INTEL P35 REVIEW BENCHMARK AND OVERCLOCKING - ASUS P5K DELUXE VS GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3 R
Posted:2007-05-21 By Chipset review Number of View:72906
INTEL P35 REVIEW BENCHMARK AND OVERCLOCKING - ASUS P5K DELUXE VS GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3 R By :Chipset review Posted:2007-05-21 xtreview is your : Video card - cpu - memory - Hard drive - power supply unit source Practically one year after the release of P965chipset , witch is rather popular and animates a considerable quantity of motherboards,  INTEL release a new chipset : P35. Motherboards medium range, P35, also known under code name Bearlake , is presented by INTEL as powerful , economic on energy level and more compatible with Windows Vista Premium INTEL P35 chipsets proposes new functionality in the connectivity level as (USB) or disk (SATA, RAID) , it integrates new technologies like the support of 1333Mhz system bus and a new memory controller witch support DDR2 or DDR3. Let us note that the majority of motherboard manufacturers count on DDR2, the transition from DDR to DDR2  left them some bad impression. P35 motherboards with DDR3 are few, for the moment. Throughout this article, we will check the performances of this new chipset compared with its predecessor.... INTEL P35: New northbridge INTEL chipset, contrary to AMD , is always composed from two elements: a north-bridge and a south-bridge. The first, object manage critical functions as the system bus (or FSB) or memory management without forgetting PCI-Express controller. On its side, the south-bridge deals with all disk and input/output interface  . But let us return to the north-bridge in P35, also called MCH for Memory Controller Hub, which presents a significant evolution compared to P965. P35 north-bridge is Compatible with processors Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Quad (but also with old Pentium 4, Pentium D and other Celeron in Socket LGA775), P35 deals with current system 1066 MHz but also with future bus 1333 MHz which will be used in new Core 2 Duo and future Penryn processors, made in 45nm. This increase the band-width between processor and north-bridge from  8,5 GB/S(1066Mhz) to 10,6 GB/S(1333Mhz) . P35 support the current DDR2 in dual channel mode as DDR3 under the same conditions. P35 supports officially memories DDR2-667 and DDR2-800, for a maximum memory band-width   12,8 GB/S, as on P965, But INTEL certifies also the support of DDR3-800 and DDR3-1066. In this case, the maximum memory band-width reaches 17 GB/S. Let us note that P35 is supposed to benefit from INTEL Fast Memory Access, a technology which aims at improving the memory controller performances by maximizing band-width and reducing latency times. Diagram of the chipset P35 P35 do not present any update for the PCI-Express controller , this last manages 16 lines , the other PCI-Express are directly controlled by the south-bridge. Whereas X38, next High-end range INTEL chipset  , has the second generation PCI-Express controller ,  while P35 is satisfied with first generation controller  . We note also that P35 is compatible with Crossfire in mode 16/4x. INTEL P35: New south bridge, ICH9 As in each new chipset generation , INTEL proposes a new south-bridge to us. ICH9 remains inter-connected with north-bridge in DMI (2 GB/S) , But its functionality were slightly re-examined compared to ICH8 which equips P965. We finds in this chip six PCI-Express as well as a Serial-ATA 3 GB/s controller which support six connectors. This last support NCQ and AHCI, it is distinguished by the function known as Port Multiply which relates to e-SATA and proposed only on south-bridges ICH9R and ICH9DH. Using current motherboards, you can connect one peripheral e-SATA in the port available but with Port multiply, it is possible to connect two or three units on same port e-SATA. INTEL also proposes its technology Rapid Recover to simplify the safeguard of principal disc: The hole disk contents is copied in a clone disc and this is automatically. INTEL P35 seen by CPU-Z South-bridge ICH9 