Foxconn MARS: God of War Performance?
by Gary Key on September 21, 2007 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Media Performance
We will take a brief look at general media performance with our test suite that includes Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0.
We utilize the PC WorldBench 6.0 Test for measuring platform performance in Adobe's Photoshop CS2. The benchmark applies an extensive number of filters to the test image and heavily stresses the CPU and storage systems. The scores reported include the full conversion process and are represented in seconds, with lower numbers indicating better performance.
The results are interesting as this test requires a balance between CPU speed and a fast storage subsystem. The MARS board has both attributes but we did notice at the end of the test a slight pause during the final filter series. This occurred on each test run and we are still investigating the problem. However, the difference in scores is minimal between the P35 boards.
Our next test is one recommended by Intel, but the test itself appears to be fair 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, with lower times resulting in better performance
This test heavily stresses the CPU but also requires a decent storage system. Once again the MARS board finishes behind most of the other P35 boards, but a difference of one second is hardly worth penalizing a board for "poor" performance.
Media Encoding Performance
We are utilizing Nero Recode 2 and Sony Vegas 7.0e for our video encoding tests. The scores reported include the full encoding process and are represented in seconds, with lower numbers indicating better performance.
Our first series of tests is quite easy - we take our original Office Space DVD and use AnyDVD to rip the full DVD to the hard drive without compression, thus providing an almost exact duplicate of the DVD. We then fire up Nero Recode 2, select our Office Space copy on the hard drive, and perform a shrink operation to allow the entire movie along with extras to fit on a single 4.5GB DVD disc. We leave all options on their defaults except we uncheck the advanced analysis option.
We find in this CPU and disk intensive test that all of the boards are within 2% of each other with the Foxconn board finishing in the middle of the pack, a pack that is separated by just three seconds.
Our Sony Vegas 7.0e test converts several of our summer vacation files into a plasma-screen-pleasing 1080/24P format with a 5.1 audio stream. We ensure our quality settings are set to their highest levels and then let the horses loose.
In a test that really stresses the CPU and memory subsystem, we see the Foxconn board finishing at the top of the DDR2 equipped P35 boards.
We will take a brief look at general media performance with our test suite that includes Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0.
We utilize the PC WorldBench 6.0 Test for measuring platform performance in Adobe's Photoshop CS2. The benchmark applies an extensive number of filters to the test image and heavily stresses the CPU and storage systems. The scores reported include the full conversion process and are represented in seconds, with lower numbers indicating better performance.
The results are interesting as this test requires a balance between CPU speed and a fast storage subsystem. The MARS board has both attributes but we did notice at the end of the test a slight pause during the final filter series. This occurred on each test run and we are still investigating the problem. However, the difference in scores is minimal between the P35 boards.
Our next test is one recommended by Intel, but the test itself appears to be fair 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, with lower times resulting in better performance
This test heavily stresses the CPU but also requires a decent storage system. Once again the MARS board finishes behind most of the other P35 boards, but a difference of one second is hardly worth penalizing a board for "poor" performance.
Media Encoding Performance
We are utilizing Nero Recode 2 and Sony Vegas 7.0e for our video encoding tests. The scores reported include the full encoding process and are represented in seconds, with lower numbers indicating better performance.
Our first series of tests is quite easy - we take our original Office Space DVD and use AnyDVD to rip the full DVD to the hard drive without compression, thus providing an almost exact duplicate of the DVD. We then fire up Nero Recode 2, select our Office Space copy on the hard drive, and perform a shrink operation to allow the entire movie along with extras to fit on a single 4.5GB DVD disc. We leave all options on their defaults except we uncheck the advanced analysis option.
We find in this CPU and disk intensive test that all of the boards are within 2% of each other with the Foxconn board finishing in the middle of the pack, a pack that is separated by just three seconds.
Our Sony Vegas 7.0e test converts several of our summer vacation files into a plasma-screen-pleasing 1080/24P format with a 5.1 audio stream. We ensure our quality settings are set to their highest levels and then let the horses loose.
In a test that really stresses the CPU and memory subsystem, we see the Foxconn board finishing at the top of the DDR2 equipped P35 boards.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
17 Comments
View All Comments
Griswold - Sunday, September 23, 2007 - link
I see they also implemented the Northbridge<->PWM section cooling with heatpipes. Recipe for hot PWM with an Overclocked 4 core CPUHumbug. The PWMs with an overclocked quad will be hotter than a P35 NB - and they also can take alot more heat than a NB. Dont make issues up where there are none.
kmmatney - Saturday, September 22, 2007 - link
it seems like it would be better just to remove the covers over chipset heatsinks - don't they just reduce airflow? The coolpipe logo piece should just be taken off altogether.wolfman3k5 - Saturday, September 22, 2007 - link
Nice review, thanks allot! I want to buy one of these, where can I find this board?JarredWalton - Saturday, September 22, 2007 - link
Not out at retail quite yet - early next month I believe.cmdrdredd - Saturday, September 22, 2007 - link
Good board from the review, but it's a little late. Those who were looking to adopt P35 already have one of the other boards, everyone else wants to see X38. I suppose it would depend on the price of this board vs others once it hits actual retail channels.Griswold - Sunday, September 23, 2007 - link
Your world must be really small.strikeback03 - Monday, September 24, 2007 - link
Then again, didn't Gary Key say in the comments on the ASUS X38 board that he expects X38 to take over this market segment once initial hysteria wears off; as performance should be better than P35 for the same money. Then P35 would primarily work in the midrange.