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Benchmarks
and Comparisons Continued... |
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Synthetics and
Games |
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PC Mark 2002
PCMark's
Hard Drive score reiterates the results from SysMark 2002
Office Productivity - the SiS 645 suffers tremendously.
In fact, both Intel-based motherboards perform more than 33
percent better in disk transfers! Nevertheless, the
SiS 645 still manages to outperform the i845G chipset in
memory bandwidth, thanks to well-implemented PC2700 support.
3D Mark 2001
SE
There isn't
much to report here. All three systems perform
comparably, though the 845G Max-L is edged out by both the
P4T-E and the 645 Ultra. Once again, memory bandwidth
plays an important role in this 3D benchark.
Quake III:
Arena
Quake III
has always demonstrated a particular sensitivity to memory
bandwidth, so it is a little surprising that all three
boards perform so closely despite different bandwidth
capabilities. When the 845G Max is overclocked, the
extra bandwidth and processing power lends quite a boost, as
the score jumps to 234.4 frames per second.
Serious Sam SE
The P4T-E has
consistently taken first place finishes and the Serious Sam
SE benchmark shows no different. The 845G Max takes
second and is followed closely by the 645 Ultra.
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Bluetooth Communications |
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Convenient, but Slow |
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It's difficult not to like the
845G Max-L. It sports an impressive list of features, the
most unique of which is a Bluetooth setup. I'd like to
set the record straight on Bluetooth, though. By no
means will this wireless technology replace your broadband
adapter or suffice as a 802.11b alternative. Instead,
Bluetooth is designed to eliminate cables coming from
printers, laptops, PDA's and even cell phones.
Bluetooth draws relatively little power and as a result,
cannot transfer more than 20 or 30 feet. The kit MSI
includes with the 845G Max-L comes with a transceiver and a
USB key. I had no problem installing the key on my
laptop (running Windows XP) and establishing a Bluetooth
connection between it and the PC.
Several Bluetooth services are
offered - wireless serial port, faxing, information
synchronization (between a PC and PDA or cell), dial-up
networking (share a modem wirelessly), network access, and
file transfer.
I conducted my own benchmark,
transferring a 6,840,515 byte file from a 2.4GHz desktop to
a 1GHz laptop. The entire transfer took two minutes
and 18 seconds. A quick calculation yields 397kbps - a
far cry from the 11Mbps maximum of 802.11b and even the
1Mbps limit for Bluetooth. Clearly, you wouldn't want
to transfer large files over a Bluetooth network.
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Integrated Graphics |
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Enough power?
No such thing! |
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Another of the
845G Max's selling points is integrated graphics. For
those who aren't interested in 3D performance, the
integrated graphics solution will suffice. If games
are of interest, though, keep in mind that the graphics core
features neither DirectX 7 hard-wired T&L support nor
DirectX programmability. It contains one rendering
pipeline (clocked at 200MHz) capable of processing four
textures per pass. Unfortunately, the combination of
low operating frequency and a single pipeline is a bane for
graphically intensive games, like first person shooters.
When I think of extreme, I am
reminded of sky diving, street luge, or Cannonball Runs.
R300 and NV30 - these graphics processors will be extreme.
Intel's Extreme Graphics Architecture is more accurately
likened to a group of elderly women, knitting. You'll
certainly want to invest in an AGP card if gaming is a
priority.
MSI has put
together a fairly comprehensive product. The 845G
Max-L offers highly competitive performance and a long list
of features. It would have been nice to see functional
PC2700 memory support, but it is an unofficial feature, after
all. Bluetooth and USB 2.0 are both high points, as is
the overclockable nature of the i845G chipset.
The most
compelling quality of the 845G Max-L, though, is it's price.
The board can be found online for under $100, which is an
undeniable bargain considering graphics, audio, USB 2.0
support and 10/100 Ethernet are also part of the package.
Despite a couple minor oversights on the part of MSI, the
845G Max-L is deserving of an '8' on the Hot Hardware Heat
Meter.
HotHardware's PC Hardware Forum is all the rage! Are
you in?
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