Offer support to  RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 modes,  it is compatible with technology INTEL Matrix Storage and it is automatically recognized by Windows Vista. As in notebook , INTEL proposes its function Turbo Memory which consists in activating Ready-Boost technologies and Ready-Drive under Windows Vista . Side USB, INTEL deals with dozen ports USB 2.0 and has also an  integrated network controller . This last requires an external additional component (PHY) to function, but as in the case with P965 chipsets , no motherboard manufacturer seem to adopt INTEL network solution , preferring to use components from Marvell or Realtek. Let us finish our south-bridge review by checking its performances: USB 2.0 Performances Under PCMark 05, we test the reading and writing speed obtained from USB 2.0 external hard disk  . No notable difference between P965 and P35 . But here NVIDIA nForce 680i has 4% superior score. Serial-ATA Performances   Always under PCMark 05, we test the performances of our Serial-ATA hard disk , using Raptor 150 GB.  Here we have the same figure as above with USB 2 , the nForce 680i has higher performances, according to PCMark 05 this value is 5% higher  . INTEL P35: lower Power consumption ? Made on 90nm, P35 north-bridge is distinguished from previous INTEL chipsets by a lower electric consumption, which implies to a lower TDP. INTEL announces a thermal envelope 18 Watts for its north-bridge, compared with 19 Watts in P965… Progress is far from being large . During our tests Asus P5K is virtually identical to P5B Premium (P965). New P35 consumes significantly less than its predecessor, when it is coupled with DDR3 :   Intel P965 Intel P35 DDR2 Intel P35 DDR3 Intel i975x System in rest state 114w 115w 107w 124w System in load State 142w 140w 136w 152w DDR3 Memory P35 offer DDR3 support in our desktop system  . However, contrary to passage from DDR to DDR2, INTEL seems much careful, this last do not want to make the same past errors .  Technically, this new memory generation has advantage : first functioning at higher frequencies than DDR2 since it is question here about frequencies : 1066 MHz, 1333 MHz and even 1600 MHz. , and in second place lower power . Technically, DDR3 uses lower voltage than DDR2, this last was lower than DDR. For DDR we had 2,5v, then come DDR2 with 1,8v and finally DDR3 with 1,5v . The advantage is obvious for notebook since DDR3 should result in less power consumption. On the other hand, this is not too important for our desktop PC, since the majority of manufacturers quickly increase voltage of their modules to make them reach higher frequencies . DDR3 memory seen by CPU-Z We should also note that DDR3 memory is also accompanied by a small architectural change with increase in prefetch. This one passes from 4n bits on DDR2 to 8n bits. This means that DDR3 send 8 bits information per cycle , instead of 4 in DDR2. The theoretical band-width is 8,57 GB/S for DDR3-1066 (533 MHz)  modules and 10,67 GB/S for DDR3-1333 (667 MHz frequency) modules  . U can check here our DDR , DDR2 and DDR 3 review for better idea Comparatively, DDR2-800 offers band-width 6,4 GB/S and 12,8 GB/S in dual channel. Naturally the surplus of band-width offered by DDR3 is really interesting and require a system bus update  in parallel, or this last will act like a true bottleneck. The passage from FSB1066 to FSB1333 on next INTEL processors rise the band-width to 10,6 GB/S, which does not allow to exploit to the maximum capacities of DDR2-800 since the band-width  is 12,8 GB/S in dual channel regime. Corsair XMS3 CM3 X1024-1066C7 Platinum Thus we have a kit DDR3-1066 made by two slots 1024 MB each one. Physically identical to DDR2 and comprising the same number of connectors, 240 to be precise, Corsair DDR3  is equipped with radiator on each side. We immediately note that DDR3 cannot be inserted in DDR2 slot .... Corsair XMS3 CM3 X1024-1066C7 Side latency , DDR3 from Corsair is certified as follows: 7-7-7-21 for 266 MHz operation frequency witch corresponds to DDR3-1066 MHz. We hopes that next