| ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AMD 790FX AM3 Motherboard |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Motherboards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Bruce Normann - Edited by Olin Coles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, 29 April 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ASUS M4A79T DeluxeASUS has it tough. No question about it, everyone loves to hate the front runner. It's hard to remember when they weren't one of the top dogs, and in this business, it's as hard to stay on top as it is to get there. For the last several years, like everyone else, they've been paying the bills by selling Intel-based systems. They kept faith with the AMD crowd however, and have consistently offered a full range of products to support the underdog in the CPU race. All that is paying off, now that the new Phenom II chips have hit the street, and enthusiasts are once again buying AMD CPUs in earnest.
The new ASUS M4A79T Deluxe motherboard uses some of the latest support chips from AMD: the 790 series Northbridge and the SB750 Southbridge. In this instance, the 790FX version is supplied, providing 42 lanes of PCi-e 2.0 connectivity and support for quad graphics. The 790FX was part of AMD's "Spider" Platform, launched late in 2007, but it still packs a punch, as we'll see. This is the top specified AM3 board for ASUS, so we'll see what features separate it from the rest of the pack. Let's take a good look at what ASUS brings to the party with their new M4A79T Deluxe motherboard. About the company: ASUSASUS, a technology-oriented company blessed with one of the world's top R&D teams, is well known for high-quality and innovative technology. As a leading company in the new digital era, ASUS offers a complete product portfolio to compete in the new millennium. In 2007, one in three desktop PCs sold was powered by an ASUS motherboard; and the company's 2007 revenues reached US$6.9 billion. ASUS products' top quality stems from product development. It's like learning Chinese Kung-Fu; one must begin with cultivating the "Chi" and inner strength. Besides innovating cutting-edge features, ASUS engineers also pay special attention to EMI (electromagnetic interference), thermal, acoustics and details that usually go unnoticed to achieve complete customer satisfaction. ASUS notebooks are the first TCO'99-certified notebooks worldwide. The requirements for this honor include radiation emission control, energy (battery consumption), ecology (environment friendly) and ergonomics. To succeed in this ultra-competitive industry, great products need to be complimented by speed-to-market, cost and service. That's why all 8,000 over employees of ASUS strive for the "ASUS Way of Total Quality Management" to offer the best quality without compromising cost and time-to-market while providing maximum value to all customers through world-class services. With unyielding commitment to innovation and quality, ASUS won 2,568 awards in 2007, meaning on average, the company received over 7 awards every day last year. BusinessWeek has ranked ASUS amongst its InfoTech 100 for the 10th straight year. ASUS has also achieved the number one title on the annual league table of Taiwan Top 10 Global Brands with a brand value of 11.96 billion US dollars. Passion for Technology Technology is the heart of ASUS. We continue to invest in our world-class Research and Development so that we are always able to provide leading-edge innovations to people and businesses. Quality Quality is of utmost importance to ASUS. We continue to refine our quality management process to ensure customers receive quality solutions cost effectively. Long-term Relationships Whether they are our customers, media, shareholders or consumers, we believe in growing with our partners at all levels. Relationships with those key stakeholders are one of the most important factors of our continuing success.Perseverance All ASUS employees share the same sense of purpose. We thrive under pressure and we look forward to challenges. And all of us are working to accomplish the same mission, to empower people with innovative IT solutions. ASUS M4A79T Deluxe FeaturesNo first tier, or even second tier motherboard manufacturer would introduce a product to the market without some differentiating features. Many times, the marketing hype outshines the real features and benefits provided, but if you need and/or want to take advantage of those features, it helps to see them prominently displayed, instead of buried in Chapter 7 of the User Manual. Most enthusiasts buying this type of product, do their research on sites like Benchmark Reviews, and know exactly what they are buying and why. ASUS includes a sizable number of real and significant features in the M4A79T Deluxe motherboard:
CPU, Chipset and Graphics features
ASUS Power Solutions
ASUS Green Design
ASUS Overclocking Tools Express Gate
ASUS EZ DIY
ASUS Crystal Sound
Industry Standards
RoHS M4A79T Specifications
Did I mention that there's a test? It's an X-Ray test... Oh, look, you already passed.
Time to give your eyes a break from all these specs and take a closer look at the actual product: the ASUS M4A79T in all its unmasked glory. Closer Look: ASUS M4A79TIn this jaded world we live in, you could be forgiven for calling the appearance of the ASUS M4A79T "normal". Nine different colors of plastic used for the electrical connectors, a heat pipe connecting the finned copper heat sinks adorning the North and South bridges and the Voltage Regulator Modules. The long row of 10 molded core inductors and Japanese filter capacitors feeding 8+2 power to the cornerstone of this deep black motherboard, the AM3 socket. It's all very neatly done, very matter-of-fact, this is no "Extreme" or ROG style board. But one little detail stands out, and forces a tiny pause. Yes, count ‘em: there are four PCI-e 16X slots in a fairly well-spaced row. That's really the only clue that the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe is born to run, out front, that is.
