Taking the processing
and bandwidth requirements up a notch or two, we
have our Content Creation Winstone and Gaming
scores.
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Content
Creation and Gaming Performance |
Pushing
the Gigabyte GA-8TX a little further |
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Once
again, the Gigabyte GA-8TX just slips past the
competition. This is a small variance that
would go undetectable to the average user.
However, the performance of the GA-8TX is
excellent and its speed advantage however slight,
is very real.
With
our Quake 3 Arena Time Demo tests, we decided to
compare performance of the GA-8TX versus the Asus
P4T, at both stock speed and at the highest
possible overclocked speed we could achieve with
each board. Clock for clock the Gigabyte
GA-8TX pulls ahead slightly once again. On
the down side, the power user who is familiar with
overclocking, won't be able to achieve the same
kind of top end performance as with other boards
with more options in this area. As you can
see, the Asus P4T at 1.74GHz.leads this chart,
obviously due to the higher end clock speeds we
achieved.
For us
the GA-8TX Pentium 4 Motherboard was kind of a
mixed bag. We were impressed with its
stability and quality. In addition, its
performance at a given clock speed is top notch in
comparison to others in the field. Another
plus is the fact that this board will fit into any
ATX case without modification.
On the
down side, the Gigabyte GA-8TX lacks some of the
basic configuration and setup options that many
new motherboards are capable of. Front Side
Bus speed selection is done with the use of a dip
switch on the board and the range is quite
limited. In our final analysis, the GA-8TX
is a super stable and relatively speedy
motherboard that will again do well in the OEM
sector. Power Users and Upgraders
unfortunately will be left a little flat with its
lack of overclocking capabilities and slightly
more cumbersome configuration.
We'll
give the Gigabyte GA-8TX a HotHardware Heat Meter
rating of...
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into the HH Conference Room, where all the action
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