generations DDR3 will offer lower timing. INTEL P35 and FSB1333 As we noted above , new Intel P35 officially support 1333 MHz  FSB which allow to use next processors Core 2 Duo 6x50 planned for mid-July. Basically, all the existing chipsets, P965, i975X or even nForce 680i are supposed to support 1333 MHz fsb, but P35 is the first certified as compatible by INTEL. Core 2 Duo E6850 FSB1333   To make a clear idea, we used Core 2 Duo E6850 at 3 GHz provided with new G0 stepping . We lowered this frequency to 2,66 GHz to simulate Core 2 Duo E6750 and thus to compare, at equivalent frequency, the performances of processor at FSB1333 to its equivalent at FSB1066. Sandra Xi SP1 - Processor Test Sandra does not indicate any difference between our two processors. Sandra Xi SP1 - Memory Test Always under Sandra Xi using DDR2-800 in memory band-width test we note a profit with 13%. 3DSMax 8 - Radiosity 3DSMax 8 propose a small profit for our (1333 MHz FSB ) processor , since at the same frequency our 3D scene was executed in four seconds less than with Core 2 Duo (FSB1066). FarCry v1.4 - 1024 * 768 * 32 Under FarCry we always observe a performance profit related to passage from 1066 to FSB1333, a profit which remains modest 3%. TMPGenc 4.2.3.193 Xpress WE finishes this rapid  performances test FSB1066 vs FSB1333 with encoding  test TMPGenc. The results are expressed in seconds , Again processor At FSB1333 is faster. Asus P5K Deluxe: DDR2 Without much surprise we find Asus in our motherboards selection   . The series P5K, is available in edition DDR2 and DDR3. For this review we used P5K Deluxe which uses P35 and ICH9R with DDR2 memory . With ATX format , the motherboard adopts a PCB provided with technology Stack Cool 2 supposed to contribute in the system thermal dissipation .  Southbridge and northbridge are covered with copper radiators connected by heat-pipes to a third radiator which is placed on MOSFET.  P5K Deluxe is quad-phased . motherboard Asus P5K Deluxe With LGA775 socket , the motherboard has four memory slot DDR2 and contains three ports PCI. We also has two ports PCI-Express 16x (the second being cabled on 4x) and two connectors PCI-Express 1x. With six ports Serial-ATA 3 Gb , the motherboard has only one and single connector IDE which is supplemented by a disk drive connector . Since P35 chipset does not integrate any IDE controller , Asus equipped its P5K Deluxe with JMicron JMB363 chip in order to offer the IDE. The motherboard use Agere chip for FireWire management and Marvell 88E8056 for Gigabit network. The audio part is entrusted here by chip Analog Devices ADI1988B 8 channels. P5K Deluxe is equipped, in its WiFi-AP version, with a wireless controller i802.11g . Asus motherboard do not present a parallel and PS2 port for mouse! Asus proposes only one port PS/2 for keyboard , P5K has six ports USB 2.0, two connectors RJ45, two eSATA (depend on JMicron controller), and a FireWire connector.  Side bundle, Asus proposes, in addition to the books and CD, four cables Serial-ATA, an electric adapter Molex SATA, antenna for WiFi circuit, IDE cable and a floppy cable as well as one FireWire connector. Asus P5K Deluxe Details The BIOS of this motherboard is like always complete with all usual options like possibility to adjust the system bus frequency  (up to 800 MHz ) .... The bios also obtain for processor multiplier adjustment and memory voltage (2,55v maximum) , processor vcore (maximum 1,7v). This last also Propose a integrated update function with USB support  . Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3 R: With DDR3! Gigabyte also forms part of P35 partners with its P35C-DS3 R. This motherboard Adopt a blue PCB with ATX format but proposes support to DDR2 and also DDR3! From the start, we notes the discrete cooling in the northbridge and the southbridge being satisfied with simple radiators. This motherboard has  six phases power. In the middle of GA-P35, we finds the LGA775 socket , Gigabyte proposes four memory slot with DDR2 format and two DDR3 slots. Attention, the motherboard functions either with DDR2, or with DDR3 but it is not possible to combine the two memories types  .   