Abit AW9D-MAX: When "Beta" MAX is a good thing
by Gary Key on September 8, 2006 3:10 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Memory Performance
We have been saying for years that the Buffered benchmark does not correlate well with real performance in applications on the same computer. For that reason, our memory bandwidth tests have always included an Unbuffered Sandra memory score. The Unbuffered result turns off the buffering schemes, and we have found the results correlate well with real-world performance as we will see shortly.
With the E6600, our Abit board offers a 5% improvement in the stock clock speed Sandra Unbuffered test and a 3% improvement in the overclock tests over the ASUS board. The ASUS board holds a small advantage in both clock settings in our latency tests which is surprising considering the Abit advantage in the Unbuffered tests.
General Performance
We also tested a couple of real world applications that typically stress the CPU, memory, and storage systems along with a synthetic test to see if the performance differences in our memory synthetic tests carry over to the desktop. Our real world application tests include activities that are common on the desktop.
Our first test was to measure the time it takes to shrink the entire Office Space DVD that was extracted with AnyDVD into a single 4.5GB DVD image utilizing Nero Recode 2. Our second test consists of utilizing Exact Audio Copy as the front end for our version 3.98a3 of LAME. We set up EAC for variable bit rate encoding, burst mode for extraction, use external program for compression, and to start the external compressor upon extraction (EAC will read the next track while LAME is working on the previous track, thus removing a potential bottleneck with the optical drive). Our test CD is INXS Greatest Hits, a one time '80s glory masterpiece containing 16 tracks totaling 606MB of songs. The results of our tests are presented in minutes/seconds with lower numbers being better.
Our third test is Cinebench 9.5 which heavily stresses the CPU subsystem while performing graphics modeling and rendering. We utilize the standard benchmark demo within the program along with the default settings. Cinebench 9.5 features two different benchmarks with one test utilizing a single core and the second test showcasing the power of multiple cores in rendering the benchmark image. The results are presented in a standardized score format with higher numbers being better.
Our fourth test is 3DMark06 which tests the graphics and CPU subsystems. The 3DMark series of benchmarks by Futuremark are among the most widely used tools for benchmark reporting and comparisons. Although the benchmarks are very useful for providing apples-to-apples comparisons across a broad array of GPU and CPU configurations, they are not a substitute for actual application and gaming benchmarks. In this sense we consider the 3DMark benchmarks to be purely synthetic in nature but still valuable for providing consistent measurements of performance. The results are presented in a standardized score format with higher numbers being better.
The performance of the Abit AW9D-MAX was very consistent and in alignment with the memory test results. We found the board to be very responsive and extremely stable during testing. In fact, if you were doing a blind box test it would have been difficult to figure out which board was performing the best. The differences in performance between the two boards are very minor but the Abit board had up to a 5% advantage in our video/audio encoding tests. This indicates to us Abit has properly optimized the processor, memory, and storage subsystems within their BIOS code. However, this is a beta BIOS and performance could change either way. We suggest waiting on the production level BIOS before drawing any absolute performance conclusions. Let's see if these results carryover into our game benchmarks.
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| Click to enlarge |
We have been saying for years that the Buffered benchmark does not correlate well with real performance in applications on the same computer. For that reason, our memory bandwidth tests have always included an Unbuffered Sandra memory score. The Unbuffered result turns off the buffering schemes, and we have found the results correlate well with real-world performance as we will see shortly.
With the E6600, our Abit board offers a 5% improvement in the stock clock speed Sandra Unbuffered test and a 3% improvement in the overclock tests over the ASUS board. The ASUS board holds a small advantage in both clock settings in our latency tests which is surprising considering the Abit advantage in the Unbuffered tests.
General Performance
We also tested a couple of real world applications that typically stress the CPU, memory, and storage systems along with a synthetic test to see if the performance differences in our memory synthetic tests carry over to the desktop. Our real world application tests include activities that are common on the desktop.
Our first test was to measure the time it takes to shrink the entire Office Space DVD that was extracted with AnyDVD into a single 4.5GB DVD image utilizing Nero Recode 2. Our second test consists of utilizing Exact Audio Copy as the front end for our version 3.98a3 of LAME. We set up EAC for variable bit rate encoding, burst mode for extraction, use external program for compression, and to start the external compressor upon extraction (EAC will read the next track while LAME is working on the previous track, thus removing a potential bottleneck with the optical drive). Our test CD is INXS Greatest Hits, a one time '80s glory masterpiece containing 16 tracks totaling 606MB of songs. The results of our tests are presented in minutes/seconds with lower numbers being better.
Our third test is Cinebench 9.5 which heavily stresses the CPU subsystem while performing graphics modeling and rendering. We utilize the standard benchmark demo within the program along with the default settings. Cinebench 9.5 features two different benchmarks with one test utilizing a single core and the second test showcasing the power of multiple cores in rendering the benchmark image. The results are presented in a standardized score format with higher numbers being better.
