Epox 5LWA+ i925XE Motherboard
LAME MP3 Encoding and 3DMark05
 |
|
In our custom Lame MP3 encoding tests, we converted a large digital audio file to the MP3 format, which is a very popular scenario that many end users work with on a regular basis, to provide portability and storage of their digital audio content. In this test, we chose a large 223MB WAV file (a never-ending Grateful Dead jam) and compressed into a much smaller MP3 file. Processing times are recorded below.
Only 3 seconds separated each of the systems, with the overall shortest time going to the Epox 5LWA+. The difference in performance from system to system only equates to about 2%, but we've got to give some bragging rights to Epox for the speediest conversion.
 |
|
3DMark05's CPU test module gives us an idea of how these systems will perform in a DirectX gaming environment, with the main emphasis of the test focused on CPU throughput and overall system bandwidth. This test consists of two different 3D scenes that are generated with a software renderer, which is dependant on the host CPU's performance. This means that the calculations normally reserved for your 3D accelerator, are instead sent to the central processor. The number of frames generated per second in each test, are used to determine the final score.
Whereas most of the testing to this point has shown remarkable parity amongst the three motherboards, 3DMark05 was decidedly different in the performance deltas. The order hasn't necessarily changed; we've still got the Epox 5LWA+ in the lead, followed by the SB95P and finally the D915PBL. The spread is simply much more pronounced. Differences between the 5LWA+ and the SB95P were just over 4 percent, and this gap widened to over 7 percent when compared to the D915PBL.
