ASRock ConRoe945G-DVI: Core 2 Duo goes mATX

Test Setup

Our test setup is not our normal configuration due to time constraints for generating this early look review. We are using the test configuration from our recent Core 2 Duo memory performance articles since we had a base of information with the E6300 and several competing Intel and VIA based motherboards. Also, this test configuration is well suited for this board's capabilities and would be considered a mainstream solution in regards to the overall system cost. We will have extended test results with this board in our upcoming mATX roundup utilizing additional hardware configurations.

Performance Test Configuration
Processor:	Intel Core 2 Duo - E6300
RAM:	2 x 512mb Transcend JetRam DDR2-533
Hard Drive(s):	1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
System Platform Drivers:	Intel Chipset Software - 8.0.1.1002
Video Cards:	1 x EVGA 7600GS (PCI Express)
Video Drivers:	NVIDIA nForce 91.31 WHQL
Cooling:	Scythe Infinity
Power Supply:	OCZ GameXStream 700w
Operating System:	Windows XP Professional SP2
Motherboards:	ASRock ConRoe945G-DVI ASRock 775Dual-VSTA (VIA PT880Pro) ASRock ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 (Intel 945P) Biostar TForce 965 Deluxe (Intel P965) DFI Infinity 975X/G (Intel P975X) Asus P5NSLI (NVIDIA 570SLI)

Our configuration was operated at a resolution of 1024x768 with high quality settings for each graphics benchmark. We will have onboard graphics test results with this board in an upcoming G965 versus 945G comparison, although we were only able to complete Quake 4 testing with the Intel GMA950.

We are testing our motherboards at the fastest stable timings we can achieve and still pass our benchmark test suite. By increasing the memory voltage on the ASRock board we were able to run our Transcend modules at 3-3-3-9 at DDR2-533 and 3-4-3-10 at DDR2-667. With these set ratios our CPU speed remains the same at 1.86GHz in the test platform with memory speed being varied by selecting the different ratios. Our memory settings were derived from extensive stress testing with a variety of applications. While certain settings that allowed lower latencies worked well with certain applications, the final settings we arrived at had to work with all applications.

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The Sandra bandwidth Unbuffered memory performance of the Intel 945G chipset is the highest of our group at DDR2-533 (1:1 ratio) and second highest at DDR2-667 (4:5 ratio). The Unbuffered scores of the 945G chipset increase by 10% when going from DDR2-533 to DDR2-667 which equals the same increases found on the ASRock 945P. However, both the P965 and 975X scale at a rate of approximately 15%. The buffered memory scores are very competitive with the other solutions but we usually find these scores do not correlate well with real performance in most applications. The 945G scores very well in our SuperPI 2M tests where it ties the NV 570 SLI in the DDR2-533 results and places second in the DDR2-667 test. The latency results are average but improve upon the 945P board. A very good guide to understanding how the chipset, memory, and CPU relate to each other on Intel chipsets is located here.