Benchmarks IV
We've introduced Comanche 4 into our gamut of benchmarks recently. Like most aircraft simulations with huge landscapes, it requires an intense amount of CPU / memory throughput. Deficiencies in either the chipset or memory throughput can be quickly diagnosed with such a benchmark. Benchmarked at 1024x768x32, a resolution that is still heavily subsystem limited.
The relatively poor performance of the test 'board continues at 133FSB. I clearly expected it to overtake the MSI SiS645DX-powered motherboard as the 845E Max2 has greater bandwidth. Interestingly, up to 124FSB, the 845E Max2 is able to hold parity against the ABIT I845E IT7 in all of my benchmarks thus far. After 124FSB, the performance falls off somewhat.
We can't let it go without subjecting it to a bit of Quake 3 action. I'll only conduct 512 Fastest to give you an idea of how bandwidth translates into performance at both 100 and 133FSB respectively.
Pretty much what I expected. The PC2700-equipped SiS645DX takes honours at 100FSB due to running faster memory. The ABIT IT7 does the same at 133FSB due to a well-tweaked BIOS. Our test motherboard, the MSI 845E Max2 BLR, tends to be competitive with the IT7 at 100FSB, but tends to fall off slightly at 133FSB.
Let's conclude.