Test System Setup

Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (Supplied by Intel)

Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DQ6 (Supplied by Gigabyte)

Memory: 2x 1GB DDR2-1066 Corsair (Supplied by Corsair)

Hard Disk: 2x 250GB Seagate 7200.9 SATA-II (Supplied by Seagate)

Graphics Card: 2x MSI Radeon X1950 Pro in Crossfire (Supplied by MSI)

Cooling: Gigabyte Neon775 (Supplied by Gigabyte)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2

Drivers: Intel INF 8.3.0.1013, ATI Catalyst 7.3 and HighPoint RR2314 2.0

Today we have a new test system setup as we are now moving from an ICH8 based board to the ICH9 series. This southbridge hasn't provided any faster transfer rates than the ICH8, but we like to stick with the latest.

We have pitted the HighPoint RocketRAID 2314 against the ICH9R southbridge using a RAID 0 array since it provides the fastest speeds possible out of all of the RAID formats. While not as secure as RAID 5 or 10, it's still the choice for gamers and enthusiasts when it comes to pure speed.

We used the ICH9R's southbridge RAID along with the built-in JMicron RAID (also in RAID 0) controller that Gigabyte puts on its board. We also did single drive tests comparing eSATA to external USB HDD enclosures.

Let's get this show on the road!

PCMark

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.3.0

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/pcmark04/

Buy It Here

PCMark is a multipurpose benchmark, suited for benchmarking all kinds of PCs, from laptops to workstations, as well as across multiple Windows operating systems. This easy-to-use benchmark makes professional strength benchmarking software available even to novice users. PCMark consists of a series of tests that represent common tasks in home and office programs. PCMark also covers many additional areas outside the scope of other MadOnion.com benchmarks.

In our first tests, the ICH9R and RocketRAID perform identically. This could be partly due to the use of the PCI-Express x4 bus for extra data transfer rates between the controller and the PC itself.

Our single drive tests were not run here because we can't run Windows off a USB drive.