Memory Bandwidth:

   This was the biggest (and most pleasant) surprise that I got with the KN1. Using the same settings on both motherboards, there is nearly a 20% increase in memory speeds. I never thought there would be any sort of gain this large just from switching a motherboard, no matter how “extreme” it is.

   I’ve seen a lot oh different opinions about 3dmark over the years, so here is where I stand. It’s a decent comparison between systems. It might not show “real world” game performance, but it works out the same areas games use, and if you know how your brand of CPU/GPU does, you can probably get a good idea how much better the next generation of that same CPU/GPU will be.

   It was also discussed if we should review this motherboard with the absolute best of the best. It was decided that such a small percentage of gamers would actually have the best of the best. Since it’s the motherboard that’s being reviewed, not dual 7800GTX’s, using a single 6600GT and a AMD 64 3500 is going to be much closer to what the average computer gamer is going to have. That way, if someone sees a large improvement in the scores compared to their system, it’s more likely to be the motherboard.

3D Mark 2005:

   Once again, no surprises in these tests. A minor gain with over clocking the CPU in 3d Marks. The CPU marks scaled right along with the percent over clock

   The Demo taken in Quake 4 is a very standard situation you would come across. A quick battle between 2 low level enemies. It’s short but intense. I did not expect a 10% increase in FPS from a 15% increase in CPU clock speed, but I ran each test 2 more times just to be sure.