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HotHardware Test Systems |
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AthlonXP All the Way!! |
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Shuttle
AK35GT2/R Motherboard
DFI AD73 RAID
Motherboard
MSI KT3
Ultra-ARU
Motherboard
AMD AthlonXP 1800+.
256MB Corsair
XMS2400
(2-4-2-5-2)
2 IBM
ATA100 7200RPM 42GB HD
eVGA e-GeForce4
Ti4600
Creative 52X
CD-ROM
Standard Floppy
Drive
Windows XP
Professional
DirectX 8.1
VIA 4.38 4-in-1
Drivers
Detonator 28.32 |
A Few Words
About The Benchmarks:
As weve noted in the past, weve seen a wide
variation in benchmarking scores across the
net. To help explain the scores we achieve
when testing a product, we felt it necessary
to explain how we set up a system before
running the benchmarks. With the Shuttle
AK35GT2/R motherboard, we started of by
setting the BIOS to Load Optimized
Defaults. The memory frequency was
manually set to 133MHz. (266MHz.DDR). We then set up the Two IBM Deskstar hard drives in a RAID-0 configuration
with the High Point controller set for
a 16KB stripe. Next, we installed a
fresh copy of Windows XP Professional and
followed that up with a download of all
Critical Updates in Windows Update. Next we
ran Scandisk and then defragmented the array.
Windows XP has a number of video features that
make the interface more visually pleasing, but
at a cost of some performance. In our test
system we set the visual quality to "best
performance" with both the Windows Desktop
Customize option and in the Video drivers.
The results of our benchmarks were compared to
a MSI KT3 Ultra ARU and a DFI AD73 RAID
motherboard as a point of reference for the
Shuttle AK35GT2/R's results. |
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Overclocking
the
Shuttle AK35GT2/R Motherboard |
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Get On The Bus! |
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When it came to
overclocking the Shuttle AK35GTR/2, we were very curious to
see if the lack of active cooling on the Northbridge would
hold us back from reaching the same bus-speed we hit with
the original AK35GTR. In the review back in February,
we were able to hit an incredible 1608MHz. with our unlocked
1.2GHz T-bird. Since then, our test system has
graduated to an Athlon XP 1800+, although it is not
unlocked. Unfortunately, the traces on this processor
are burned, making it virtually impossible to unlock.
Normally we like to overclock the system with an unlocked
processor, using the multiplier and bus speed adjustments, to
isolate the failure of an overclock attempt to the system
board or CPU. In this case however, we have to
stick with simply adjusting the bus speed.
Once we made a
few adjustments, we were able to hit a stable 1.71GHz. with
our Athlon XP 1800+, increasing its output by over 11.75%.
We achieved this with a bus speed of 148MHz., while boosting
the CPU VCore Voltage to 1.825V. I prefer leaving the
memory timings set to their most aggressive, 2-4-2-5-2,
although I'm certain that if we cut back on the memory
settings, we would have gone even higher. Nonetheless,
I don't like to "rob Peter to save Paul" if you know what I
mean. I would rather maintain maximum memory
performance while increasing CPU output, improving the over
all system performance. Once you start slowing down
the memory, then the benefits of the overclock are greatly
reduced. Some folks may argue otherwise, but that's my
take on it.
Curious what a
little overclocking can do for you system? Well then,
check out how the AK35GT2/R ranks with Sandra 2002 Pro, then
we'll get started on some serious benchmarking and see for
ourselves.
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Benchmarking with Sisoft Sandra 2002 Pro |
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Starting with the Synthetic... |
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SiSoft Sandra
2002 Professional is an excellent utility for gauging a
systems capabilities when compared to a large internal
database. We ran the CPU and Memory based tests at
both the default bus speed of 133MHz. (1.53GHz. CPU) and at
148MHz. (1.71GHz.).
CPU@1.53GHz.
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CPU@1.71GHz.
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Multimedia@1.53GHz.
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Multimedia@1.71GHz.
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At the 133MHz. bus speed, the
CPU's performance was on par with what we would expect from
an Athlon XP 1800+, giving a Pentium 4 2.2GHz. a solid
fight. Once we overclocked the bus to 148MHz., the
Athlon 1800+'s performance soared past the Pentium 4 chip in
the Multimedia test and came very close in the CPU test.
Now let's check out the RAM performance.
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Memory@1.53GHz.
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Memory@1.71GHz.
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The memory performance of the
AK35GT2/R was very good, challenging the KT266A and Intel
i845 reference systems at default speeds. Once
overclocked, the scores really took off, closing the gap on
the i850 reference system. Not surprisingly though,
the i850 system with RDRAM stole the show.
Hard Drive - RAID
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With the RAID controller set for
a 16KB stripe size, the hard drive scores were a bit
lower that what was expected. Nonetheless, the system
performed quite well and these scores may improve or degrade
with different RAID BIOS performance settings.
All in all, the Shuttle
AK35GT2/R put up an impressive showing, demonstrating its
potential for being a performance leader. Then again,
there is only one true way to tell how the motherboard will
perform and that is by making it work for it! So let's
get started and see how it handles the torture.
First up...Quake 3 and
PCMark2002.
Quake 3 & PCMark2002 |