In the benchmarking section, we're taking a look at two different scenarios, with one pitting the AOpen XC Cube EZ65 against other Intel systems, in application and memory bandwidth tests. In this series of system testing, we use a relatively high-end Pentium 4-3.2 GHz (800) Northwood, in order to hit the high-end scores that can be compared to the i865G and i875P motherboards. Since the AOpen XC Cube EZ65 isn't really designed for an ultra high-end AGP card like the Radeon 9800XT, we've tested using both the i865G integrated graphics and a Radeon 9600 Pro AGP card.
The second section deals with games and takes a more standard system configuration, sporting a Pentium 4-2.8 GHz (800) Northwood and then switching up the video card component to include the i865G integrated graphics and some other low-profile AGP cards like the Radeon 9600 Pro, GeForce FX 5600 and GeForce4 MX440. This not only gives us a wide range of gaming benchmarks, but presents a system configuration far more in tune with a real-world AOpen XC Cube EZ65 implementation.
These two distinct reference systems serve different benchmarking needs, with the high-end configuration showing us the top-end power of the AOpen XC Cube EZ65, while the gaming section is more realistic in terms of the CPU and video card you would use with a mini-PC system like this. All testing has been performed with PAT and "Power Boost" enabled, where applicable. The other components remain consistent, and include 2x256-MB of generic PC3200 DDR, and a Maxtor 80-GB 7200 hard drive, all running under Windows XP Pro SP1. We've also loaded the latest ATI Catalyst 4.4, and Intel chipset and graphics drivers, to get the most current results.
The benchmark list features a range of system, memory, and gaming tests. These include the new revisions of Business Winstone 2004, CC Winstone 2004, PCMark 2004 and SiSoft SANDRA 2004 for our initial Pentium 4-3.2 GHz testing. The game portion uses the Pentium 4-2.8 GHz processor, and features popular 3D game tests like Unreal Tournament 2003 & 2004, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, and Quake 3. Our default game benchmark setting is 1024x768x32, which is demanding enough for comparisons and more realistic as an actual gameplay resolution, but still allows the motherboard-CPU-memory subsystem to take control in relatively low-resolutions testing.
* Please note that unless otherwise stated, all performance graph results equate to the standard "higher is better" routine.
General Settings:
Desktop Resolution: 1024x768
Color Depth: 32-bit
V-Sync: Disabled
Systems/Motherboards:
AOpen XC Cube EZ65
AOpen AX4SG Max II (i865G testing)
Intel D875PBZ (i875P testing)
Part One: Application and Memory Performance:Reference System Components:
Processor: Pentium 4-3.2 GHz Northwood
Memory: 2 x 256-MB Generic PC3200 DDR
Video Cards: i865G Integrated & ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
ATI reference video drivers: Catalyst 4.4
Intel reference video drivers: 6.14.10.3762
Hard-Drive: Maxtor 80-GB ATA-133, 7200 RPM
CD/DVD: AOpen Combo Drive
Power Supply: Sparkle 400 Watt
DirectX 9.0b
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP1
Part Two: Game Performance:Reference System Components:
Processor: Pentium 4-2.8 GHz Northwood
Memory: 2 x 256-MB Generic PC3200 DDR
ATI reference video drivers: Catalyst 4.4
NVIDIA reference video drivers: ForceWare 56.72
Intel reference video drivers: 6.14.10.3762
Hard-Drive: Maxtor 80-GB ATA-133, 7200 RPM
CD/DVD: AOpen Combo Drive
Power Supply: Sparkle 400 Watt
DirectX 9.0b
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP1
Video Cards:
i865G Integrated
GeForce4 MX440
GeForce FX 5600
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
Quake III Arena Test Specifics
Version: 1.30 (retail)
