NVIDIA 780a: Integrated Graphics and SLI in One
by Gary Key on May 6, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Audio Encoding Performance
We will utilize iTunes 7.6 for our audio encoding test, as it is one of the most utilized audio applications available due to the immense popularity of the iPod. As in previous articles, we are using an INXS Greatest Hits CD for testing, which contains 16 tracks totaling 606MB of songs. We use iTunes to convert our WAV files into ACC format. We utilize 256kbps and variable bit rate options for the test.
File Compression Performance
In order to save space on our hard drives and provide another CPU crunching utility, we utilize WinRAR 3.71 to perform compression tests. WinRAR fully supports multithreaded operations for users with dual core or multi-processor systems. Our test folder contains 444 files, 10 subfolders, and 602MB worth of data. We utilize default settings in WinRAR and defragment our hard drive before each test.
3D Rendering Performance
For 3D modeling and rendering, we are using POV-Ray. We used the 3.7 beta 24 that has SMP support and ran the built-in multithreaded benchmark.
Summary
We did not have a clear cut winner in the audio or rendering tests, only in the file compression test was there a measurable difference with the 790FX being about 3% faster than the 730a board. Even this difference is minor and so far our boards are matched evenly.
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homerdog - Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - link
Don't get me wrong, HybridPower is a cool feature that I will consider when I'm making my next motherboard/GPU purchase.However, the fact remains that the HD3K cards have a significantly larger delta between their idle and load power consumption figures than the current crop of Nvidia cards. If ATI continues to build on this trend they may not even need a complex mGPU/dGPU hybrid solution to get idle consumption down to near IGP levels, although they're probably working on one anyway.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - link
Now we just need Hybrid Power in laptops - where it should have been first, IMO! At the very least, HybridPower should have shipped with support for 8800GT/GTS 512 and 9600 cards rather than just 9800 GTX/GX2.Also, my two cents on GeForce Boost: hooray for an extra 20% over 20FPS. That sounds fine, until you look at the bigger picture. A GeForce 8400 GS or 8500 GT is terribly slow relative to most discrete GPUs. Sure, they cost $40 to $70 depending on model and features. An extra 20% performance (or even 50%) would be fine. However, a $75 8600GT is already about twice as fast and a 9600GT (with rebates available for $110-$120) isn't even on the same continent.
If you have an IGP motherboard and you think it's too slow for games, I seriously doubt you're going to want to spend $50 to roughly double the performance. As any mathematician can tell you, multiplying any real number by zero is still zero. It may not be that bad, but I'd say 9600GT with Hybrid Power support is what people should shoot for. I figure that will arrive some time in the near future. Then just wait for it to show up on Intel platforms.
FITCamaro - Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - link
While I agree with you, I think this is a great idea. An onboard GPU is always going to use less power than a discrete one. The main issue I'm concerned with is, does the system get back the memory used by the onboard GPU when the discrete GPU is in use? Granted it's only going to use 64-128MB of RAM likely, maybe 256. But still, those are resources that aren't able to be used by games.Of course it doesn't really matter for most since it only supports the 9800GTX and 9800GX2 and, in my opinion, you'd have to be stupid to go with the 9800GTX when the 8800GTS 512MB offers nearly identical performance. Heck even the 8800GT 512MB is only about 5 FPS different.
They need to offer the hybrid power support across the entire 8x00 series.
BansheeX - Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - link
Who cares about the Phenom? Where is the Intel variant, aka 730i? Another three month delay for that one? Sigh.FITCamaro - Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - link
People who want a Phenom.DigitalFreak - Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - link
Those mythical people exist?KnightProdigy - Thursday, May 8, 2008 - link
There are a lot of AMD fans. AMD still has a lot of loyal followers, maybe you forget that AMD had the speed crown for many more years than Intel. I have been an NV fan since it was STB in the early 90s, I, for one, like the fact that they are offering similar solutions, even though they lag a little.Gary Key - Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - link
We expect to see the Intel mGPU variants this summer, just in time to compete with the G45.