AM2 boards with integrated graphics tested by C't

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jojo4u
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AM2 boards with integrated graphics tested by C't

Post by jojo4u » Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:40 am

Recent issue (24/06) of the german printed magazine c't tested the following mainboards:

Asrock AM2NF6G-VSTA (Geforce 6100, 4-pin fan control down to 80%)
Asus M2NPV-VM (Geforce 6150, DVI, 3/4-pin fan control down to 30%)
Elitegroup RS485M-M (ATI 1150, S3 not working, 4-pin fan control manual/automatic)
Gigabyte GBT GA-M61PM-S2 (Geforce 6100, long booting time, 3/4-pin fan control, boxed fan 2800>1000 upm)
MSI K9NGM2-FID (Geforce 6150, DVI, 3/4-pin fan control down to 40%)

The USB transfer rate on all boards was only 15-20 MiByte, better boards are reaching >30 MiByte.

system:
Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Seagate ST3250620AS
2x1 GiByte RAM
PSU not specified, but should be a recent ATX

Update: Sharkoon Silentstorm SHA480-9A for AM2 and Core 2 Duo tests
the efficiency at 220V was tested by the C't as follows:
at 20/50/100% load
79%/83%/80%

Code: Select all

whole system power consumption at standby/idle/full CPU/full CPU+GPU
Asrock   4.1/44/112/110 W
Asus     5.6/57/127/128 W
Elitegrp 3.8/49/119/120 W
Gigabyte 5.6/46/117/115 W
MSI      5.8/60/127/125 W
Last edited by jojo4u on Fri Dec 01, 2006 3:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Poodle
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Post by Poodle » Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:46 am

Did they mention anything about the bios? On the Asrock site they mention overclocking. Does this mean undervolting aswell?

They have the same mobo but as 754 that I'm very interested in.

Thanks

soulwarrior
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Re: AM2 boards with integrated graphics tested by C't

Post by soulwarrior » Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:31 am

jojo4u wrote:Recent issue (24/06) of the german printed magazine c't tested the following mainboards:
Issue 22/06 of C't did also test Core 2 Duo mainboards with integrated graphic cards:

Code: Select all

whole system power consumption at standby/idle/full CPU/full CPU+GPU
Asrock Conroe945G-DVI   3W   / 72W / 101W / 110W
Asus P5B-VM             4,1W / 86W / 116W / 127W
Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3    5,5W / 77W / 109W / 120W
Intel DG965OT           5,5W / 75W / 106W / 115W
MSI P4M890M             4,1W / 83W / 106W / 104W
(Intel Core 2 Duo E6400, SATA-II Seagate ST3250620AS, 2x1Gb Crucial PC2-6400U-555)

Interesting to see that AM2 systems do consume less than Core 2 Duo systems. Could this be because the memory controller is already integrated in the Athlon cpu?

One should also note that they even didn't use an EE version of the cpu in the AM2 comparison

Poodle
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Post by Poodle » Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:04 am

@CnQ and idle Amd chips are really nice. On load C2D shines. :)

martdj
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AMD seems to be lesser power consuming cpu then

Post by martdj » Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:05 am

I'm looking for a cpu for my new server. The server will sometimes be very busy (reason I need a dual core), but mostly idle. It seems the AMD will be the more cost consious choice with these specs. Sounds like an interesting article.

nutball
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Post by nutball » Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:13 am

Poodle wrote:Did they mention anything about the bios? On the Asrock site they mention overclocking. Does this mean undervolting aswell?
The Asrock AM2NF6G-DVI supports undervolting down to 0.8V, and underclocking too (I have one). I think it's a safe bet that the -VSTA version will too.

line
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Post by line » Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:14 am

What a pleasant surprise! You wouldn't expect ASRock to pioneer mATX undervolting would you?

From the manual pages of both ALiveNF6G-DVI & AM2NF6G-VSTA:

Image

Poodle
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Post by Poodle » Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:08 pm

line wrote:What a pleasant surprise! You wouldn't expect ASRock to pioneer mATX undervolting would you?

