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Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH 945GZ Express Motherboard Review
Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH 945GZ Express Motherboard Review - PCSTATS
Compact microATX boards don't traditionally come with a lot of peripheral expansion slots, but the Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH is pretty good on this front.
 80% Rating:   
Filed under: Motherboards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Gigabyte Nov 13 2006   Max Page  
Home > Reviews > Motherboards > Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH

Motherboard Benchmarks: FarCry, Doom 3, Quake 4

CryTek FarCry 1.33 Source: Ubisoft

Real-time editing, bump mapping, static lights, network system, integrated physics system, shaders, shadows, and a dynamic music system are just some of the state of-the-art features that the CryENGINE offers. The game was set to Ultra quality and the Ubisoft's Regulator demo was run.

PCSTATS Benchmark ReportCryTek FarCry 1.33
Regulator 640x480: FPS Ranking
ASRock AM2V890-VSTA (K8T890 200/800 A64 5000+) 185.2
Albatron KM51PV-AM2 (GF6150 200/800 A64 5000+) 170.27
MSI K9N SLI Platinum (NF 570 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+) 171.25
Asus M2-CROSSHAIR (NF 590 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+) 175.26
Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H (975X 200/667 PD 840) 81.43
MSI P4N Diamond (NF4 SLI 200/800 PD 840) 171.25
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 PD 840) 84.69
Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 243.21
Asus P5B (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 232.49
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 241.05
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 242.58
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 242.31
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video) 30.93
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX) 219.83
Epox 5P945 Pro (945P 200/667 Core 2 Duo) 223.31
Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH (945GZ 133/533 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video) 24.62
Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH (945GZ 200/533 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video) 27.81
Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH (945GZ 200/533 Core 2 Duo 7800GTX) 208.32

Memory bandwidth affects the FarCry framerates slightly with a standalone videocard installed into the Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH motherboard. At higher resolutions, the PCI Express x16 videocard (running in PCI Express x4 mode) is enough to satisfy gamers. The Intel GMA950 onboard videocard is insufficient.

ID Software Doom 3 1.3 Source: id Software

Doom 3 takes advantage of the latest videocard technology and pushes the processing power of the CPU to its absolute limit. At its highest setting, Ultra quality, texture sizes pass the 500MB mark which means even tomorrow's videocards will have a hard time running everything. The frame rates in the game itself are locked at 60 fps so anything above that point is wasted. Each test is run three times with the third run being recorded.

PCSTATS Benchmark ReportID Software Doom 3 1.3
LQ 640x480: FPS Ranking
ASRock AM2V890-VSTA (K8T890 200/800 A64 5000+) 148.4
Albatron KM51PV-AM2 (GF6150 200/800 A64 5000+) 144.5
MSI K9N SLI Platinum (NF 570 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+) 144.3
Asus M2-CROSSHAIR (NF 590 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+) 141.1
Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H (975X 200/667 PD 840) 104.3
MSI P4N Diamond (NF4 SLI 200/800 PD 840) 144.3
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 PD 840) 96.6
Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 206.3
Asus P5B (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 194.5
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 205.7
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 206.7
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 205.8
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video) 18.7
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX) 193
Epox 5P945 Pro (945P 200/667 Core 2 Duo) 189.7
Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH (945GZ 133/533 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video) 14.3
Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH (945GZ 200/533 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video) 16.2
Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH (945GZ 200/533 Core 2 Duo 7800GTX) 112.6

Doom 3 framerates with the GeForce 7800GTX ( PCI Express x4 mode) are certainly interesting. Previously the Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH performed close to other Core 2 Duo platforms... but here it performs at about half what the other 975X/P965 motherboards score. Again, the Intel GMA950 illustrates conclusively that it is a horrible solution for intensive videocard games.

ID Software Quake 4 1.3

Source: id Software

Quake 4 is the latest shooter from ID and is based on the Doom 3 engine. Tweaked to for more eye candy, Quake 4 promises to be tougher on videocards and systems than its predecessor was. Quake 4 also does not have a 60 fps limiter like Doom 3, with the Ultra setting, graphic textures can surpass the 500MB mark! Each test is run three times and with the third run being recorded.
PCSTATS Benchmark ReportID Software Quake 4 1.3
LQ 640x480 FPS Ranking
ASRock AM2V890-VSTA (K8T890 200/800 A64 5000+) 154.4
Albatron KM51PV-AM2 (GF6150 200/800 A64 5000+) 152.9
MSI K9N SLI Platinum (NF 570 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+) 150.5
Asus M2-CROSSHAIR (NF 590 SLI 200/800 A64 5000+) 146.4
Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H (975X 200/667 PD 840) 127.3
MSI P4N Diamond (NF4 SLI 200/800 PD 840) 150.5
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 PD 840) 113.8
Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H (975X 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 202.5
Asus P5B (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 191.4
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 202.8
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 202.6
Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H (P965 200/800 Core 2 Duo) 202.4
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video) 34.1
Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 (945G 200/667 Core 2 Duo GeForce 7800GTX) 192.7
Epox 5P945 Pro (945P 200/667 Core 2 Duo) 190
Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH (945GZ 133/533 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video) 25.7
Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH (945GZ 200/533 Core 2 Duo Onboard Video) 30.5
Gigabyte GA-945GZME-RH (945GZ 200/533 Core 2 Duo 7800GTX) 128.7

Quake 4 numbers illustrate the same points we saw with Doom 3; in this game the fact that the Core 2 Duo is running slower and memory bandwidth is lower, has a dramatic affect on overall system performance. Framerates are still decent, although they are not high enough to play Quake 4 pretty competitively. Clearly, the onboard Intel GMA950 is not able to deal with fast paced FPS games like Quake 4 by any measure.

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Contents of Article: Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH
 Pg 1.  Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH 945GZ Express Motherboard Review
 Pg 2.  Intel 945GZ Express and ICH7 Chipsets
 Pg 3.  High Definition Content Playback: System Load Test
 Pg 4.  Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH Motherboard Highlights Gallery
 Pg 5.  Overclocking the Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH Motherboard
 Pg 6.  Test System Specs and Benchmarks
 Pg 7.  Motherboard Benchmarks: Bapco Sysmark 2004
 Pg 8.  Motherboard Benchmarks: Office Productivity, SiSoft Sandra
 Pg 9.  Motherboard Benchmarks: SuperPi, PCMark05
 Pg 10.  Motherboard Benchmarks: 3DMark05, 3DMark06
 Pg 11.  — Motherboard Benchmarks: FarCry, Doom 3, Quake 4
 Pg 12.  How Does 945GZ Express Handle Core 2 Duo?

 
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