For performance we tested the Foxconn C51XEM2AA 8EKRS2H against another high end nForce 590 based motherboard and a socket 939 alternative. All boards used an FX CPU running at 2.8Ghz – the FX 60 on the A8N32-SLI Deluxe was clocked up by 200Mhz to keep things fair. We used GSkill PC2-6400 memory running at 4-4-4-12 timings on the DDR2 boards and Mushkin PC-4000 Redline running at 2-3-2-5 on the 939 platform.
Sandra Sandra memory performance is obviously higher on the DDR2 boards, as the extra bandwidth afforded by the technology is considerable. Its inherent latency penalty will offset this considerably however, so lets see how the difference pans out in real-world applications.
F.E.A.R In F.E.A.R the performance of the three platforms is essentially the same, though the nForce 4 SLI X16 boards surprisingly comes out a couple of frames ahead of the two 590 based AM2 boards when using an SLI configuration.
Quake 4 In Quake 4 the 590 boards show a slight boost over the Socket 939 platform though once again its well within the margin of error for this benchmark.
Oblivion One of the most important releases of 2006, Oblivion is a stunning title with some of the best visuals ever seen in a video game. Once again all three boards are well matched though the Asus M2N is slightly quicker than the other two.
Half Life 2 Episode 1 The first episode of Valves new addition to the Half Life universe is a superb title, but will not see any benefit from a Socket AM2 platform over existing 939 technology. Nevertheless the Foxconn comes in first in this benchmark, nudging ahead of the A8N32-SLI Deluxe.
The Fxconn is certainly an impressive performer, easily matching the best boards Asus has to offer.
