System Setup
| Motherboard | Sapphire PI-AM2RS780G | Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H | ASUS P5E-VM HDMI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chipset | AMD 780G + SB700 | Intel G35 + ICH9R | |
| CPU | AMD Athlon X2 4850e (2.5GHz, 512KiB L2 cache per core, 2000MHz HTT, Socket AM2) | Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2180 (2.0GHz, 1MiB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB, LGA775) | |
| BIOS revision | VER:06 (05/19/2008) | F3c (02/13/2008) | 0405 (12/17/2007) |
| Memory | 2GBytes (2 x 1GByte) G.Skill F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK | 2GBytes (2 x 1GByte) Corsair PC6400 XMS2 EPP | |
| Memory timings and speed | 4-4-4-12 2T @ DDR2-714.4 | 4-4-4-12 2T @ DDR2-717.5 | 5-4-4-12 2T @
DDR2-802.8 |
| Integrated graphics | ATI Radeon HD 3200 @ 500MHz | Intel GMA X3500 @ 667MHz | |
| Discrete graphics | ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MiB (600/1,000), inc. Hybrid XF | N/A | |
| Disk drive(s) | Seagate 160GB SATAII (ST3160812AS) | ||
| Mainboard software | Catalyst 8.2 (IGP) | Intel Inf 8.4.0.1016 | |
| Graphics driver | CATALYST 8.2 BETA. 8.3 BETA for Hybrid CrossFire | PV 15.7.3 (7.14.10.1409) | |
| Operating system | Windows Vista Business x64 | ||
Tests
| Benchmarks |
SiSoft SANDRA memory bandwidth
HDTach 3.0.1.0 - SATA average read speed
Company of Heroes: OF v2.103, DX9 - 1,024x768 |
|---|
Testing notes
As comparisons, we're looking at another RS780G board, in Gigabyte's GA-MA78GM-S2H, and as an Intel platform alternative, the Intel G35-based ASUS P5E-VM HDMI. These setups directly compete in terms of feature-set and price, even if the IGP performance of the AMD setups is likely to be higher. You can look here for our previous look at the Gigabyte and ASUS boards.
We have chosen to complement the AMD mainboards with an energy-efficient AMD Athlon X2 4850e, and the Intel chipset with a Pentium Dual Core E2180. Both are representative of the low-cost, low-power processors usually paired with an IGP in system-integrator boxes
The RS780G does support Phenom CPUs, if you're looking for a little more performance from a mATX board.
2D benchmark performance will be determined, in large, by the ability of the processor. Storage performance will fall on the southbridge, and gaming is the domain of the IGP.
We'll also throw in a discrete Radeon HD 3450 256MiB to test the Hybrid CrossFire performance of the RS780G chipset.
The memory speed on our AMD platforms is somewhat lower than the Intel, even when using the same modules. Due to the 12.5x multiplier of the 4850e CPU and its limited memory ratios, our DDR2-800 memory was restricted to running at DDR2-714.4 on the Sapphire and DDR2-717.5 on the Gigabyte.