System setup
System
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (3.0GHz, 12MB L2 cache, 1,333MHz FSB, LGA775) | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (3.0GHz, 8MB L2 cache, 1,333MHz FSB, LGA775) |
|---|---|---|
| Motherboard | Foxconn X48 Black Ops (Intel X48 + ICH9R) | MSI X48 Platinum (Intel X48 + ICH9R) |
| BIOS revision | P2G28 (06/26/2008) |
P2B2 |
| Memory | 4GB (4x 1GB)
Corsair DOMINATOR PC14400 and OCZ PC12800 |
2GB (4x 512MB) OCZ PC10666 |
| Memory timings and speed | 7-7-7-20 2T @ DDR3-1,333 | 7-7-7-20 2T @ DDR3-1,066 |
| System disk drive | Seagate 160GB SATAII (ST3160812AS) | |
| Secondary disk drives for performance testing. | 2x Seagate 500GB SATAII (ST3500320AS) in RAID0 | |
| SATA Controller | ICH9R | |
| Chipset driver | Intel Inf 8.4.0.1016 + Intel Matrix Storage Manager 7.8.0.1012 | Intel Inf 8.4.0.1016 + Intel Matrix Storage Manager 7.8.0.1012 |
| Network Controller | Broadcom 5786 |
Realtek 8111B |
| Network driver | Broadcom 10.82.0.0 (02/04/2008) | Realtek 6.197.917.2007 (17/09/2007) |
| Graphics cards | ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB | |
| Graphics driver | Catalyst 8.5 | |
| Operating system | Windows
Vista Business x64 |
|
Tests
| Benchmarks | Large single-file transfer (3.39GB HDV video file).
Three runs to ensure consistent results. Testing with the adapters located in both near and far from one other. Multi-file transfer (2.94GB directory). Includes 29 folders and sub-folders, which contain, in total, 200 music files (476MB); 300 picture files (644MB); and 100 video files (1.84GB). Three runs to ensure consistent results. Streaming media playback of 1080p HDV video file (26.43Mbps, 25fps), using CyberLink SoftDMA software to stream file over network from Cyberlink MediaServer. Online Gaming: subjective experience of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars online play. Three, four-minute runs. Testing with the adapters located in both near and far from each other. |
|---|
Testing notes
We setup a RAID array using 2x 500GB Seagate 7200.11 drives on each system. Doing so ensured that the HDD read and write speeds wouldn''t be a bottleneck on our transfer performance testing.We used the Foxconn's Broadcom 5786 network controller and the MSI's Realtek 8111B. Both of these Gigabit controllers run off the PCIe bus, so the potential problem of PCI bus contention is eliminated.
The Foxconn's controller didn't allow jumbo-frames to be enabled, which meant that we had to run with standard sized frames of 1,500.
In addition to the two powerline networks from Corinex and ZyXEL, we've also chosen to feature a wired gigabit ethernet connection, through our office network, for reference.
The Corinex GameNet was set up with one AV200 device plugged into either test system for our performance testing. For longer distance testing the adapter connected to the Black Ops was moved into another room, and was provided its Ethernet connection to the system over our gigabit network.
For our internet-connectivity tests, the device previously connected to the Black Ops was connected to our office network, passing the internet connection over powerline to the MSI system.
The ZyXEL router directly connected to the Black Ops, and the PLA401 to the MSI, for device-to-device transfer. For longer distance testing, the P660WHP router was moved into another room and was provided its Ethernet connection to the Black Ops board over our gigabit network. The MSI's only network connection was still the HomePlug adapter.
For our internet-connectivity tests, the router was connected to our office network, but not to the Black Ops - to merely pass the internet connection, over powerline, to the MSI system.
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