From the manual pages of both ALiveNF6G-DVI & AM2NF6G-VSTA:

Image
It's says the same thing for the 754 version that I might use to my mobile sempron. :)

Yeah Asrock's bios is often amazingly great for the price. (which you won't get from a low priced Asus).
Last edited by Poodle on Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

Poodle
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Re: AMD seems to be lesser power consuming cpu then

Post by Poodle » Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:04 am

martdj wrote:I'm looking for a cpu for my new server. The server will sometimes be very busy (reason I need a dual core), but mostly idle. It seems the AMD will be the more cost consious choice with these specs. Sounds like an interesting article.

The support for Linux and other BSD on Amd chipsets is quite thin though, I've noticed.

Poodle
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Post by Poodle » Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:12 am

Was CnQ and EiST active in those tests btw?

jojo4u
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Post by jojo4u » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:52 am

Poodle wrote:Was CnQ and EiST active in those tests btw?
Yes.

jojo4u
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Re: AM2 boards with integrated graphics tested by C't

Post by jojo4u » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:55 am

soulwarrior wrote: Issue 22/06 of C't did also test Core 2 Duo mainboards with integrated graphic cards:

Code: Select all

whole system power consumption at standby/idle/full CPU/full CPU+GPU
Asrock Conroe945G-DVI   3W   / 72W / 101W / 110W
Asus P5B-VM             4,1W / 86W / 116W / 127W
Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3    5,5W / 77W / 109W / 120W
Intel DG965OT           5,5W / 75W / 106W / 115W
MSI P4M890M             4,1W / 83W / 106W / 104W
(Intel Core 2 Duo E6400, SATA-II Seagate ST3250620AS, 2x1Gb Crucial PC2-6400U-555)
Perhaps the PSU was changed. But of course we all know that the C2D is less efficient at idle.

EDIT:
viewtopic.php?t=33425

jojo4u
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Post by jojo4u » Tue Nov 21, 2006 4:07 am

I emailed the author about the PSU, it's an:

Sharkoon Silentstorm SHA480-9A

soulwarrior
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Post by soulwarrior » Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:28 am

jojo4u wrote:I emailed the author about the PSU, it's an:

Sharkoon Silentstorm SHA480-9A
For both tests: am2 & core 2 duo?

jojo4u
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Post by jojo4u » Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:42 am

soulwarrior wrote:
jojo4u wrote:I emailed the author about the PSU, it's an:

Sharkoon Silentstorm SHA480-9A
For both tests: am2 & core 2 duo?
Yes, the efficiency at 220V was tested by the C't as follows:
at 20/50/100% load
79%/83%/80%

But that does not help much since 20% is way to high for estimating the power draw of the motherboards here.

Poodle
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Post by Poodle » Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:41 am

I would like to know where the K8M890 chipset fits in. There aren't many reviews of AMD boards with that chipset. Maybe the Via-S3 chipset is cooler or maybe not. Would be nice to know.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:28 am

Poodle wrote:I would like to know where the K8M890 chipset fits in. There aren't many reviews of AMD boards with that chipset. Maybe the Via-S3 chipset is cooler or maybe not. Would be nice to know.
IMO there's probably not much in it; they're both very cool chipsets. I have a s754 K8v-vm which uses the K8M890, barely gets warm w/ only a tiny heatsink on it.

MC FLMJIG
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Post by MC FLMJIG » Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:43 pm

I don't know who CT is but

I'd rather an Epox 6100 or the best IMO the Abit Nview

Poodle
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Post by Poodle » Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:39 am

jaganath wrote:
Poodle wrote:I would like to know where the K8M890 chipset fits in. There aren't many reviews of AMD boards with that chipset. Maybe the Via-S3 chipset is cooler or maybe not. Would be nice to know.
IMO there's probably not much in it; they're both very cool chipsets. I have a s754 K8v-vm which uses the K8M890, barely gets warm w/ only a tiny heatsink on it.

I've been tempted for that board for my mobile sempron. Are you happy with it? It's either that one or the Asrock with Nf6100 for me.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:03 am

Poodle wrote:I've been tempted for that board for my mobile sempron. Are you happy with it? It's either that one or the Asrock with Nf6100 for me.
The one downside to the K8V-VM is no undervolting/multiplier options in BIOS; that's a feature I really miss. So if it was my choice I would choose the Asrock.

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