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UNDERCLOCKED
The 790GP-DS4H was a slightly better unclocker, keeping the system stable at
1.5GHz with only 0.850V CPU voltage. The DKA790GX required an extra 0.025V.
Sideport memory was used rather than UMA — we established earlier that
it was the more power efficient way to go on both boards.
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Test Results: X2 4850e @ 1.5GHz, 128MB Sideport
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Test State
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Gigabyte 790GP-DS4H
(0.850V)
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DKA790GX Platinum (0.875V)
|
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Mean
CPU
|
System Power
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Mean
CPU
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System Power
|
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Idle
|
N/A
|
37W
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N/A
|
35W
|
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Rush Hour
(H.264)
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10%
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44W
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12%
|
45W
|
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Coral Reef
(WMV-HD)
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40%
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45W
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57%
|
47W
|
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Drag Race
(VC-1)
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78%
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49W
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78%
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49W
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Disturbia
(Blu-ray H.264)
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42%
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49W
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54%
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48W
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CPU Load
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N/A
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53W
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N/A
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53W
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CPU + GPU Load
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N/A
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60W
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N/A
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64W
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* DKA790GX Platinum configured with 32MB UMA (minimum) and
64MB during Blu-ray playback.
*
790GP-DS4H had no system memory allocated
to the IGP.
* Grey boxes indicate test failure.
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Underclocked and undervolted, the two boards performed very similarly, with the
790GP-DS4H just edging out the DKA790GX by 1-2W in most tests. A 4W difference
was recorded when both the CPU and GPU were placed under load. This time around
CPU usage was noticeably higher during VC-1 playback, up to 17% though this
did not translate into significant differences in power consumption — it
varied by only a couple of watts for these two clips. It should be noted that
the most demanding clip, Drag Race, failed to render properly on both boards
when underclocked. The audio clipped and went out of sync, while the video stuttered
as it dropped frames.
PHENOM II POWER
Power consumption was also compared with a Phenom II X4 940 processor as the
790GX chipset is the ideal choice for these new chips.
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Power Consumption: Phenom II X4 940
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Test State
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Gigabyte 790GP-DS4H
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MSI DKA790GX Platinum
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Idle
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57W
|
52W
|
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VC-1
|
79W
|
86W
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CPU Load
(2 cores)
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122W
|
119W
|
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CPU Load
(4 cores)
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166W
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166W
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CPU + GPU
Load
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176W
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183W
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Systems were configured with 2GB of RAM, Sideport memory
enabled and UMA set to 128MB.
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The DKA790GX bested the Gigabyte by 5W idle, and 3W when two of the CPU's
cores were put under load. On full CPU load, the Gigabyte drew even. It seemed
the MSI was more energy efficient with the 125W TDP processor as long as
the IGP was left out of the equation. The 790GP-DS4H used 7W less during VC-1
playback and when both the CPU and GPU were stressed.
Whenever we recorded a significant power consumption advantage for the Gigabyte,
it was during tests where the integrated graphics were being taxed, be it by
video playback or our synthetic 3D stress test, FurMark. It did not matter what
configuration we used for IGP memory, or whether we used an energy efficient
X2 or a high-powered Phenom II, the DKA790GX was always less energy efficient
when the IGP was in active use.
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