The blue ones are your friend....... In order to take advantage of the 42 lanes available from the 790FX Northbridge, you have to know which slots are which. Just like "Animal Farm", some slots are more equal than others. The chart here tells the story better than I ever could in words.
The chart doesn't tell you how to physically fit four PCI-e video cards on one motherboard, and truth be told, it may not be worth it, unless you pick up a bunch of 4850 single-slot cards for next to nothing. For most of us, it will be two dual-slot cards with their GPU coolers having a bit of breathing room, due to the layout of the blue slots, which offer concurrent 16X bandwidth with the default BIOS settings. Be sure your jumper cable is long enough to reach the distance between the two blue slots. Three way CrossFireX is also a realistic possibility, with 16X, 8X, 8X operation available. If you don't like the way the bandwidth is allocated with these default settings, the BIOS offers full customization.
The thermal cooling solution for the chipset is not low-key. There are two separate full copper heatsinks for the Northbridge and Southbridge and they are linked together with a 6mm heat pipe. The pipe also extends over to the power transistors that provide voltage regulation for the CPU, where there are more copper fins. All three heatsinks are anchored with spring loaded plastic push pins. None of them got more than warm during some pretty abusive testing. Without a Black Edition CPU and its unlocked multiplier, the bulk of the load for an effective overclock will rest with the Northbridge, so the substantial cooling capacity on display here is well worth the effort and cost ASUS put into it.
The ASUS M4A79T features 100% High-quality Japan-made Conductive Polymer Capacitors, with an estimated 5,000hrs lifespan @105°C; 500,000hrs @65°C. They contain a solid organic polymer, have a low equivalent series resistance (ESR), and their service life rating means they will likely last as long as any of the components on the motherboard. All are through-hole mounted types, which are a lot easier to replace than surface mount devices (SMD). It's not common, but people have experienced board failures when a SMD capacitor gets knocked off accidentally. Bent is decidedly better than broken.
Two pairs of DDR2 DIMM sockets are available, color-coded orange and black, and they are located a good distance away from the CPU socket. I was pleased to see this, as some boards have the DIMM sockets too close to the CPU and the first set of DIMMs is tight up against the CPU cooler. This happens less often on full size, ATX spec boards, but it still happens too often, IMHO. On this board I'm using some of the most over-the-top RAM and CPU cooling schemes and we'll see how they fit together.
The back of the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe has nothing more than a single support brace for the standard AMD-spec heat sink mounting ring. Nothing exciting to look at there...especially after I took it off to mount the CPU HSF with its supplied bolt through mounting kit. Now let's take a look at some of the features on the M4A79T in more detail. ASUS M4A79T Detailed FeaturesThe AMD 700-series chipset covers a lot of bases; it has one leg in AMD's new Dragon platform, and one leg reaching back into the Spider platform, released in November of 2007. The fusion of the AMD Phenom II processor, ATI Radeon HD 4800 series graphics, AMD 7-series chipsets, and AMD software should yield seamless integration between all the major PC subsystems and the highest possible level of performance at the lowest cost. If that sounds like a tall order, it is, and the success of chipset suppliers NVIDIA and Intel put a pretty big wrinkle in that perfect picture.
The 700-series integrated chipset solution buys you the following capabilities and features:
It's a very strong platform, and gives Intel and NVIDIA plenty of competition as the basis for high-definition gaming, video processing and home entertainment PCs. AMD claims that it is "... the only company in the world that can deliver all the essential technologies for an amazing gaming experience and breakthrough video processing speeds with our world-class processors, graphics, and chipsets." True enough... The AMD 700-series chipsets are produced by the giant Taiwanese semiconductor foundry TSMC, and in the case of the 790FX, uses last year's 65nM fabrication process. The 65nM node brought all new designs for AMD's chipset; an all new architecture and design for the 790FX. The newer 55nM chips, like the 790GX are just a die-shrink of the 65nM designs. The AMD 790FX Northbridge offers 42 available PCI-e lanes, which explains some of the monster motherboards featuring 4 PCI-E 16X expansion slots. If you use all four, they have to throttle back to 8X bandwidth, but when you can pick up four ATI 4830 cards for about $300, the possibilities look pretty interesting. Four of the 42 lanes are consumed by the NB-SB interconnect, leaving 6 lanes available for onboard peripherals.
The SB750 Southbridge caused quite a stir when it was introduced in 2008, as it introduced Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC) to the world, a feature that is now built in to the Phenom II class of CPUs. How that functionality ended up in a Southbridge is anybody's guess, the whole story seems shrouded in secrecy. But, if you've got a Phenom CPU that needs a new mobo, pick one that has a SB750 Southbridge if you want to overclock it. Additionally, if you want to take advantage of the ACC feature within AMD OverDrive, you also need the SB750. Surrounding the processor socket there are the usual power supply components: switching transistors, capacitors and chokes. ASUS offers its own version of power-saving design; the ASUS M4A79T has a brand new 8-phase VRM power design, it also features an extra 2 phases dedicated to the integrated memory/HT controller on the AMD CPU. In tandem with the basics of multi-phase voltage regulation, ASUS has supplied an Energy Processing Unit (EPU), which provides total system power management by detecting current PC loadings and intelligently moderating power in real-time. It automatically provides the most appropriate power usage for the CPU, VGA card, hard drives, and CPU/chassis fans.
