Once again it's time to clear the table, break out the fine china and get ready for a small-scale war. We'll be using three test systems, each with comparably equipped peripherals. Here's a taste of what was used.
- Processor: Intel Pentium III Coppermine 600MHz and 733MHz
- Memory: 128MB PC800 RDRAM
- Video: ASUS V6600 Deluxe with 3.68b7 drivers
- Motherboard: ASUS P3C-E
- Hard Drive: Western Digital 5.1 GB HDD
- Sound Card: Creative Labs Live! Value
- OS: Windows 98 SE with DirectX 7
- Processor: Intel Pentium III Coppermine 600Mhz
- Memory: 128MB PC100 SDRAM
- Video: ASUS V6600 Deluxe with 3.68b7 drivers
- Motherboard: Abit BE6
- Hard Drive: Western Digital 5.1 GB HDD
- Sound Card: Creative Labs Live! Value
- OS: Windows 98 SE with DirectX 7
- Processor: AMD Athlon 650Mhz
- Memory: 128MB PC100 SDRAM
- Video: ASUS V6600 Deluxe with 3.62b2 drivers
- Motherboard: AMD Viper 750 Mainboard
- Hard Drive: Western Digital 18.1 GB HDD
- Sound Card: Creative Labs Live! Value
- OS: Windows 98 SE with DirectX 7
CPU Benchmark
While not terribly important for determining motherboard performance, we can at least get some idea as to how much the CPUs impact the performance of each system.
Our Athlon system shows the best performance with its integer unit while the 733MHz Coppermine shines with its floating-point unit.