![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Thursday , September 03, 2009
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
EVGA X58 SLI Classified
EVGA decided to take the Intel camp by storm with its introduction of the X58 SLI Classified on to the Core i7 scene. Boasting a vast array of overclocking features and hardware optimizations, this could very well be the board to beat…
Subsystem Testing
NOTE: For all Subsystem Testing, an Intel LGA 1366 Core i7 920 CPU with the board base clock running at 133MHz and 3 x 2GB Corsair XM3-1600C8D memory modules running at 1600MHz were used in testing.
Audio – Subjective Listening
One of the easiest ways to determine the quality of the audio subsystem is via a subjective sound test. Ideally, a sound test requires audio covering the entire spectrum, from subtle to intense. For this test, I chose to listen to the self titled Flyleaf album.
Album playback was flawless, with no discernible audio distortion.
Audio – Microphone Port Testing
The MIC-IN input was tested using our standard Labtec Desk Mic 524 testing microphone. Spoken words were recorded and played back using Microsoft Sound Recorder, with the Microphone Boost option disabled and enabled. The Microphone Boost option is found within the Advanced menu under the Microphone section within the Volume Control menu.
There was no detectable audio distortion both with and without Microphone Boost enabled. However, overall audibility was much better and more pronounced with it enabled.
Drive Performance
To adequately test the capabilities of the on board USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 connections, we chose to use an ACOMDATA HD060U2FE-72-USB 2.0/FireWire HDD connected to both ports. SATA and IDE drive tests were performed using a Maxtor 40Gb ATA 133 model 6E040L0 hard drive on the IDE header and Samsung 40GB SATA II hard drives on the SATA headers. The SATA drives were used for testing in a RAID 0 16k block size configuration and in standalone mode on both the Intel ICH10R Southbridge and JMicron JMB363 controllers, and in standalone mode only on the JMicron JMB362 controller. Testing was also conducted using an IDE drive in a standalone configuration on the JMicron JMB363 controller. All drive benchmarks were done using the open source Iometer program
Both RAID 0 arrays performed on par with one another with them taking the performance win in this test, but the arrays’ performance was a bit below expectations. The SATA 2 drives in standalone mode barely beat out the performance of the standalone IDE drive, amazingly enough. While the IDE drive performance was above average, the SATA 2 drive performance was well below expectations. As anticipated with the external drive devices, the IEEE 1394 based device slightly outperformed the USB 2.0 based device. In all cases, CPU utilization remained well under 1%.
Network Utilization Tests
Hagel Technologies’ DU Meter software was used in conjunction with Windows Task Manager to measure the performance of the Realtek GigE NICs. Note that it was found in testing that both NICs performed on par with one another. DU meter was used to measure bandwidth, with Windows Task Manager to monitor the CPU utilization on the test system. For the test itself, a 750MB archive file containing various sized .WMA audio files for the large file transfer test and a 750MB worth of various sized .WMA audio files for the small files transfer test were used in conjunction with an integrated Gigabit NIC on the host system and a crossover cable to connect the host system to the test system. A crossover cable was used to rule out any possible bandwidth losses due to hub or switch passage.
Realtek GigE controller
The large file download test was most impressive, beating out the upload speed by 16 MB/s at a cool 46 MB/s. However, an upload speed of 30 MB/s is nothing to sneer at. As expected, the CPU utilization remained close to 0% during both tests.
In an impressive show of strength, the small file download lagged that of upload by a mere 1 MB/s, with the upload speed coming in at a cool 28 MB/s. Again, the CPU utilization remained close to 0% for the duration of both tests.
Synthetic Testing
Test Systems
The following system configurations were used for the system benchmark graphs, as well as all graphs listed under the Application and Gaming Benchmarks sections:
Graphs are labeled as follows: Motherboard - CPU Clock - Memory Type
Sisoft Sandra 2009
Note that all results above were obtained running the installed memory in Triple Channel mode.
While the X58 SLI Classified fell a bit behind the rest of the Core i7 boards, its performance well within acceptable error tolerances, illustrating that the board’s memory subsystem design is adequate to the task.
The X58 SLI Classified again makes strong showing against the other boards, barely lagging behind. A strong score in this benchmark is indicative of a solidly designed board to CPU interface.
Hiper Pi
The X58 SLI Classified again manages to keep up with the other Core i7 boards, with performance well within expectations. Performance differences in this benchmark would indicate a performance inhibiting design related issue with the board.
wPrime
The X58 SLI Classified again delivers solidly, with the results of this benchmark again illustrating the well designed nature of the board.