Futuremark 3DMark06 1.0.2	Source: FutureMark

3DMark06 is the worldwide standard in advanced 3D game performance benchmarking. A fundamental tool for every company in the PC industry as well as PC users and gamers, 3DMark06 uses advanced real-time 3D game workloads to measure PC performance using a suite of DirectX 9 3D graphics tests, CPU tests, and 3D feature tests. 3DMark06 tests include all new HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, SM2.0 graphics tests, AI and physics driven single and multiple cores or processor CPU tests and a collection of comprehensive feature tests to reliably measure next generation gaming performance today.

Futuremark 3DMark06 1.0.2 Overall: Points Ranking Asus P5NT Deluxe (NF 780i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 9612 MSI P6N Diamond (NF 680i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 9566 Biostar TF7150V-M7 (GF 7150 333/1066 Onboard GF 7150) 384 MSI X48 Platinum (X48 333/1333) 9775 Asus Maximus Extreme (X38 333/1333) 9360 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/800 DDR2) 9415 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/1333 DDR3) 9355 Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 (X38 333/1066) 9409 Asus BLITZ Formula (P35 333/1066) 9385 Foxconn MARS (P35 333/1066) 9230 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/800 DDR2) 9753 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/1333 DDR3) 9751 CPU: Points Ranking Asus P5NT Deluxe (NF 780i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 2377 MSI P6N Diamond (NF 680i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 2345 Biostar TF7150V-M7 (GF 7150 333/1066 Onboard GF 7150) 2352 MSI X48 Platinum (X48 333/1333) 2367 Asus Maximus Extreme (X38 333/1333) 2373 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/800 DDR2) 2413 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/1333 DDR3) 2386 Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 (X38 333/1066) 2399 Asus BLITZ Formula (P35 333/1066) 2384 Foxconn MARS (P35 333/1066) 2344 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/800 DDR2) 2378 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/1333 DDR3) 2380

3DMark06 results between all platforms are about the same... then again, this test is more of a videocard benchmark anyway. There is no significant difference between the two memory types.

ID Software Quake 4 1.04	Source: id Software

Quake 4 is the latest shooter from ID and is based on the Doom 3 engine. Tweaked to for more eye candy, Quake 4 promises to be tougher on videocards and systems than its predecessor was. Quake 4 also does not have a 60 fps limiter like Doom 3, with the Ultra setting, graphic textures can surpass the 500MB mark! Each test is run three times and with the third run being recorded.

ID Software Quake 4 1.04 LQ 640x480: Points Ranking Asus P5NT Deluxe (NF 780i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 221.4 MSI P6N Diamond (NF 680i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 213.7 Biostar TF7150V-M7 (GF 7150 333/1066 Onboard GF 7150) 23.3 MSI X48 Platinum (X48 333/1333) 217.5 Asus Maximus Extreme (X38 333/1333) 221.6 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/800 DDR2) 227.6 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/1333 DDR3) 220.4 Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 (X38 333/1066) 215.2 Asus BLITZ Formula (P35 333/1066) 224.5 Foxconn MARS (P35 333/1066) 207.1 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/800 DDR2) 206.7 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/1333 DDR3) 218 UQ 1024x768: Points Ranking Asus P5NT Deluxe (NF 780i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 205.6 MSI P6N Diamond (NF 680i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 191.6 Biostar TF7150V-M7 (GF 7150 333/1066 Onboard GF 7150) 52.7 MSI X48 Platinum (X48 333/1333) 223.6 Asus Maximus Extreme (X38 333/1333) 208.5 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/800 DDR2) 208.9 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/1333 DDR3) 206.3 Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 (X38 333/1066) 206.1 Asus BLITZ Formula (P35 333/1066) 207.9 Foxconn MARS (P35 333/1066) 183.7 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/800 DDR2) 205.06 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/1333 DDR3) 214.3

The MSI P35 Platinum Combo clearly prefers DDR3 memory in Quake 4.

Sierra FEAR 1.08	Source: Sierra

FEAR is Sierra's latest first person shooter which relies heavily on DirectX 9 features. With its "Soft Shadows" feature enabled, even the fastest videocards run at a crawl, FEAR is definitely the new benchmark for future FPS games to follow.

Sierra FEAR 1.08 Minimum 640x480: Points Ranking Asus P5NT Deluxe (NF 780i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 568 MSI P6N Diamond (NF 680i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 545 Biostar TF7150V-M7 (GF 7150 333/1066 Onboard GF 7150) 145 MSI X48 Platinum (X48 333/1333) 567 Asus Maximus Extreme (X38 333/1333) 563 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/800 DDR2) 575 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/1333 DDR3) 562 Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 (X38 333/1066) 554 Asus BLITZ Formula (P35 333/1066) 572 Foxconn MARS (P35 333/1066) 551 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/800 DDR2) 545 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/1333 DDR3) 554 Maximum 1024x768: Points Ranking Asus P5NT Deluxe (NF 780i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 137 MSI P6N Diamond (NF 680i 333/1066 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 134 Biostar TF7150V-M7 (GF 7150 333/1066 Onboard GF 7150) 3 MSI X48 Platinum (X48 333/1333) 134 Asus Maximus Extreme (X38 333/1333) 124 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/800 DDR2) 130 Foxconn DigitaLife X38A (X38 333/1333 DDR3) 123 Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 (X38 333/1066) 124 Asus BLITZ Formula (P35 333/1066) 125 Foxconn MARS (P35 333/1066) 126 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/800 DDR2) 135 MSI P35 Platinum Combo (P35 333/1333 DDR3) 134

FEAR results also show that games slightly prefer the lower latencies of DDR2 memory over DDR3. That may change with quad core processors but then again the software must also support that feature too.