Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6: DDR3 comes a knocking, again

Audio Encoding Performance

Our previous audio test suite consisted of Exact Audio Copy v095.b4 and LAME 3.98a3. We did run these tests with basically the same results but we will now utilize iTunes 7.1 as it is one of the most utilized audio applications available due to the immense popularity of the iPod. As in previous articles, we are using the INXS Greatest Hits CD for testing, which contains 16 tracks totaling 606MB of songs.

Our two audio tests have us utilizing iTunes to convert our WAV files into ACC or MP3 compatible formats. We utilize the 320kbps setting for both tests with the MP3 test also utilizing the variable bit rate option.



We see iTunes favoring boards with excellent CPU throughput and memory bandwidth with the 1333FSB showing a slight advantage in this test. All of the P35 boards place ahead of the older chipsets, with the exception of the MSI board. As we have mentioned already, the MSI board appears to be a couple of BIOS updates behind the Gigabyte and ASUS offerings right now, so we expect its scores to improve greatly in the next BIOS update.

Multimedia Performance

We will take a brief look at general multimedia performance with our test suite for that includes Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, and Windows Movie Maker.

We utilize the widely available Retouch Artists Photoshop Speed Test for measuring platform performance in Adobe's Photoshop CS3. The benchmark applies a number of actions to a test image while we measure the total time elapsed during the active portion of the test. We set history states to 1, cache levels to 4, and CS3 is configured to make use of all available system memory. The scores reported include the full conversion process and are represented in seconds, with lower numbers indicating better performance.


The results are in alignment with the majority of our tests to date. The 1333FSB platforms hold an advantage, although minor, in tests where CPU throughput and memory bandwidth/latency are important. The Gigabyte P35T finishes right in front of the ASUS P5K3 thanks to slightly better latencies and memory bandwidth.

Our next test is one recommended by Intel, but the test itself appears to be fair for all platforms and results are very repeatable. This test simply measures the amount of time required to fix and optimize 103 different photos weighing in at 63MB. Time is measured in seconds and lower times indicate better performance.


This test not only stresses the CPU/memory pipeline but also gives the storage systems a good workout. However, our results basically mirror those of our other media tests with the 1333FSB boards finishing slightly ahead and the Gigabyte/ASUS boards fighting for first place in the DDR3 setups.

Next on the list is our Windows Movie Maker test that will meld our world vacation content (recorded off TV) into a newly downloadable file that can be viewed on our Xbox 360 in a pleasing 720P format. The values reported are in seconds for the conversion time, with lower numbers being better.


The new Intel P35 DDR2 platform boards come out on top in this test, with the DDR3 1333FSB offerings providing better performance than the other chipsets due to better memory bandwidth while still providing very good latencies. The total spread is 5.5% here, showing that the BIOS optimizations of our P35 boards can certainly be noticed in video encoding operations.