Going from left to right on the rear mounted I/O sockets, there are a full set of connections available. PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports are supplied, which is handy when starting up a new system. A total of six High-Speed USB 2.0 ports populate the I/O panel, with another six available on three motherboard headers, for connection to the case I/O panel. There is one IEEE-1394 Firewire port on the I/O panel; the larger, 6-pin version which is commonly used on larger, stationary devices, such as 3.5" external HDDs. There is also an additional motherboard header available to connect to an IEEE-1394 port on your computer case I/O panel, if one is available. One Ethernet LAN connections is supplied, with activity and link speed indicators at the corner of the RJ-45 port. S/PDIF digital audio OUT is available in both coaxial and optical formats. The external eSATA connector on the rear I/O panel is dedicated to eSATA, and fully functional without any settings or configuration. Eight channels of audio connectors come next, supplied by the Realtek 1200 Hi-Def audio chip.
I wasn't sure what to think about the new foam/foil RF shielding on the I/O panel. If you build enough PCs, you get used to gingerly lining up the I/O connectors with the thorny little tensioned fingers on the typical panel. You can usually feel when it's lined up just right, but on occasion things go horribly wrong. It's as if you've stuck your right arm deep into a dense hedge of rose bushes, and there's nothing you can do that won't rip your flesh into ribbons. Every move you make just makes it worse...yes, it's that painful. So, anything to avoid that scenario is time and money well spent, IMHO. How does it work? Well, I can't speak to its efficiency with regard to RFI and EMI suppression, but from an installation perspective, it works like a charm.
One nice touch on the M4A79T, which comes along with the "Deluxe" moniker, are the swank ON/OFF and Reset buttons mounted on the motherboard. They're actually nice quality switches, with a solid feel and engraved (OK, molded-in) lettering.
In the next section, component layout is examined, an area that is all too often an unexpected weakness for some motherboards. M4A79T Deluxe Component LayoutThe first thing I look for on any new MB is the spacing between the CPU socket and the memory slots. I want to make sure the CPU cooler doesn't interfere with the DIMM sockets. For this build, I knew that I needed to overclock the Phenom II CPU to at least 3.8GHz, so I chose a fairly heavy duty CPU cooler, the Cooler Master Hyper Z600. It's actually marketed as a passive cooler, but it has fan mounting points and we've had good results with it on the Core 2 Duo CPU family here at Benchmark Reviews. But, I think I mentioned; it's HUGE!
In this image you can see that it hangs over the first two DIMM sockets, and even though the fins have been cut away in this area, it was not possible to fit one of the OCZ Reaper style memory modules in there. For the duration of the testing, I used 2 DIMMs in slots A2 and B2, the furthest two slots, in ganged mode.
The manual recommends using the two Orange DIMM slots for maximum overclocking potential. These are the two slots closest to the CPU and, unfortunately, they are blocked by the massive CPU cooler. We'll have to wait and see if this tradeoff is worth it; will the memory hold us back? We're using DDR3-1600 sticks, rated for CL7 at 1.9V, so any shortcomings in the second set of DIMM slots should show up. It's interesting that ASRock recommends using the far slots for maximum performance on the AOD790GX/128M motherboard. It's possible the layouts of the traces on the PCB are quite different, or perhaps the close proximity of the far slots to the voltage regulator and decoupling caps makes more difference. It makes me wonder if the recommendation is based on theory or empirical evidence. If using a more traditional CPU cooler, you will likely have more flexibility in fan placement. The Hyper Z600 is 127mm x 127mm x 160mm tall. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU cooler I've used in the past is fairly wide, at 73mm; and the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is only 50mm wide; a MUCH smaller footprint. These products, and many other detailed in the Best CPU Cooler Performance articles here on Benchmark Reviews, will give excellent performance. So don't worry that you have to give up good cooling just for the sake of compatibility. Just because I built it with a monster-sized CPU cooler doesn't mean you have to. The second thing I look for is the cooling solution for the Northbridge. Most overclocking involves increasing the FSB clock, and upping the NB voltage in some cases. You want to make sure the NB stays cool, but again, you have to watch out for interference with the CPU cooler. On the M4A79T, there was plenty clearance between the NB and the CPU heatsinks; good enough that I was able to mount the 120mm fan on this side of the CPU Cooler.
The location of the first full length 16X PCI-E slots is just below the Northbridge, and is a little too close to the CPU cooler fan for my liking. But that's the fault of the massive cooler, rather than the motherboard. There are no PCI-E 1X or 4X slots, only two PCI slots, one of which is bound to be compromised by the video card in one of the PCI-e slots. The Southbridge heatsink is a very low profile unit that is unlikely to interfere with anything. It seems adequate for the task, as it never got past warm during the tests.
