Test: 2D performance
[graph 713]
[graph 714]
[graph 715]
In all three benchmarks the dominance of the two Core i7 platforms is clear to see over the equivalent Core 2 setup, and due to Core i7's onboard memory controller and triple-channel memory architecture, it's obvious that both memory latency and actual bandwidth should be much higher than the equivalent Core 2 platform.
However less obvious is the difference in performance between this board, and the Core 2-based X48 Platinum in number-crunching HEXUS.PiFast test, but the answer is simple - unlike the majority of our 2D tests; PiFast is actually quite sensitive to changes in memory performance.
You'd expect to see both X58-based platforms performing equally in terms of memory bandwidth, especially when the memory controller is no longer part of the chipset, however the MSI Eclipse somehow manages to pull out around a 10% lead over its Intel competitor.
As expected, due to the memory-controller frequency running asynchronously to the CPU clock, the memory performance remains about the same regardless if Intel Turbo Boost tech. is enabled or not.
HEXUS.PiFast almost makes full use of the clock-speed increase and performance improves by around 7% as a result of enabling it.