System setup and notes
| Motherboard | MSI P7NGM Digital GeForce 9300 | Intel DG45ID X4500HD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form factor | mATX | ||
| Price | £75? | £84.11 | |
| Chipset | MCP7A (single-chip) | Intel G45 + ICH10 | |
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 (2.53GHz, 3MB L2 cache, 1,066MHz FSB) | ||
| BIOS revision | V1.1B1 (24/09/08) | IDG4510H.86A.0077.2008.0725.1734 | |
| Mainboard software | NVIDIA ForceWare 20.07 | Intel Inf 9.0.0.1008 | |
| Memory | 4GB (2 x 2GB) Corsair PC8500 DOMINATOR | ||
| Memory timings and speed | 5-5-5-18 2T @ DDR2-800 | ||
| Integrated graphics | NVIDIA GeForce 9300 (450/1,200/801MHz) | Intel GMA X4500 HD @ (533/533/800MHz) | |
| Integrated Graphics driver | ForceWare 178.13 (non-WHQL) | 15.11.2.64.1554 |
|
| Discrete graphics | None | ||
| Disk drive(s) | Seagate 500GB SATAII (ST3500320AS) | ||
| Optical drive | Sony DW-Q30A | ||
| PSU | FSP-300-60THN-P | ||
| Operating system | Windows Vista Business x64 SP1 | ||
Tests
| Benchmarks | SiSoft SANDRA memory bandwidth (float) ScienceMark 2.0 memory latency HEXUS.PiFast to 10m places HEXUS DivX 6.8.3 encode + enhanced multithreading HDTach - SATA average read speed Company of Heroes: OF v2.301, DX9 and DX10 - 1,024x768 Power-consumption tests |
|---|
Testing notes
We've deliberately retested the comparison Intel G45 motherboard with a £75 Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 CPU in the socket, as we feel it's something that a prospective purchaser of a mATX board would look towards, rather than a quad-core chip costing considerably more.Both boards vie for the same market space which is represented by low-cost PCs that require cutting-edge technology to handle today's games at reasonable resolutions and image-quality settings. Assistance with multimedia playback is a must, too.
A truncated set of 2D benchmarks will show how well both can leverage the Core 2 Duo E7200 CPU, and gaming performance will focus on how well they can play a trio of games, set to low-quality detail, at 1,024x768.