One aspect of component layout that seems to trip some manufacturers up is the placement of the SATA connectors. The M4A79T avoids this trouble by locating them at the bottom edge of the board, and by providing both vertical and 90 degree connectors. The ATX-12V power socket is located on the extreme edge of the motherboard. Normally, this might not cause any problem, but the upper case fan in the CM STORM Scout is located only a few mm away, and the locking tab on the mating plug hangs over the edge of the MB. In the static position (AKA already plugged in), it barely fits in the case. Unfortunately, there is no room for the locking tab to bend outwards while it is sliding over the retainer ridge on the socket. Bottom line; you can't plug or unplug this connector after the motherboard is installed in the case. Sometimes two wrongs make a right, but in this case, two wrongs made a wrong.
In the next section, Benchmark Reviews takes a look at the BIOS included with the ASUS M4A79T, and we see how overclocking friendly it is. M4A79T BIOSIf you're an overclocking enthusiast, then you need to be aware about capabilities of the motherboard BIOS. The BIOS never makes it onto the front page of the news release, it never gets a mention on the slick product packaging, it never gets displayed at CES, but it has a big influence on how well you are going to get along with your new system. All of the heatsinks and heatpipes in the world will not have the impact over the ability to achieve a decent overclock, to the same degree as a well designed BIOS will. The first thing that any hardware enthusiast or overclocker should do is investigate the latest BIOS available from the manufacturer. In some instances, the latest BIOS will only be found on special support forums, and you won't see any mention of it in the official product documentation on the manufacturer's website. That's just downright cruel, IMHO. You know you are on the bleeding edge when you get a brand new motherboard, unwrap it, plug it in, and find out that there have been two revisions to the BIOS in the last 60 days. I dutifully flashed the BIOS to the latest and greatest, after checking a couple of forums to make sure it wasn't a dog. Version 0902 was 12 days old when I installed it, and hasn't given me any problems. The flashing process, from a USB thumb drive, was quick and easy, and it worked. I hate to sound so righteously pessimistic about these things, but you DO hear enough horror stories to make it seem non-trivial. The release notes for the version my board shipped with referred to: "1. Fix the system may hang EzFlash program. 2. Fix the system may hang when the CrashFree process is done." So maybe it's not just me, being paranoid about BIOS updates gone wrong...?
The last AMD-based board I reviewed also used a socketed BIOS chip: I don't know if there is any relationship, or if it is just a coincidence. On a side note, I don't think I have ever reviewed a dirtier motherboard. I know this one had seen duty somewhere else before it made its way to me, as some accessories and the manual were missing, so that's probably the explanation. ASUS puts most of its system tuning parameters on the "Ai Tweaker" tab of the AMI BIOS. It is well laid out and all the CPU, memory and chipset tuning options are there. There is no special key combination required to unlock certain function, like some vendors have. The M4A79T BIOS was easy to use for overclocking. In this case, I wanted to replicate the BIOS settings from my last AMD motherboard review, and I had no problems getting it set up identically.
It was a cake walk to get the Phenom II 720BE up to 3.8GHz. I had the advantage of doing this with another MB a few weeks prior, so I just plugged in the reference clock, the HT Multiplier, and CPU, NB, and memory voltages to get a stable 3.8 GHz CPU clock. I also tried sliding the various multipliers and clocks around, staying within 50 Hz of the stable 3.8 GHz that I know the CPU is capable of, and was rewarded with improved performance. The AMD architecture gives you more knobs to turn than Core2 Duo, making it easier to get the maximum performance out of ALL your system components. One feature I definitely appreciated was the ASUS O.C. Profile. I was able to store and load multiple BIOS settings direct from CMOS. I didn't use the capability to load settings from a separate file, but I can see where it would be handy for uploading or downloading OC settings to a forum. In the next section, Benchmark Reviews begins testing the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe and we compare it to the ASRock AOD790GX/128M and Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P that were reviewed recently in Benchmark Reviews. The ASRock motherboard is quite a bit lower in price and features, but performance wise, it was no slouch. Motherboard Testing MethodologyAt the start of all tests, the previous display adapter driver is uninstalled and trace components are removed using Driver Cleaner Pro.We then restart the computer system to establish our display settings and define the monitor. Once the hardware is prepared, we begin our testing. The synthetic benchmark tests in 3DMark06 will utilize shader models 2.0 and 3.0. In our higher-end VGA products we conduct tests at the following resolutions: 1280x1024 (19" Standard LCD), 1680x1050 (22-24" Widescreen LCD), and 1920x1200 (24-28" Widescreen LCD). In some tests we utilized widescreen monitor resolutions, since more users have adopted these products for their own computing. Each benchmark test program begins after a system restart, and the very first result for every test will be ignored since it often only caches the test. This process proved extremely important in the World in Conflict and Supreme Commander benchmarks, as the first run served to cache maps allowing subsequent tests to perform much better than the first. Each test is completed five times, with the average results displayed in our article. Our site polls and statistics indicate that the over 90% of our visitors use their PC for playing video games, and practically every one of you are using a screen resolutions mentioned above. Since all of the benchmarks we use for testing represent different game engine technology and graphic rendering processes, I feel that this battery of tests will provide a diverse range of results for you to gauge performance on your own computer system. Since most gamers and enthusiasts are still using Windows XP, DirectX 9 will be used for all tests until demand and software support improve for Windows Vista or Windows 7 gains widespread acceptance. Test System 1
Test System 2
Test System 3
Benchmark Applications
Support Equipment
