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| AMD Athlon64 3200+ - ASUS K8V Deluxe The Middle Grounds | |
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(Review by MS, November 3, 2003) |
| K8V Deluxe At: |
WiFi Performance
The ASUS WiFi module / card allows wireless transfers using the 802.11b standard, which is limited to 11 Mbps or roughly 1.3 MB/s. Despite the fact that the industry trend goes to Gigabit intranet connectivity and, even in the wireless domain, the new 802.11a and 802.11g standards that allow for much improved bandwidth, the current solution suffices in almost any case. Any case means that the main role of the WiFi connectivity should not a file server where large amounts of data are constantly being moved across the intranet. In that scenario, the WiFi card would actually run out of steam.
We measured the actual wireless performance using DUMeter, which showed an average of 140 kB/sec and used a simple file copy via wireless protocol which yielded 128kB/sec average transfer. In other words, both methods used showed transfer rates at about 10% only of the existing standard. That does not mean that the WiFi card is slow, it could also mean that the particular access point used here is slow. Without more sophisticated equipment / alternative access solutions, it is not possible to make any definite statement to exactly pinpoint the bottleneck. Suffice it to say, though, that after two days of use, the Cat-5 cable was left unplugged and the entire networking load was done via the WiFi connectivity - it is just so much more convenient.
Overclocking
So far, the new Athlon64 platform does not appear to be the greatest playground for overclocking - the K8V is no exception either. Part of this certainly relates to the timing sensitivity of the integrated memory controller, keep in mind that the controller, in fact, is running 20 times as fast as a standard memory controller on the chipset level. We were able to keep the system running at 215 MHz external CPU clock but that was about as high as we could get. At 220 MHz, the system would not even POST. There have been discussions that lowering the hypertransport frequency might provide a backdoor to improved overclocking, we were not able to verify this as there was no noticeable difference in workable frequencies, regardless of the HT frequencies selected.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that the Athlon64 / ASUS K8V Deluxe did not win any single application benchmark, we believe that this combo is a clear winner. Keep in mind that the opponents here are not only nominally faster but also way more expensive than the test setup reviewed here. This, however, is exactly the point of the present review, to show where the Athlon64 3200+ and the ASUS K8V stand in a rather broad gamut of options. From a price / performance standpoint, including forward looking towards the next generation of software, it is a very strong showing. Let's head on to the individual components:
Athlon64
Without support by a 64-bit operating system, the Athlon64 platform still needs to be considered work in progress. However, we don't mean this in a negative sense, what it means is simply that in the current software environment, the Athlon64 is not capable of playing out its real strength, which is 64-bit computing.
Nonetheless, the Athlon64 and the ASUS K8V Deluxe delivered a very convincing performance, especially in gaming applications and, likewise, in some of the content creation applications, a notable exception here being 3ds max, which is a homerun application for the P4.
ASUS K8V Deluxe
The K8V Deluxe appears a very capable platform for the Athlon64 with a wealth of features from WiFi to high-quality audio (relative to mainboard standards), S/PDIF, Artificial intelligence (with intelligence still in lower case) and a total of four SATA interfaces in addition to the three standard Parallel ATA connectors. At the current state of drivers, the VIA controller is probably the least desirable solution available in the marketplace but it can't really be left out and the full duplex 16 bit HT link from the AGP tunnel to the CPU appears to be superior to the nVidia solution running at less width AND lower frequency. The better implementation of the CPU -to- system interface is a definite plus for VIA, on the other hand, nobody should favor a decision towards the VIA chipset based on the SATA controller. The Promise controller has definite weaknesses in I/O performance, however, it makes up in any application consisting of mixed read and write workloads.
In any event, this is only the beginning of a new platform, and it is too early to make any definite conclusions without a broader base for comparison -- which is something we are working on right now. Different boards from different manufacturers with different chipsets are already waiting in the queue. It seems that the next few weeks are going to be quite exciting. Stay tuned for more.
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