential Read 503.02 MB/s Sequential Write 500.48 MB/s IOMETER 2008 1 minute - 100% Read / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 55773.68 3 minutes - 100% Read / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 56190.92 1 minute - 100% Write / 100% Random 4KB Total I/Os per Second => 91791.99

Solid-State Drive does improve C performance in past 4 years. No matter DeskTop PC or Notebook both shorten the system processing time. It?s why SSD still so popular after launching many years. However, the high price also impact the popularity. Every year, SSD price is almost 50% off. The price segment is based on 100 or 200USD. As history price record, 2 years ago, 200USD only could have 60GB, last year was 120GB and this year is 240GB. This year, you can find many 120GB SSD below 100USD. This price point is acceptable. 3 years ago, CORSAIR, from USA, started their SSD product line which was pioneer in this field. Controller also moved from SAMSUNG to SandForce or Marvell. Different controller focus on different performance and price segment. This GS SSD is Force Series. It had Force 3 and GT, 2 versions. Force Series uses SandForce controller with different NAND Flash ICs. Let?s look at packing first. Gold is a representative color of GS. Contents Left side is product warranty card, middle is Force GS 240GB and right side is back 2.5? to 3.5? rack and screws. Product size is 2.5?. The capacity is 240GB.，Official max speed is 555/525 MB/s at ATTO Disk Benchmark. Random 4K max write is 90k IOPS. It?s very high specs of 4K performance in current SSD market. Metal shell with red coating and tactile impression is grain texture. CORSAIR offers 3 years warranty. The family has 128/180/240/360/480GB. Capacity provides rich choices. Users can choose the suitable one by budget or demand. Back is black metal with matte hair line. It improves the product texture. Lower left is SATA3 and power connectors. Next is silver laser sticker. As warranty and internal hardware safety, we better to keep it in original state. Force Series GS uses popular SandForce SF-2281 controller. NAND Flash uses 16 SanDisk Mark 24nm ICs, 16GB each. If you are interested in Force GS internal build, you can search in Google. The test platform is Intel Z77 chipset, GIGABYTE G1.SNIPER M3. It?s mid-end gaming series using Micro ATX. It emphasizes audio and LAN chips. It equips Creative latest CA0132, quad-core audio processor. It supports THX, CRYSTAL VOICE, and etc. It has 3 PCI-E X16, 1 PCI-E X1. The expandability is very good as Micro ATX form factor. Also Intel chipset IO performance is better. The SATA3 should have better performance in SSD. System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K MB: GIGABYTE G1.SNIPER M3 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT 1866 8GBX2 VGA: Intel HD Graphics 4000 HD: SanDisk Extreme 240GB / WD 1TB 7200rpm POWER: Thermaltake TR2 600W Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 OS: Windows8 Ultimate 64bit Single SanDisk Extreme 240GB install at white SATA3 port None OS system drive without any data. Test at Intel Z77 platform. HD Tune Pro 5.00 Black Size is the special part of this software. Left side default is 64K and right side is 1MB. 64K - Read - Average 408.7 MB/s Access Time 0.116ms 1MB - Read - Average 521.3 MB/s Access Time 0.117ms HD Tune Pro 5.00 set Black Size as 1MB almost reaching the best performance.

BootRacer Time to Logon 6~8 seconds Time to Desktop 26~28 seconds It's about 33~35 seconds from boot up to get in to OS desktop. Because MSI original OS comes with some add on programs, this will make the boot up time slower. Come pare to the Windows 7, Windows 8 will be 6~14 seconds longer time depends on different conditions. Maybe it's because the Windows 8 will get to the "Start" page and then get on the Desktop, that will takes more time. Dual SSD with RAID0 really make the notebook boot up much faster, also faster when installing, loading or saving programs. If we use HDD for boot up with Windows 8, will takes more than 1 minute to get to the OS desktop. If user install their pure clean Windows only with drivers, that could make the boot up time faster around 20 seconds. Temperature presents (Room environment 21℃) 38~40℃ when idle mode. (Cooler Boost off) 34~38℃ when idle mode. (Cooler Boost on) Run the InteBurn Test to make CPU with full loading - 73~86℃(Cooler Boost off) Run the InteBurn Test to make CPU with full loading - 72~77℃(Cooler Boost on) We use idle mode and full loading test to compare the Cooler Boost fan function to check difference. The temperature difference of Cooler Boost on and off, it's about 2 degree when idle, and biggest gap is 11 degree when CPU is full loading burning test, so the Cooler Boost really helps when users need it. Besides the fan performance, about the noise of the cooler, it's not easy to hear the fan noise if Cooler Boost is off, and Cooler Boost will make the noise louder for sure. But the noise is not high frequency that makes people uncomfortable, if you listen to the music or play games with Dynauido sound system, you will not hear the noise even you turn on the Cooler Boost. Many notebooks with Dual Core will be 40℃ more when idle mode, and full loading will be 80~90 degree. So the temperature of GT70 with Core i7 and GTX675MX is really well controlled, MSI did have good design skill on the thermal solution with small space inside the notebook. Conclusion of MSI GT70 Dragon Edition: Pros: 1. Dragon Edition makes the chasses with special coating with Dragon Tattoo, also improve the packing a lot. Upgraded hardware on GTX675MX and Killer Double Shot. 2. Dual mSATA3 SSD and 2.5 inch 750GB HDD makes great balance of performance and capacity. 4xDDR3 DIMM with good extend of the RAM size. 3. Rich on IO interface, 3 USB3.0 and 2 USB2.0, with HDMI, D-Sub and eSATA as well. 4. Full size keyboard by Steelseries with back light, add on Turbo, Cooler Boost to boost up GPU and fan performance. 5. Special 2 channel with 1 subwoofer design with Sound by Dynaudio system, the sound quality even better than previous version of GT70. 6. Built in 1920x1080 Full HD matted display, that will makes your eyes more comfortable when gaming or watching movies. 7. Latest Killer Double Shot function, the LAN is faster and WiFi comes with 2x2 and 2.4GHz/5GHz dual band design. Cons: 1. SSD will be better if use the Micron or Marvell control chip. 2. Maybe IPS panel is more expensive, but still expect the GT70 could option with IPS panel in the future. 3. The NVIDIA graphics driver still need to improve on Windows 8 system, some 3D benchmark or games still can't get good performance on GTX675MX with full speed. 4. Recommend to use Creative Sound Core3D quad core sound chipset. Performance Rated: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 92/100 Material Rated: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 90/100 Specification Rated: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 86/100 ID Design Rated: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 88/100 Cost/Value Rated: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 70/100 Recent years some friends start to use notebooks to replaced PC desktop, their performance demand is not so high. But right now a notebook with better performance is more popular, because more people wants to use their laptop to play more games with Full HD resolution, and they also need high performance to take out for business trip or better mobility, these demand makes the high performance notebook market raising up every year. MSI got into the Gaming laptop market very early years ago, and keep enhance their products with better material and features for gamers every year. windwithme did share the GT70 with GTX680M version few months ago, this time add on some different software and more temperature benchmarks, also the first time to make benchmarks with Windows 8. You could refer last article to make some detail comparison. The GT70 Dragon Edition is limited version, the price range is close as previous GT70, the Dragon Edition did have some upgrade on GPU and some hardware, the Cost/Value is even better than regular version, but they are still at higher price segment. If you got limited budget but still want good performance laptop, you could consider GE60/GE70 at lower price range, GT70 if more suitable for top performance demand users. Hope MSI could come out better design with better price Gaming laptop in 2013. This is also post in my blog - WIND3C, All comments are welcome.