3DMark06 Benchmark Results3DMark is a computer benchmark by Futuremark (formerly named Mad Onion) to determine the DirectX 9 performance of 3D game performance with graphics cards. 3DMark06 uses advanced real-time 3D game workloads to measure PC performance using a suite of DirectX 9 3D graphics tests, CPU tests, and 3D feature tests. 3DMark06 tests include all new HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, SM2.0 graphics tests, AI and physics driven single and multiple cores or processor CPU tests and a collection of comprehensive feature tests to reliably measure next generation gaming performance today. Some enthusiasts may note that Benchmark Reviews does not include CPU-bound tests in our benchmark battery, and that only graphic-bound tests are included. Here at Benchmark Reviews, we believe that synthetic benchmark tools are just as valuable as video games, but only so long as you're comparing apples to apples. Since the same test is applied in the same controlled method with each test run, I believe 3DMark is a very reliable tool for comparing graphic cards against one-another. More visitors to Benchmark Reviews operate at 1280x1024 resolution than any other, as it represents the native resolution of 19" LCD monitors. Using this resolution as a starting point, the maximum settings were applied to 3dMark06 which for these tests include 8x Anti-Aliasing and 16x Anisotropic Filtering. Low-resolution testing allows the graphics processor to plateau maximum output performance, which thereby shifts demand onto the system components to keep up. At the lower resolutions 3DMark will reflect the GPU's top-end speed in the composite score, indicating full-throttle performance with little load. This makes for a less GPU-dependant test environment, and is helpful in measuring the maximum output performance in the test results.
Flat, flat, flat....completely GPU bound.
The 3DMark05 results are dead even across all three test systems. All of the motherboard products tested produced nearly identical results. If you want to see variation for this benchmark, I suggest you go look at the video card articles here on Benchmark Reviews. Even comparing apples to oranges, e.g. Intel to AMD, all I got from this benchmark was, "Hey, what kind of video card is that? Check..." Memory architecture and speed, and CPU performance played no part in these results. Let's look at how the systems stack up on a more broad-based system test suite - PCMark05. PCMark05 Benchmark ResultsUsing synthetic benchmarks to compare one product to another has some distinct advantages when testing similar hardware, yet I have never found myself completely satisfied by the process. I have come to understand that they're important for comparing "apples to apples", and that the results are usually very consistent. But as with any synthetic benchmark, the numbers can often mean very little more than just numbers. We don't take a high score on a synthetic benchmark to mean that a product will/should perform well, and neither should you. The difference between projected performance and actual performance is the difference between fire and the fire-fly. PCMark is a series of computer benchmark tools developed by Futuremark. The tools are designed to test the performance of the user's CPU, read/write speeds of RAM and hard drives. We have used these tests to simulate a battery of applications and tasks, which will produce results we can compare to other systems using similar hardware. After a series of five looped tests, the averages of the results are charted below. Keep in mind that all three systems shared the same GPU and SSD (specified in the Test Methodology section). The idea here was to isolate the motherboard, CPU and memory components to determine if one product and platform performed better than the other. You can take a look at my review of the ASRock ADD790GX/128M to see how different CPU clock settings for the Phenom II 720BE scale system performance, with standard and typical overclocks.
The PCMark05 System Suite benchmark results start to show some differences across the test systems. This test shows the influence of the CPU and the memory architecture on system performance. The chipsets, CPU, and memory are different, the SSD and video card are the same. The X3 takes full advantage of its "extra" core to beat up on the Intel Core2 Duo, once it is overclocked to similar CPU speeds. I expected the AM3 architecture to give a slight edge on the AM2+ system, but the reverse seems to have been the case. There must have been some synergy with the memory clock settings I ended up with on the AM2+ motherboard, as it's King of the Hill in this test. Even after playing around with the clock settings on the ASUS, I wasn't able to beat the performance of the AM2+/DDR2 system in this particular test. This behavior is limited to this test only, however, as we'll see later. PCMark05 offers a CPU benchmark suite, with several processor intensive tests combined, to focus on raw CPU processing power. The CPU benchmark suite includes the following tests:
Using the combined test performance to create an artificial score, PCMark05 generates a score called CPU Marks. Taking away most of the outside influence from our testing, and concentrating on CPU-only benchmarks, the AMD-based systems are consistently ahead of the Intel. The AM2+ and AM3 systems put up very similar numbers; the ASUS, with its 1600 MHz DDR3 memory, just beating the ASRock by 0.23%. Of the many tests inside the CPU suite, let's look at one that has a practical impact on many PC users. The Audio Compression benchmark test measures performance with synthetic encoding, and the Phenom II X3 pulls ahead by 1158 KBps, a 36% lead. The memory subsystem has no measurable impact; both AMD-based systems putting up identical numbers. If you're encoding a lot of MP3s, the Phenom II X3 gives a nice, usable performance increase, but DDR2 memory does it just as well as the newer, more expensive DDR3. CINEBENCH Release 10 ResultsMAXON CINEBENCH is based on MAXON's award-winning animation software, CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. The test procedure consists of two main components: The first two test sequences are dedicated to the computer's main processor and memory, using a 3D scene file to render a photo-realistic image. The scene makes use of various CPU-intensive features such as reflection, ambient occlusion, area lights and procedural shaders. The predefined benchmark included with the software reports the rendering scores for both a single core (1 CPU) and for all cores (X CPUs). The third test measures graphics card performance and is run inside the 3D editor window. The project file used can test all graphics cards that support the OpenGL standard. In this scene, only the camera was animated. This scene places medium to low demands on graphics cards and tests the maximum speed with which the scene can be properly displayed.