motherboard Gigabyte P35C-DS3 R With only one PCI-Express 16x port, the motherboard has with three connectors PCI-Express 1x and three ports PCI. It offers a total of eight connectors Serial-ATA. P35 being deprived of IDE controller , Gigabyte used the JMicron chip, which offer a IDE  and a disk drive connector . Audio is presented here with Realtek ALC889A whereas the network part depends on Realtek RTL 8111B Gigabit controller . Gigabyte does not propose a FireWire controller !!! We have in this motherboard two ports PS2, four connectors USB 2.0, a RJ45 for network, six audio connectors mini-jack and two audio num (out), one into coaxial. The motherboard has a total of five fan connectors including one dedicated to CPU . Side bundle, Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6 come with CD , book, 4 cables Serial-ATA 3Gb/S, a IDE cable, disk drive cable. Gigabyte P35C-DS3 R motherboard Side BIOS, Gigabyte proposes to us completely standard functions with possibility to adjust the PCI bus frequency , the system bus  and to modify the processor multiplier. Talking about voltage , Vmem can be increased by 0,1v until +0,7v whereas CPU Vcore can reach a maximum of 2v, This is much more than at Asus where the limit is fixed at 1,7v. .  To test the performances of P35 chipset , we used the following configuration : motherboard Asus P5K Deluxe - BIOS 0304 (P35), Processor INTEL Core 2 Duo E6700, Graphics card GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB, 2x1 GB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X 6400 C3, 2x hard disks Western DIGITAL Raptor 150 GB Naturally, we had to compare the P35 performances with the existing chipsets, and for this reason we used the following configuration : motherboard Asus P5B Premium - BIOS 0402 (P965), Processor INTEL Core 2 Duo E6700, Graphics card GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB, 2x1 GB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X 6400 C3, 2x hard disks Western DIGITAL Raptor 150 GB And we do not forget about i975X : motherboard Asus P5W-DH Deluxe - BIOS 2004 (i975X), Processor INTEL Core 2 Duo E6700, Graphics card GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB, 2x1 GB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X 6400 C3 and 2x1 GB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X 8500, 2x hard disks Western DIGITAL Raptor 150 GB We will oppose P35 with DDR2 memory to P35 with DDR3 : motherboard Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3 R - BIOS F2o (P35), Processor INTEL Core 2 Duo E6700, Graphics card GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB, 2x1 GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3 1066C7, 2x hard disks Western DIGITAL Raptor 150 GB We do not forget about NVIDIA with nForce 680i : motherboard eVGA nForce 680i SLI (BIOS P28), Processor INTEL Core 2 Duo E6700, Graphics card GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB, 2x1 GB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X 6400 C3, 2x hard disks Western DIGITAL Raptor 150 GB Our various configurations used the last BIOS and driver available, Test where done under Windows Vista  . 3DMark 06 - v1.1.0 - Processor Test We starts our tests with 3DMark 06 and its processor test . No the surprises here, all our platforms are in equality . PCMark 05 - CPU - v1.2.0 Let us continue with PCMark 05, another test from FutureMark. We notes the negligible advantage of P35 which use DDR2-800 PCMark 05 - Memory - v1.2.0 We remain under PCMark 05 but this time we test the memory performances . Logically in the first place we find platform i975X with DDR2 800. The same platform, with DDR2 1066, finishes third, fault probably of worse memory latency . As for P35, presented here by Asus P5K Deluxe , it finishes second, exceeding P965 and even nForce 680i. We notes the bad services of DDR3. According to PCMark 05, P35 using DDR2 800 is 4% faster than P35 with DDR3. Sandra Xi SP1 - Processor Test Sandra processor test does not put a great difference between our