Motherboard Benchmarks: SYSmark 2007, Sandra 2009

The details of how the ASUS M4A78T-E 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 AMD 790GX 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

Test System Reference System #1 Reference System #2
Processor: AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (AM3) AMD Athlon64 X2 5000+ (AM2) Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (775)
Clock Speed: 14 x 200 MHz = 2.8 GHz 13 x 200 MHz = 2.6 GHz 8 x 333 = 2.66GHz
Motherboard: ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX / AM3)
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX / AM2+)

ECS A780GM-A (AMD 780G)
Biostar TF8200 A2+ (Geforce 8200)
Foxconn A690GM2MA (AMD 690G)
Foxconn A7DA-S (AMD 790GX)
Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a)

Intel DG45ID (Intel G45)
ASUS P5Q-EM (Intel G45)

Videocard: MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC
Memory:

2x 1024MB Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4
2x 1024MB Patriot PDC32G1600LLK

2x 1024MB Corsair Twin2X2048-8888C4DF

Hard Drive: 74GB Western Digital Raptor WD740
CDROM: ASUS BC-1205PT-BD Blu-Ray Drive
Monitor (1080p): ASUS MK241 24" HD LCD
PowerSupply: PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 750W
Heatsink: AMD Athlon64 FX-62 Reference Intel Reference
Software Setup:

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
ATi Catalyst 9.1
nVIDIA Forceware 169.25

Benchmarks:

SYSMark 2007 Preview
SiSoft Sandra 2009
PCMark Vantage
3DMark06
3DMark Vantage
FEAR
Call of Juarez
Crysis

SYSmark2007 Preview 1.05 Source: Bapco

SYSmark 2007 Preview is an application-based benchmark that reflects usage patterns of business users in the areas of Video creation, E-learning, 3D Modeling and Office Productivity. This new release includes a robust and refreshed set of applications. The new release also incorporates numerous new features and enhancements such as an improved GUI allowing streamlined start-up and run along with a heads-up-display (HUD) and automated error reporting.

PCSTATS Benchmark ReportSYSMark 2007 1.04
Overall: Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 135
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 138
Foxconn A7DA-S (790GX 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 99
ECS A780GM-A (AMD 780G 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 91
Foxconn A690GM2MA-RS2H (AMD 690G 200/800 GF 8800TS) 100
Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800 AM2 X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) 95
Biostar TF8200 A2+ (GF8200 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 103
E-Learning: Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 147
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 144
Foxconn A7DA-S (790GX 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 97
ECS A780GM-A (AMD 780G 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 95
Foxconn A690GM2MA-RS2H (AMD 690G 200/800 GF 8800TS) 96
Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800 AM2 X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) 90
Biostar TF8200 A2+ (GF8200 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 94
Videocreation: Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 106
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 128
Foxconn A7DA-S (790GX 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 107
ECS A780GM-A (AMD 780G 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 102
Foxconn A690GM2MA-RS2H (AMD 690G 200/800 GF 8800TS) 98
Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800 AM2 X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) 101
Biostar TF8200 A2+ (GF8200 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 106
Productivity: Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 138
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 132
Foxconn A7DA-S (790GX 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 90
ECS A780GM-A (AMD 780G 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 88
Foxconn A690GM2MA-RS2H (AMD 690G 200/800 GF 8800TS) 117
Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800 AM2 X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) 86
Biostar TF8200 A2+ (GF8200 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 107
3D: Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 151
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 152
Foxconn A7DA-S (790GX 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 105
ECS A780GM-A (AMD 780G 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 102
Foxconn A690GM2MA-RS2H (AMD 690G 200/800 GF 8800TS) 106
Biostar Tpower N750 (NF 750a 200/800 AM2 X2 5000+ GF 8800GTS 320MB) 103
Biostar TF8200 A2+ (GF8200 200/800 GF 8800GTS) 106

It appears that the higher latencies of the DDR3 memory used for the Asus M4A78T-E make it a little bit slower than the Asus M3A78-T in some of Sysmark's tests, despite the higher frequencies. With faster, more expensive DDR3 memory at 1333MHz and beyond this score can improve.

SiSoft Sandra 2009 Source: Sandra

Sandra is designed to test the theoretical power of a complete system as well as the individual components. The results are also purely theoretical and may not represent real world performance.

PCSTATS Benchmark ReportSiSoft Sandra 2009 ver 15.72
Processor Arithmetic Dhrystone ALU: (GIPS) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 28.59
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 28.64
Processor Arithmetic Whetstone iSSE3: (Gflops) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 27.7
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 27.64
Processor Multi-Media Int x8 iSSE3: (Mpixels/s) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 81.93
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 81.85
Processor Multi-Media Float x4 iSSE2: (Mpixels/s) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 36.1
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 36.04
Processor Multi-Media Float x2 iSSE2: (Mpixels/s) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 19.75
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 19.68
Multicore Efficiency Bandwidth: (GB/s) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 3.75
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 3.67
Multicore Efficiency Latency: (ns) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 96
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 83
Memory Bandwidth Int iSSE2: (GB/s) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 11.38
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 11.38
Memory Bandwidth Float iSSE2: (GB/s) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 11.38
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 11.41
Memory Latency (Random): (ns) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 85
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 82
Memory Latency (Linear): (ns) Points Ranking
ASUS M4A78T-E (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 14
ASUS M3A78-T (AMD 790GX 200/1066 AM3 Phenom II X3 720 GF 8800GTS 320MB) 14

The results here are really so close as to make no difference overall. Performance deltas are generally less than a percentage point off between the two motherboards... but for the sake of fence sitters the DDR3 M4A78T-E platform is a hair faster in most of Sandra's tests.