Here we see two effects in the Scene Rendering tests: the higher efficiency of the Intel CPU core and finally, a measurable gain for the AM3/DDR3 system. The 1 CPU benchmark is owned by the single Core2 Duo processor. Once all available cores are in the fight, the X3 systems win, and the AM3 takes it up one more notch. In the OpenGL test, the three systems and their partner CPUs come to somewhat of a truce, but the AMD/AM3 combination still comes out on top by 3%. I was able to generate even better numbers (3519, 9644, and 9272) by bumping the reference clock on the ASUS M4A79T up to 240MHz and bringing the CPU multiplier down to 16. I wanted to do an apples-to-apples comparison, but I couldn't resist trying different combinations of clocks and multipliers. Let's look now at one of the most demanding benchmark application, a program that stresses all elements of the system: Crysis. Crysis Benchmark ResultsCrysis uses a new graphics engine: the CryENGINE2, which is the successor to Far Cry's CryENGINE. CryENGINE2 is among the first engines to use the Direct3D 10 (DirectX10) framework of Windows Vista, but can also run using DirectX9, both on Vista and Windows XP. Roy Taylor, Vice President of Content Relations at NVIDIA, has spoken on the subject of the engine's complexity, stating that Crysis has over a million lines of code, 1GB of texture data, and 85,000 shaders. To get the most out of modern multicore processor architectures, CPU intensive subsystems of CryENGINE 2 such as physics, networking and sound, have been re-written to support multi-threading. Crysis offers an in-game benchmark tool, which is similar to World in Conflict. This short test does place some high amounts of stress on a graphics card, since there are so many landscape features rendered. For benchmarking purposes, Crysis can mean trouble as it places a high demand on both GPU and CPU resources. Benchmark Reviews uses the Crysis Benchmark Tool by Mad Boris to test frame rates in batches, which allows the results of many tests to be averaged.
With no Anti-Aliasing dialed in, we see little difference between the systems, favoring the AMD-based boards by 1fps. Nothing noticeable, really. Quite honestly, the only reason for running this test is to rule out any bugs or flaws. If the system is running properly, the GPU is the dominant factor in this benchmark.
With 4X Anti-Aliasing enabled we see a similar story, i.e. no discernible difference across the three platforms. If you want better results in Crysis, buy a better video card and an i7-X58 combo (in that order). Everest Benchmark ResultsEVEREST Ultimate Edition is an industry leading system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology by Lavalys. During system optimizations and tweaking it provides essential system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities to check the effects of the applied settings. CPU, FPU and memory benchmarks are available to measure the actual system performance and compare it to previous states or other systems. Furthermore, complete software, operating system and security information makes EVEREST Ultimate Edition a comprehensive system diagnostics tool that offers a total of 100 pages of information about your PC. All of the benchmarks used in our test bed: Queen, Photoworxx, and AES, rely on basic x86 instructions, and consume very low system memory while also being aware of Hyper Threading, multi-processors, and multi-core processors. CPU BenchmarksThe EVEREST Queen benchmark is a dead heat between the ASRock AOD790GX/128M and the ASUS M4A79T. The Queen benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and misprediction penalties of the CPU. It does this by finding possible solutions to the classic queen problem on a chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. Given the narrow focus on the CPU, the test results are not surprising:
Like the Queen benchmark, the Photoworxx tests for penalties against pipeline architecture. The synthetic Photoworxx benchmark stresses the integer arithmetic and multiplication execution units of the CPU and also the memory subsystem. Due to the fact that this test performs high memory read/write traffic, it cannot effectively scale in situations where more than two processing threads are used. The EVEREST Photoworxx benchmark performs the following tasks on a very large RGB image:
I've seen some unusual scores for this test recently, and now I'm sure it is not a pure CPU test. The Everest documentation hints that this benchmark is highly dependent on memory write speed, and here we see ample evidence of that. We'll see the differences in memory write performance highlighted in the next section. A 32% increase in this benchmark is either a fluke in the software or the best reason in the world for photographers to buy DDR3 memory. We'll keep an eye on this in the future to see what shakes out. The AES integer benchmark measures CPU performance using AES data encryption. It utilizes Vincent Rijmen, Antoon Bosselaers and Paulo Barreto's public domain C code in ECB mode and consumes 48 MB of memory. The Phenom II X3 720 behaves identically again, with no increase in performance on the AM3 platform. Memory BenchmarksGiven the focus of this article on the AM3 platform's use of DDR3 memory modules, and the major differences in memory architecture between the Intel and AMD systems, it's a good idea to look at a pure memory benchmark. EVEREST Ultimate Edition offers three simple memory bandwidth tests that focus on the basics; Read, Write, and Copy. In order to avoid concurrent threads competing over system memory bandwidth, the Memory benchmarks utilize only one processor core and one thread.
