Even though it's a middle range chipset, the AMD 770/ATI SB600 combo is AMD's newest chipset in its segment. It supports the Phenom, although we don't have one yet (I am waiting for the 9850 to become available here in Hong Kong). What we do have is AMD's fastest dual-core desktop processor, the X2 6400+.

We also have a board based on Nvidia's middle-range chipset, the NForce 570 Ultra. The Asus M2N-E is based on this chipset, and is around the same price as the AX78. So it will be interesting to see how these boards contrast in performance.

Here's how the test systems were set up:

Memory: 2GB Crucial Ballistix 4-4-3-15 DDR2 800
Video Card: GeForce 7950 GT 512MB
Hard Drives: WD Raptor 36 GB 10K RPM SATA, WD RE 160GB 7200RPM SATA II
OS:  Windows Vista x86 with SP1 installed
Power Supply: Thermaltake ToughPower 750W

With the memory controller being hosted by the CPU, expect this benchmark to be identical. Of course, if something is wrong, it won't be.

So everything appears to be working fine. Moving along...

Next Page: (System Performance: PCMark Vantage)

Page 1: Introduction, Features, BIOS Page 2: Board Layout Page 3: Performance; Memory Bandwidth Page 4: System Performance: PCMark Vantage Page 5: SYSMark 2007 Page 6: Gaming Page 7: Media Encoding: Audio & Video Page 8: Ethernet Performance, USB, PATA performance Page 9: SATA Performance; SB600 is busted Page 10: Overclocking; Conclusion