Our fourth test is 3DMark06 which tests the graphics and CPU subsystems. The 3DMark series of benchmarks by Futuremark are among the most widely used tools for benchmark reporting and comparisons. Although the benchmarks are very useful for providing apples-to-apples comparisons across a broad array of GPU and CPU configurations, they are not a substitute for actual application and gaming benchmarks. In this sense we consider the 3DMark benchmarks to be purely synthetic in nature but still valuable for providing consistent measurements of performance. The results are presented in a standardized score format with higher numbers being better.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The performance of the Abit AW9D-MAX was very consistent and in alignment with the memory test results. We found the board to be very responsive and extremely stable during testing. In fact, if you were doing a blind box test it would have been difficult to figure out which board was performing the best. The differences in performance between the two boards are very minor but the Abit board had up to a 5% advantage in our video/audio encoding tests. This indicates to us Abit has properly optimized the processor, memory, and storage subsystems within their BIOS code. However, this is a beta BIOS and performance could change either way. We suggest waiting on the production level BIOS before drawing any absolute performance conclusions. Let's see if these results carryover into our game benchmarks.
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LoneWolf15 - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
My MSI K8N Neo-4 Platinum came with eight SATA ports, FireWire, dual gig nics, and a full complement of every port and feature I can think of, as a top-of-the-line Socket 939 board.I bought it very shortly after first release --for $140 from ZipZoomFly. That was going on two years ago, but by then, top-of-the-line boards all had onboard sound, network, USB, and multiple hard drive controllers with raid capability. And while that price is two years ago, a $100 price hike for flagship boards (Intel, ASUS, Abit, and the like) isn't just inflation taking its toll.
Current mainboard prices truly are a joke. I think it is truly an attempt to capitalize on Intel's really cool new processor --the idea that we all want to run it badly enough that we'll pay beaucoup bucks for a new flagship board.
The review was good, but any company who thinks I'll spend $200-plus for a mainboard with only one PCI slot (blocked in a dual-vidcard scenario, so useless in that case) needs a major reality check. Abit did a lot right with this board, but that one slip makes this board utterly useless as an enthusiast product, IMO. The only way they could have rescued it was to put a real sound chip on the riser card instead of an ALC solution, and they failed that too.
yyrkoon - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
You get what you pay for, and usually for ABIT boards thats stability / performance. Not to mention that RIGHT_NOW, this platform is the top perfomer. I also hav a problem with paying too much for current tech motherboards, however, you dont really have much of a choice, you can buy one now, at a premium, or you can wait 6 months, when the prices have come down alot.Look at ABITs top AM2 motherboard, it was in the $200usd range not long ago when released, but because of shipping issues damaging the boards, and bad publicity because of this, the boards are now down to around $150usd. Anyhow the ABIT AN9 32x (non fata1ity) has features comparable to this board, and some (mainly because of chipset) that are better. However, I think we all know which platform is preffered by enthusiasts at the moment. . .
LoneWolf15 - Saturday, September 9, 2006 - link
However, I think we all know which platform is preffered by enthusiasts at the moment. . .Yep, that'd be the ASUS Core 2 Duo boards. ;)
Seriously though, if I bought now (which I have no need to do, but for sake of argument) I could buy an ASUS board with all of Abit's features, great performance, and the PCI slots enthusiasts need for the same price. I really think that if Abit wants to regain lost market share, they either have to not miss silly things like this, or if they make that decision, to beat their competition in price. Failing to do either, I can't see why one would choose them.
Madellga - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
True, but the difference is much smaller than the CPUs or GPUs. You need almost 100 bucks to go from E6400 to E6600. That's the mobo difference. And without a good mobo, you can't do 50% overclock - look at ASRock, for example: cheap but low overclock.Madellga - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
Hi Gary,It seems most people didn't get your joke.
Nice review and thanks for posting VCore and MCH. I think it is essential in the current socket 775 platform to inform the readers about such settings.
I noticed also on the pictures that the board has only solid capacitors, like the Gigabyte DQ6/DS4/DS3 family. That's a good trend.
I use myself a SB Audigy 2 ZS and would be a pitty to give up using it.
This new board seems to be available for sale next week:
http://www.alternate.de/html/shop/productListing4C...">http://www.alternate.de/html/shop/produ...evel2=In...
This store is pretty reliable for delivery lead time (currently 3 working days).
I might give it a go with an E6600. I'm also thinking about a pair of 7950GT's and hacked drivers.....if the 7950GT price is around 250 bucks.
Doormat - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
Any chance that this board selling for $225 or so would push the prices of other 975X boards down? I see the Asus P5W for $270+ everywhere and its just rediculus to spend that much money on a motherboard. I'm holding off on Conroe until motherboard prices go down..Madellga - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
It is listed at 219 euros, above 270 dollars. I hope you guys can get it at a better price.yyrkoon - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
Parts in Europe often cost more than in the states. Compared to US prices, Europe purchases seem to cost an additional 20-30% premium. I find it highly unlikely that this board will be more than $230-$250 USD, if so, it wont sell good for awhile (until the price comes down).Gambit2K - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
What's the retail color theme? Black and red or Black and blue? Im hoping for red, it looks wicked.Gary Key - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
The official color scheme will be blue and black. http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?c...">Abit Link