The Read benchmark measures the maximum achievable memory read bandwidth. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD and Intel processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x86, MMX, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2 or SSE4.1 instruction set extension. The benchmark reads a 16 MB sized, 1 MB aligned data buffer from system memory into the CPU. Memory is read in forward direction, continuously without breaks. The Write benchmark measures the maximum achievable memory write bandwidth. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD and Intel processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x86, MMX, 3DNow!, SSE or SSE2 instruction set extension. The benchmark writes a 16 MB sized, 1 MB aligned data buffer from the CPU into the system memory. Memory is written in forward direction, continuously without breaks. The Memory Copy benchmark measures the maximum achievable memory copy speed. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD and Intel processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x86, MMX, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2 or SSE4.1 instruction set extension. The benchmark copies an 8 MB sized, 1 MB aligned data buffer into another 8 MB sized, 1 MB aligned data buffer through the CPU. Memory is copied in forward direction, continuously without breaks. There is clearly a difference between the three systems, with the AMD-based system favoring memory reads and copies, while the Intel system does slightly better on memory writes. In reads and writes, the AM3 system pulls ahead from the AM2+ by 7% and 4%, and comes within 1% on copies. On the AMD side, raising the reference clock from 200MHz to 230MHz, where the CPU connects directly to the RAM, has a major impact on memory performance. Raising the ref clock to 240MHz had even more effect; all to the good, but does void the apples-to-apples comparison. The AMD memory interface just gets better and better the more MHz you throw at it. The high clock rates that DDR3 supports seem custom made for the AMD platform. M4A79T Power ConsumptionLife is not as affordable as it used to be, and items such as fuel and electrical energy top the list of resources that have exploded in price over the past few years. Add to this the limit of non-renewable resources compared to demand and you can see that the prices are only going to get worse. Planet Earth is needs our help, and needs it badly. With forests becoming barren of vegetation and snow capped peaks quickly turning brown, the technology industry has a new attitude towards Green.
During the test period, four different conditions were examined. For the first, the power supply was plugged in and switched on (the actual ON/OFF switch on the PSU itself). The system doesn't "turn on" at this point, but the PSU is always supplying 5VDC to pin 9 of the ATX 24 pin power connection, so that the front panel power switch can function. This is known in energy management circles as an energy "Vampire", and the U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that this class of devices and operating modes (Instant On Anything, Wall Warts, Docking Stations, and device displays) can suck up 5-10% of an average home's electricity use. Each test was repeated three times, and the averages are displayed (although each test result was identical to the previous). The second test was to start the system without the video card installed. This gets the motherboard into Power On Self Test (POST) mode, where it stops and does not continue to boot, due to the VGA error. The integrated video capability can't be completely turned off in the BIOS, so this adds some additional load that doesn't show up on most of the motherboards we've tested here at Benchmark Reviews. This condition is really the minimum possible load for an operational system, which include a HDD, a DVD drive, keyboard, and mouse. I unplugged all the extra case fans for these tests, the only fans running were the CPU cooler fan and the GPU cooler for the third and fourth tests.
The third test is a normal boot into Windows. I looked at the power consumption at the login screen and after login, once the OS was finished loading all the programs, processes and services. It turned out to be the same power draw in this case, once the OS settled down to. The fourth test was a synthetic 100% load, created by the System Stability Test in Everest Ultimate Edition, with all loads enabled.
The results are somewhat higher than the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P I tested in January, ranging from 15-25% higher, and they are about 8-10% higher than the ASRock AOD790GX/128M board. The results are right in line with the results included in the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME Motherboard test, published on Benchmark Reviews in August of 2008. Those results included power consumption of several popular motherboards, with a variety of chipsets:
Results for power testing are not completely standardized across our testing platforms, because different supporting hardware (PSU, HDD, SSD, CPU Cooler, Video card, etc.) is used in many of the reviews. Nevertheless, the results for the ASUS M4A79T are very typical of what a mid-level system will require in terms of power consumption, and very consistent with results that others at Benchmark Reviews have obtained with comparable hardware. 
ASUS M4A79T Final ThoughtsI can hear the pundits crying out, "How could this guy review a 790FX-based motherboard, with FOUR PCI-e 16X slots, and NOT crossfire the living daylights out of it?" The answer is simple, I asked for an AM3 board, and I got one. My goal in this review was to test the waters on DDR3 in a scenario where DDR2 was still a viable option. I wanted to see if it was truly the moment in history when the tide should rightly turn toward adoption of the latest technology. The 790FX Northbridge was just a bonus. Most of the DDR3 v. DDR2 debate was held on the Intel stage. With the i7 platform playing the part of the "MAN BEHIND THE GREEN CURTAIN", the message seemed to be: All new platforms will use DDR3. Legacy systems will exist to use up inventory of old chips and to keep our less advanced factories occupied. The rollout of AMD's Phenom II chips put a small wrinkle in that curtain, as it formed a bridge between the old and new. It was a win-win situation for everyone, as consumers could upgrade their CPU without changing their motherboard, and manufacturers had time to retool their product lines to take advantage of AM3 while still selling "AM3 Compatible" products.
