ScienceMark 2.0, Pifast
Please bear in mind that the AOpen EZ18-120 SFF system is running with onboard graphics activated. We've discussed how they tap into available system bandwidth, but we've also delineated why the performance hit will be minimal. The nForce2 is positively designed to accommodate an integrated graphics processor.
Shuttle's Zen SFF system runs with the quad-pumped Pentium 4 CPU. It, like both AMD chipsets, is dual-channel in nature. What's pleasing to see is just how close the EZ18 benchmarks in relation to the EPoX 8RDA3G motherboard, which, as noted, is running a discrete Radeon 9800 XT and thus not having to share memory bandwidth. The memory bandwidth graph also highlights the point made above, that is, the nForce2's onboard GPU barely makes a dent in the bandwidth available to the CPU. A double-pumped Athlon XP2500-M is the reason why.
Pretty good on the latency front, at least in comparison to the Radeon 9100 IGP. 2-2-2-6 RAM latencies and an efficient enough Northbridge should keep the EZ18 in close proximity to the SPP-driven EPoX 8RDA3G.
We can almost ignore the Shuttle Zen for a second. It's Pifast performance is backed up by a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Northwood CPU, whereas both AMD setups use a far cheaper XP2500-M Barton processor. It's kind of embarrassing that it can benchmark within 10% of the P4's time. Solid, steady performance.