Before we get to testing

Before we get to the benchmarks, there are a couple things about these chipsets worthy of mention, even though they don't fit on the previous page.

Although nothing drastic, some changes have been maded to the ATX spec to accomodate these new platforms, particularly the insane video cards that take upwards of 75W when under full load...

First you'll notice that the standard 2x10 ATX power connector has been replaced by a new 2x12 pin connector. Don't worry though; your shiny new 500W PSU will still fit!

If you are using an older 2x10 ATX connection, you should connect a 4 pin molex to this alternate connector, along with the standard 2x2 pin connector. However, if you do have a new PSU, you only need to use the 2x2 connector.

And yes, this board only has a single PATA slot. That's enough for your CDROM and DVDROM I hope, because that's all you get! You weren't planning on using that old outdated non-NCQ PATA hard drive, were you? ;)

The Test

We are going to compare a pair of LGA775 CPU's to a pair of socket 478 Northwoods and Prescotts. For good measure, we'll throw in an Athlon64, although 3400+ is the fastest we have.

For video cards, we're using an NVIDIA 6800GT on the PCI-E side. I am not going to go much into details, since I was only able to use this card for one day (it requires that new power connector you've surely heard about, and I didn't have a compatible PSU until yesterday), but I can tell you now that if this thing retails for a decent price, it is going to be HOT. On the AGP side, we're using a Gigabyte 6800 Ultra, downclocked of course, to match the 6800GT.

Pentium 4 LGA775 System

Prescott CPUs: 560 (3.6 GHz), 550 (3.4 GHz) (both on 800 FSB)
Motherboard: Intel D925CVZ (925x)
Memory: 1GB Kingston DDR533 (running DDR400) 4-4-4-12
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForceFX 6800 GT
HDD: Seagate 80GB Barracuda V ATA100
Windows SP1, DirectX 9b, NVIDIA ForceWare 61.45

Pentium 4 s478 System

Northwood CPUs: 3.4, 3.2 (both on 800 FSB)
Prescott CPUs: 3.4, 3.2 (both on 800 FSB)
Motherboard: DFI Lanparty PRO875B (Intel 875P)
Memory: 1GB Corsair DDR533 (running DDR400) 3-3-3-8
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForceFX 6800 Ultra (downclocked to 350/500 to match the 6800GT)
HDD: Seagate 80GB Barracuda V ATA100
Windows SP1, DirectX 9b, Intel INF Update 5.1.1.1002, NVIDIA ForceWare 56.72

Athlon64 System

CPU: Athlon64 3400+ (1MB L2 Cache)
Motherboard: GigaByte K8VNXP (VIA K8T800)
Memory: 1GB Corsair DDR533 (running DDR400) 3-3-3-8
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForceFX 6800 Ultra (downclocked to 350/500 to match the 6800GT)
HDD: Seagate 80GB Barracuda V ATA100
Windows SP1, DirectX 9b, VIA Hyperion 4.51, NVIDIA ForceWare 56.72

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