platforms. Sandra Xi SP1 - Memory  Test i975X with DDR2 800, aggressive memory latency, offer the best performances. DDR3 System show about the same performances as P965 platform. P35 with DDR2 is in equality with NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI . ScienceMark 2.0 - Primordia Here all our platforms are with almost perfect equality. Cinebench 9.5 The differences are rather tiny here but we finds in bottom of classification DDR3 platform . P35 is faster here than nForce 680i , But again INTEL i975X has the lead  . WinRAR files Compression 3.70 Beta 8 The PC equipped with DDR3-1066, in the slowest. P35 with DDR2 is as fast as NVIDIA nForce 680i  . At the first place, we find INTEL i975  which remains the fastest chipset. 3DSMax 8 - Radiosity Under 3DSMax 8, we measure the time necessary to render a 3D scene on each platform. Here results are expressed in seconds. P965 is slowest here, the passage to P35 coupled with DDR2 800 allows the system to win few seconds while DDR3 configuration is as fast as nForce 680i SLI. TMPGenc 4.2.3.193 Xpress Let us pass to video encoding. Here, our Different system are once again close in performance and if nForce 680i SLI and P35 with DDR3 finish last, the fastest platform here is P35 used with DDR2 800. Mathematica 5.1 nForce 680i SLI is in withdrawal . Doom 3 v1.3 - 1024x768x32 Doom 3 gives the lead to i975X/DDR2 1066. Our P35 DDR3 show a good performance here finishing third in front of nForce 680i SLI. P35/DDR2 vs P35/DDR3, result in 1% higher for the DDR3 system . We note also that P35 /DDR2 is 1,5% faster than P965 platform. Far Cry v1.4 - 1024x768x32 FarCry, largely prefers i975X chipset , since it is the most powerful platform here. Again the use of DDR2 1066 does not allow to obtain higher performances than DDR2 800. Our  DDR3 system is before the last , whereas P35 DDR2 is as fast as nForce 680i SLI. Supreme Commander - 1024x768x32 We finishes with Supreme Commander. Curiously, i975X systems are here in withdrawal compared to the P35 /DDR3 and nForce 680i SLI whereas the P35 configuration/DDR2 show equal score to P965. INTEL P35 Overclocking Impossible to finish this review without talking about INTEL P35 overclocking potential  .  P35 posts very good overclocking capacities and this in spite of its partially synchronous operation which after some frequency obliges user to have some quality DDR2 . With our Core 2 Duo E4300 we could make pass from original 200 MHz FSB to 400 MHz. Overclocking 475 MHz from our Core 2 X6800 Extreme under P35 Our Core 2 X6800 Extreme agreed to reach 475 MHz in our two P35 platforms, and we note that this processor does not exceed 450 MHz on P965 motherboards . Conclusion We Arrived at the end of this article, it is necessary for us now to conclude. Technically,  the new chipset INTEL P35 is far from being a revolution. The functional update are rather tiny. The northbridge for its part obtains an official 1333 MHz FSB support , but side PCI-Express there is nothings to tell.  It is necessary to wait until X38 to see some update . The arrival of DDR3 is the greatest change on Bearlake platform. the performances of DDR3-1066 as close the DDR2-1066 performances . Problem is not related with latency times but with current processors witch are unable to benefit from memory band-width . In short, the DDR3 does not have for the moment a great interest.... Finally, P35, in its DDR2 version has a rather interesting capacities in particular with overclocking. Taking again the good P965 possibility  , it improves them, being already compatible with next 45nm Penryn processors  . The performances obtained are almost equal to i975X and higher than P965… xtreview is your : Video card - cpu - memory - Hard drive - power supply unit source we would be happy to answer for your question . if you have suggestion or comment regarding this review our support would be glad to help just join our forum and ask u will get the best answer to discuss check our forum section :-) RATE THIS REVIEW 1 2 3 4 5    / 5   View Stat

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