The Test System

Testing Procedure:

All testing was done on a fresh install of Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit with all of the NVIDIA GeForce HotFixes installed. All benchmarks were completed on the desktop with no other software programs running. The memory modules were run in dual channel mode at 800MHz 4-4-4-12 2T on both the AMD and Intel motherboards. The memory on the Intel and AMD test platforms with DDR2 memory was run with Corsair PC2-8888C4 memory running 4GB.  The Gigabyte X38DQ6 Motherboard was updated from BIOS version F4 that came on it to F6b. The DFI LANPARTY UT NF590 SLI-M2R/G motherboard was updated to the 2007/05/30 BIOS version, which included support for the AMD A64 X2 6400+ black edition processor. NVIDIA Forceware 169.01 beta drivers were used on the XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics card.

Here is the Intel X38 Express Test platform:

Intel Test Platform
Component	Brand/Model	Live Pricing
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750, QX6850, QX9650	Click Here
Motherboard	Gigabyte X38DQ6	Click Here
Memory	Corsair PC2-8500 4GB	Click Here
Video Card	XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra	Click Here
Hard Drive	Western Digital SATA 250Gb	Click Here
Cooling	Corsair Nautilus 500	Click Here
Power Supply	Corsair HX620W	Click Here
Operating System	Windows Vista Ultimate	Click Here

Here is the AMD Socket AM2 Test platform:

AMD AM2 Test Platform
Component	Brand/Model	Live Pricing
Processor	AMD A64 X2 6400+	Click Here
Motherboard	DFI LANPARTY UT NF590 SLI-M2R/G	Click Here
Memory	Corsair PC2-8500 4GB	Click Here
Video Card	XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra	Click Here
Hard Drive	Western Digital SATA 250Gb	Click Here
Cooling	Corsair Nautilus 500	Click Here
Power Supply	Corsair HX620W	Click Here
Operating System	Windows Vista Ultimate	Click Here

The AMD Socket AM2+ Test System is pictured here:

Let's move on to testing!