Quake III
Benchmarks
|
Intel Pentium III 600E @ 800EB w/ Abit BF6 w/ Creative
Labs Annihilator Pro |
|
Resolution |
`FAST' |
`NORMAL' |
`HIGH QUALITY' |
|
640*480 |
168.2 FPS |
167 FPS |
165.8 FPS |
|
800*600 |
160 FPS |
140 FPS |
138.2 FPS |
|
1024*768 |
112.1 FPS |
90.8 FPS |
89.5 FPS |
|
Intel Pentium III 600E @ 800EB w/ Abit VT6X4 /w Creative
Labs Annihilator Pro |
|
Resolution |
`FAST' |
`NORMAL' |
`HIGH QUALITY' |
|
640*480 |
149.8 FPS |
148.3 FPS |
148.1 FPS |
|
800*600 |
146.8 FPS |
133.1 FPS |
133.1 FPS |
|
1024*768 |
111.2 FPS |
90.4 FPS |
89.1 FPS |
Once again, at the resolution and the settings that I use, there are no real
differences between the Abit BF6 and the Abit VT6X4 in terms of performance.
With the Annihilator Pro overclocked to 155MHz Core, and 345MHZ Memory, I get
109.5 FPS at 1024*768 with the High Quality setting on BF6. With the VT6X4, I
get 108.1 FPS. The fill rate limitations of the Creative Labs Annihilator Pro
rear its ugly head here too. As there is not even a 5 FPS increase at 1024*768
w/ HQ with the 200MHZ overclock.
On to the 3D Mark 2000 scores.
|
Intel Pentium III 600E @ 800EB w/ Abit BF6 w/
Creative Labs Annihilator Pro: |
5715 3D Marks |
|
Intel Pentium III 600E @
800EB w/ Abit VT6X4 /w Creative Labs Annihilator Pro:
|
5674 3D
Marks |
Once again I am not too concerned with a 41-point deficit. The default
setting used in 3D Mark 2000 is 1024*768 @ 16bit, so it certainly appears as
though the motherboard chipset is not the bottleneck when running games at that
resolution (previously highlighted in Quake III scores, low resolution ruled by
BX, high resolution nearly equivalent.)
Temperatures:
| Heatsink |
Temp. |
| Intel Heat sink and fan |
37C |
| Alpha FC-PAL35 |
28C |
| System Temperature |
27C |
The Alpha FC-PAL35 is clearly a better cooling solution, however I was not able to
overclock any higher while using this cooler. Hopefully the problem is being
caused by the MSI 6905 Master adapter. If not, then all that the Alpha provides
is a nice 9C cushion.
CONCLUSION:
Let's recap, the Abit VT6X4 is a really flexible and stable motherboard that
offers very good performance. The Abit BF6 is a very fast board, but is less
flexible than its VIA 133A powered cousin (VT6X4.) We've also discovered that
the fill rate limitations of the Creative Labs Annihilator Pro are very annoying
(for people that crave 1024*768 or higher gaming.) Finally, if the MSI 6905
Master is not the root of the 800MHZ wall, then the Alpha FC-PAL35 may be an
extraneous expense that should be avoided too. Ultimately, if you DO have an AGP
card capable of running with an overclocked AGP bus (of 88MHZ and higher,) and
have PC-133 RAM, then the Abit BF6 (or any decent i440 BX based board, BE6-II
etc.) is the optimum solution, because the i440BX platform is STILL the FASTEST
way to go. I am sticking with the Abit VT6X4 simply because I swap out AGP cards
quite often, and need the flexibility that a ? AGP divisor provides J .
