Graphics Benchmarks
We already know that the Core i5/i7 series systems can run pretty much every game on the planet with a decent video card. So, rather than throw multiple 3D based benchmarks at you which would show little to know variance, we’re summing it up with a run of Crysis and 3DMark Vantage which anyone can download for their own comparison.
3DMark Vantage
The overall Vantage score was just over 21,000 points using the Performance settings. That’s a pretty sweet score none the less. As you can see, the differences between the two platforms are statistically insignificant.
Crysis
Sure, there’s plenty of frames here thanks to the Zotac GTX295 on both platforms. However, the game is still super intensive which makes the card’s fans spin up right away. Again, we get scores that are nearly identical which isn’t surprising considering that they both use the same chipsets.
Motherboard Operations
Far too often, benchmarks miss the only things that differ between different motherboards: the connectivity options. Boards can use a different array of chipsets for any of these functions so we’ve decided to benchmark them including USB, SATA, and Audio. If there is anything different in terms of performance it would be because of the difference in these areas.
Connectivity
Obviously, there isn’t a whole lot to comment on other than to say that the MSI P55-GD65 is operating well within specs. It’s nice to see more SSDs around now to help boost system performance. As you can see, both boards pass muster and we can pretty much call it a tie.
Audio Testing
Using RightMark Audio (RMAA) we discovered some audio performance issues within the MSI motherboard which uses the ALC889 Codec versus the Intel’s ALC889A Codec. The first symptom revealed itself in the form of low quality audio playback requiring much lower audio settings to complete the tests.
Here, the screen shot tells the differences between the ALC889 and ALC889A Codecs. Note the Frequency Response and Intermodulation Distortion + Noise results. Sometimes, these issues reveal themselves in the form of faulty drivers. We did our due diligence and tried a couple different drivers were tried in both Windows 7 and Vista 64-Bit settings. There is clearly something weak about the audio.
Having been a DJ and serious gamer once upon a time, my ears were employed for a final test. Gaming and BluRay movies seemed to be just fine in its most basic form but don’t expect deep rich audio during those earth shattering explosions. After literally listening to 10 different genres of music, I found the audio to be a little flat and as the volume increased, the MSI just wasn’t as clean or loud as the Intel’s ALC889A Codec.