Testing:
The test system listed in the "Installation and Operation" section was used for the execution of all benchmarks, which include tests from these five packages:
» PassMark Performance Test v6.1
» FutureMark PCMark Vantage
» FutureMark 3DMark06
» Lavalys Everest Ultimate Edition 4.20
» HD Tune 2.53
In addition, some power consumption testing will be conducted to gauge the benefits of EPU.
For comparison purposes, all tests run on the P5K Pro will be repeated on another Intel P35 based motherboard, the P5KC. This board is rather similar to the P5K Pro, with the key differences being the lack of EPU and the inclusion of DDR2 and DDR3 memory support. Prior to testing, two identical 250GB Maxtor MaxLine III drives were prepared with the same image containing Windows Vista, appropriate drivers, and all necessary testing applications. All other hardware and software used in the review was kept the same.
PassMark Performance Test v6.1:
Performance Test v6.1 offers a suite of tests which can analyze the performance of most system components. The complete suite was executed and a few composite scores were recorded in order to provide an overview of system performance. In addition to "Marks" for CPU, Memory, and 3D Graphics, the overall PassMark Rating is shown in the chart below. Higher numbers are better for these unitless values.
From the data presented above, it looks like a dead heat. All of the scores are rather close, with each board doing slightly better in two of the four benchmarks.
FutureMark PCMark Vantage:
The next set of results are from FutureMark's PCMark Vantage. This is another suite of tests designed to analyze the performance of systems running Windows Vista. All of the results were recorded from the eight benchmarks executed, and higher is better for each value shown below.
Both systems do well in this test, and the results are once again very close. You're not going to be sacrificing performance by choosing either one of these motherboards.
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