I always ask myself, "If I had $200 burning a hole in my pocket, would I buy this board?" And the answer is almost always, "That depends." If I had also just bought a brand new Phenom II and my old motherboard didn't support crossfire, or Advanced Clock Calibration, or eSATA, or RAID 5, or if I wanted to upgrade my memory, I'd snap it up in a heartbeat. If I could live without those things, and my old motherboard was running fine, I'd probably take advantage of the backward compatibility built into the AMD AM2+ platform and just drop the new Phenom II into my old motherboard. I don't think the target audience for this product is the person doing an incremental upgrade. For a major system upgrade, it makes perfect sense, for a new system, even more so. With the new Phenom II chips, you need a more sophisticated approach to overclocking, which is nothing new for AMD. Even with the Black Edition processors and their unlocked CPU clock multipliers, there are potential performance gains to be had by adjusting other clocks in tandem. The ASUS M4A79T allows this and more. The compatibility with AMDs Advanced Clock Calibration brings additional benefits, both with Phenom and Phenom II CPUs. As I mentioned in the testing section, the Ref clock, HT Transport and NB clocks can be optimized independently, and then the CPU multiplier dialed in to the max OC for the chip, as long as you have a Black Edition.
Those who enjoy system tweaking will reap the overclocking potential of this motherboard, especially with all the timing options available in the BIOS. This motherboard offers a lot of performance and a very flexible arrangement of PCI-e slots. The M4A79T can accommodate most any strategy the user chooses for graphics cards. That makes it an attractive option for those who are looking at the AMD platform and want to have a somewhat future-proof motherboard that will outlast a succession of faster CPUs and GPUs. It also allows you to possibly hang on to your existing GPU and run it in Crossfire with a new card. With the M4A79T, you can do this trick a couple times before you run out of PCI-e slots. ASUS M4A79T Deluxe ConclusionThe external packaging of the ASUS M4A79T is top-notch. It's bright and catchy, covered in diagrams and text describing its features. It's more subtle than some, because it doesn't feature any gamer art, just a pleasing jade colored background. Sorry, in this context, Jade is not in the same league as Ruby....
Normally, I would describe the entire contents of the package, including the accessories, but I got a Certified Pre-Owned sample to review and several items were missing. Well, just like in the automotive world, at least I knew that it would work. Someone else had already done some QC work on it, as it bore the tell-tale dust bunnies. If you want to see the accessories, have a look at Newegg. The overall appearance of the M4A79T was excellent, neatly bridging the gap between the basic or mid-range product line and the massive overkill products that occupy the extreme top end. The full copper construction of the chipset/VRM heat pipe cooler tells you this board was designed to perform, and the four PCI-e 16X slots confirm it. The construction of the M4A79T leaves nothing to be desired. The fit and finish was top notch across the board, all the connectors were name brand, no cheap knock-offs. The layout was sensible for an enthusiast level board. It's not meant to emulate a super computer, but anything less than that is accommodated nicely. Any limits on functionality are minor, or non-existent, as far as I can tell. I suppose they could have added a CMOS reset switch instead of the old fashioned jumpers. They could have played the shell game with the SATA connections, making the sixth port configurable for internal OR external use. They could have used the 16 phase power scheme that is available on other ASUS boards. Each one of those features might make a difference to 2 percent of potential buyers, and the remaining 98% of us wouldn't care a bit. The fact is, the ASUS M4A79T has everything most of us need. With the retail price of the M4A79T pushing $200, value takes a back seat to the capability and performance of the product. Anyone looking for AM3 performance at minimum cost can find it elsewhere, either within or outside of the ASUS product line. The combination of AM3, 790FX, SB750, four PCI-e 16X slots, full copper heat pipe Chipset/VRM cooling, and the quality of an ASUS motherboard, still add up to decent value for the money, though. The big question on everyone's mind when we started this review was, "Is the DDR3 memory worth it? Does it make a big enough difference to make me switch from my AM2+/DDR2 rig?" The answer depends on the timeframe you are talking about. DDR3 is the future; memory prices for DDR3 and DDR2 haven't reached parity yet, but they're steadily moving in that direction. I definitely saw more headroom available on the DDR3 platform for overclocking. I was insistent on comparing apples-to-apples in this review, but a few extracurricular forays into clocks and multipliers proved that there was more to be had with this motherboard, with very little drama. I paid a small price for that, when I bought the memory I used in this review and for some, that small price will be an easy decision to make. For others it will be a stumbling block. Vive le difference.
Overall, there's a lot to like about the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe motherboard. It's not a bargain piece, but the capability and performance that it brings to the match make it a solid recommendation in my book. Pros:
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