ABS Ultimate X9: Core 2 Extreme Hits a Speed Bump
by Jarred Walton on August 18, 2006 1:35 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Benchmarks Setup
Anyone serious about spending over four grand on a computer for gaming probably isn't planning to run games at low resolutions. We tested the ABS system in both stock and 20% overclocked modes, with and without audio. We feel a lot of people buying a high-end system will have high-end monitors as well, so we paired up the ABS Ultimate X9 with a Dell 2405FPW and tested at 1280x1024, 1600x1200, and 1920x1200, with 4xAA/8xAF enabled at all resolutions.
We will provide comparative results at 1600x1200 from our recent motherboard reviews. Note that the motherboard reviews used an E6700 CPU, so we expect the ABS system to be faster in all cases where we are not GPU limited, and substantially faster when overclocked. They are provided more as a baseline measurement, as we do not have an extensive backlog of X6800 results. In order to provide an apples-to-apples look at performance, we also underclocked the X6800 to 2.66 GHz and ran our test suite.
Note that the test configurations are not identical, as we are comparing a system vendor configuration against our standard motherboard testbed. We used the BIOS settings that ABS selected, which included 5-5-5-15 memory timings at DDR2-960.
We have several other Core 2 Duo/Extreme system reviews coming in the near future, and they will show other performance vs. price options. A system similar to the ABS with an E6600 and a single GPU will be slower, but it will also cost quite a bit less. The ABS is really at the top of the performance pyramid, and the only way to substantially improve gaming performance beyond what it offers will be to overclock your GPUs or wait for faster GPUs to become available.
Anyone serious about spending over four grand on a computer for gaming probably isn't planning to run games at low resolutions. We tested the ABS system in both stock and 20% overclocked modes, with and without audio. We feel a lot of people buying a high-end system will have high-end monitors as well, so we paired up the ABS Ultimate X9 with a Dell 2405FPW and tested at 1280x1024, 1600x1200, and 1920x1200, with 4xAA/8xAF enabled at all resolutions.
We will provide comparative results at 1600x1200 from our recent motherboard reviews. Note that the motherboard reviews used an E6700 CPU, so we expect the ABS system to be faster in all cases where we are not GPU limited, and substantially faster when overclocked. They are provided more as a baseline measurement, as we do not have an extensive backlog of X6800 results. In order to provide an apples-to-apples look at performance, we also underclocked the X6800 to 2.66 GHz and ran our test suite.
Note that the test configurations are not identical, as we are comparing a system vendor configuration against our standard motherboard testbed. We used the BIOS settings that ABS selected, which included 5-5-5-15 memory timings at DDR2-960.
| Motherboard Test Configurations | |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (X2, 2.67GHz, 4MB Unified Cache) |
| RAM | 2 x 1GB Corsair Twin2X2048-8500C5 Tested at DDR2-800 3-3-3 2.2V |
| Hard Drive(s) | Hitachi 250GB SATA2 enabled (16MB Buffer) |
| System Platform Drivers | Intel - 8.0.1.1002 NVIDIA - 6.86 |
| Video Cards: | 2 x EVGA 7900GTX - SLI on NVIDIA 2 x ATI X1900XT (Master+Standard) - CF on Intel |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA 91.31 ATI Catalyst 6.6 |
| CPU Cooling: | Tuniq Tower 120 |
| Power Supply: | OCZ GameXstream 700W |
| Motherboards: | ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe (Intel 975X) Intel 975XBX (Intel 975X) ASUS P5N32-SLI (nF4 SLIX16 Intel) DFI Infinity 975X/G (Intel 975X) |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| ABS Ultimage X9 Configurations | |
| Processor | Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz 4MB Cache 1.300V) 20% Overclock (3.52 GHz 4MB Cache 1.475V) "E6700" Underclock (2.67 GHz 4MB Cache 1.300V) |
| RAM | 2 x 1GB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4 DDR2-960 5-5-5-15 2.2V for Overclock DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 2.0V Stock/Underclock |
| Hard Drive(s) | 2 x 150GB Raptor in RAID 0 (16MB Buffer) |
| System Platform Drivers | Intel - 8.0.1.1002 |
| Video Cards: | 2 x ATI X1900XT (Master+Standard) CrossFire on Intel 975X |
| Video Drivers: | ATI Catalyst 6.7 |
| CPU Cooling: | Gigabyte GH-WIU01 Liquid Cooling |
| Power Supply: | Enermax Libery 620W |
| Motherboard: | Intel 975XBX (Intel 975X) |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
We have several other Core 2 Duo/Extreme system reviews coming in the near future, and they will show other performance vs. price options. A system similar to the ABS with an E6600 and a single GPU will be slower, but it will also cost quite a bit less. The ABS is really at the top of the performance pyramid, and the only way to substantially improve gaming performance beyond what it offers will be to overclock your GPUs or wait for faster GPUs to become available.
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JarredWalton - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
Don't use the (bracket) H (closebracket) abbreviation in our comments - that's the code for highlight enable, which makes your text white. LOL
JarredWalton - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
Multiple uses cause even more troble. :p
JarredWalton - Saturday, August 19, 2006 - link
Have I shut off all text highlights yet? Enquiring minds want to know!
JarredWalton - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
Take a look at similarly configured Alienware, Falcon NW, VoodooPC, etc. systems and see what they cost. $4500 for the ABS is an absolute bargain by comparison. And don't think that all of those systems are going to be more stable than this ABS. I tried a Quad SLI config for a while that was much, MUCH less stable than this system. The review would have been very unfavorable, but as the company basically pulled the configuration I had there was no reason to "review" a phantom product.Alienware is about $4300 without overclocking or watercooling.
FNW Talon with E6700 and 7950GX2: $6000
FNW Mach V with X6800 watercooling and CrossFire: $8230
VoodooPC Omen CrossFire: $7600
None of those come factory overclocked as far as I can tell, but I'm sure they could be. Still, there's a big difference between $4500 and $6000+. Are they more stable? I don't know - I haven't tested any of the above configurations.
As for ways to improve system reviews, I'm open for suggestions. Simply stating "be like HardOCP" doesn't really help much. What would you like to see added? Compare what this review told you about gaming to what others show, and let me know what's really different about the conclusions. Where do we fall short? I have plenty more system reviews, so if there are specific improvements to be made I'd love to try and make them.
Thanks,
Jarred Walton
Editor
AnandTech.com
yyrkoon - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
Personally, I find your articles fine the way they are, whihc is why I'll read YOUR articles over Toms any day of the week (because you guys seem to tell it how it is, and how you'd think the company you're reviewing would want to hear it.yyrkoon - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
err and NOT how you'd think the company you're reviewing would want to hear it (left out 'not'), sorry.MarkHark - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
Thumbs up for you, Jarred, twice in fact!First for a well-thought, well-written review, second and most important for your last comment.
samuraiBX - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
now if one of you will please run over me so I can get the money from my insurance... :PJarredWalton - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
We've got a $1400 system review coming soon, for "the rest" of our readers. :)yyrkoon - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link
Sub 1,000 system review would be much bettter ;) Anyhow, nice clean looking wiring (until you look into the drive bays), additional fan on a water cooled CPU ?! 3000-4000 Price ?!Personally, I would never consider buying a OEM type system, but man even though it has semi clean wiring, neat gadgets like a Air cooling assisted water block, excellent non gaming performance, I would expect said system to be stable, offer the best gaming performance period, and to cook for me . . .