BIOS Tweaking Tools:
The
BIOS controls how the motherboard communicates with all the peripherals
connected to it, and is a crucial component for any good well rounded
motherboard. PCSTATS is only going to highlight the tweaking features so you'll
know what to expect.
Intel's motherboards are a little more
conservative when it comes to tweakable options for overclocking. It's simply
not what these types of motherboards are designed for.
The most important memory settings are listed here, and
can be set to automatic, manual or SPD modes to determine the proper timings
for system memory.
The Intel DG45ID has a menu page dedicated towards
hardware monitoring, which also lets you set warning and shutdown conditions
should voltages or temperatures ever go too high.
The integrated graphics automatically draws
from system memory, but it's possible to configure the amount of memory used, or
disable the on-board graphics altogether if you have a discrete graphics card.
Let's see just how much juice the DG45ID will be taking out of your wall
socket...
Total System Power Draw
Comparisons
Here's how the motherboard stacks up in
real life against a couple different motherboards. We have no way of directly
measuring motherboard power draw, so PCSTATS measures total system power draw
and compares that in CPU-loaded (max value recorded in Prime95) and idle states
(at Windows Vista desktop). An Extech 380803 AC Power Analyzer and A-PFC
compliant PC Power and Cooling 750W power supply were used
for these tests.
 System Power Draw Tests: (PCPower 750W
PSU) |
| Desktop Idle (W) |
Watts |
Ranking |
 Intel DG45ID (Intel G45 200/800 C2D E6750 Onboard
G45 ) |
68 |
   |
| Asus P5Q-EM (Intel G45 200/800 C2D
E6750 GF 8800GTS 320MB) |
131 |
   |
| Asus P5Q-EM (Intel G45 200/800 C2D
E6750 Onboard G45 ) |
72 |
|
| Foxconn A7DA-S (AMD 790GX 200/800 AM2
X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) |
131 |
   |
| Foxconn A7DA-S (AMD 790GX 200/800 AM2
X2 5000+ onboard HD 3300 video) |
61 |
|
| Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800
AM2 X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) |
110 |
|
| Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800
AM2 X2 5000+ onboard nF 750a video) |
45.4 |
|
| Prime95 Stressed (W) |
Watts |
Ranking |
| Intel DG45ID (Intel G45 200/800 C2D E6750 Onboard
G45 ) |
121 |
|
| Asus P5Q-EM (Intel G45 200/800 C2D
E6750 GF 8800GTS 320MB) |
224 |
|
| Asus P5Q-EM (Intel G45 200/800 C2D
E6750 Onboard G45 ) |
122 |
|
| Foxconn A7DA-S (AMD 790GX 200/800 AM2
X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) |
192 |
|
| Foxconn A7DA-S (AMD 790GX 200/800 AM2
X2 5000+ onboard HD 3300 video) |
121 |
|
| Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800
AM2 X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) |
187 |
|
| Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800
AM2 X2 5000+ onboard nF 750a video) |
127 |
|
| 3DM06 IGP Stressed (W): |
Watts |
Ranking |
| Intel DG45ID (Intel G45 200/800 C2D E6750 Onboard
G45 ) |
115 |
|
| Asus P5Q-EM (Intel G45 200/800 C2D
E6750 GF 8800GTS 320MB) |
182 |
|
| Asus P5Q-EM (Intel G45 200/800 C2D
E6750 Onboard G45 ) |
119 |
|
| Foxconn A7DA-S (AMD 790GX 200/800 AM2
X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) |
223 |
|
| Foxconn A7DA-S (AMD 790GX 200/800 AM2
X2 5000+ onboard HD 3300 video) |
124 |
|
| Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800
AM2 X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) |
226 |
|
| Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800
AM2 X2 5000+ onboard nF 750a video) |
118 |
| |
The Intel DG45ID's idle power levels are a shade
lower than that of Asus P5Q-EM motherboard, which is built on the same chipset. Even after
the IGP and CPU are stressed, the DG45ID manages to stay right in line with the
other integrated motherboards.
Prelude to
Benchmarks
The details of how the Intel DG45ID motherboard test system
was configured for benchmarking; the specific hardware, software drivers,
operating system and benchmark versions is indicated below. In the second column
are the general specs for the reference platforms this Intel G45 Express
chipset-based motherboard is to be compared against. Please take a moment to
look over PCSTATS test system configurations before moving on to the individual
benchmark results on the next page.
 |
| PCSTATS Test System
Configurations |
|
|
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