Performance testing overview -
Our testing is a little different than most. We combine both synthetic and real-world applications to simulate the types of performance common to the individual products. For motherboards this means that we run roughly six synthetic tests and two real-world. We will be expanding the real-world testing in the near future.  But there is more to performance than just the raw numbers. As there are multiple components and sub-components on a motherboard there each item can have a distinct impact on the way the product will perform once you get it in your system. It is important to note not only the actual results but what they mean to you as a potential consumer. We will try to give this information to you.
But we do not just cover the performance aspects that are measurable. We also talk about the components that might not have a direct benchmark. These are items like Audio Quality, ease of use and installation.  Since the Z8NA-D6C has no overclocking options we are including the stock scores in with the overclocked test results we have from the a few X58 boards. The reason we used the X58 is because that is the closest parallel to the 5500 Chipset.

Section 1 Subsystems
Memory;
Memory performance is very important on a motherboard, especially when you have a CPU with multiple cores and threads. If you have slow memory your cores and threads can become starved for data to execute. To test memory performance we run both Sisoft’s SANDRA and Everest Ultimate. These two combine to not only give us accurate numbers but to validate each other. For testing at stock speeds the memory is hard set to 1333MHz while overclocking testing is done at the highest stable speed for the voltage of 1.65v this is due to the different memory dividers for each CPU. As such, the memory speeds will vary greatly. This means that the overclocked numbers are a little misleading and while they can show a trend are really only included to show if a board has a problem with memory performance at high clockspeeds.

The scores you see here are very impressive, especially considering the RAM was clocked to 1066MHz. The reason for this nice jump is primarily the NUMA support.  With this enabled the CPUs can access the memory independently and much faster than your typical system.

Interestingly enough Everest is not showing the same performance levels. Again there is a reason for this. If you look at the screen shots you will see that the CPU has jumped up quite a bit. This would indicate that Everest is not running both CPUs or even multiple cores for memory access.

Drive performance;
Drive performance is also one of the major subsystems that goes to make up the performance of a motherboard.  For our testing we use Sandra and Everest again.  We only test with single drives for each type of controller present on the motherboard (unless it is a professional product where we will use RIAD 5 and/or 10). We have also begun using a Seagate PS-110 USB 3 external HDD for our USB 3.0 performance.  As a side note, we include the overclocked numbers here to make sure  (again) that you are not going to see a major drop in performance due to minor instabilities at high clock speeds.

 

The drive performance was not very good. In comparison to other systems there is 20MB/s difference in drive speed. Although I am not certain, I feel that this is a driver issue. After all this is the same ICH10R controller that is on the X58 boards too. I will do some additional checking and see if we can get different results using another driver.

Power;
Power efficiency is another of those misnomers that we get caught up in. We hear about idle states and power gates. But what does that mean to you and I?  On the surface having power management that reduces idle power sounds great and can be a benefit to someone that leaves their system on for long periods of time (and inactive) but how a system handles power under load and the delta between the two states is often more important than the idle power usage numbers. We use only P3 Kill A Watt instruments for measuring power.

The power usage on the Z8NA-D6C was not as bad as it could have been. Even with two CPUs running we saw decent idle and load power draw. In fact it drew only one watt more than the Rampage III Extreme and Core i7 980X combination.

Cooling (Board Level)
Board level cooling is an important factor in product performance and longevity. Components like the chipset, VRM modules and even capacitors need to be kept relatively cool to prevent failure. As these parts are made of silicon, they have a thermal breakdown threshold; or melting point. At that temperature the actual transistors built into chip will begin to deform and break down. Granted, the threshold is often very high, but you still need to make sure that components stay away from this level of heat for longer product life.

 The cooling on the Z8NA-D6C is not the greatest. Our average temperatures were higher than our overclocked X58 boards. There is some fairly good news though. If you are not going to use the two x8 (x4 link) slots then you can put a small fan on the 5500 chipset heatsink to give it a little more cooling power. If you are going to use (or need to use) one or both of them, well then your cooling options are much more limited.

Audio;
Audio is highly subjective. What we find pleasing may sound “off” to you. That is always going to the problem with testing audio; results will vary too widely depending on the tastes of the listener. However, there are ways of measuring the audio output with an objective ear. There is also the issue of audio causing performance issues in gaming and video playback. The reason this is a potential source of concern is that all onboard audio CODECs (Compression/Decompression) are CPU controlled. This means that while the audio chip controls the audio levels and effects of the audio the actual work is done on the CPU. Usually this will not be a problem with today’s powerful CPUs. Even the lower and consumer level products can handle high-end audio these days. But again there is the chance that a bad design or software will hinder your system and performance. On the other side the limits of board space, cost, etc will also prevent the level of audio quality you can get from an add-in board.  We test all audio parts with three media types, Movie (DVD), MP3 Music, and Gaming. These are pushed to our Tec On model 55 Tube Amp to see if we can detect any signal issues in the reproduction.

As the Z8NA-D6C we tested did not come with the optional MIMO card we will not cover it here.

Networking;
This one is something that is a requirement anymore. If you have a computer, the chances are good (like 99%) that you are also connected to high-speed internet.  With this you need a good and solid LAN chip to make sure that your data flows properly out and back.

The dual Intel 82574L LAN chips afforded use excellent networking speeds. They also provided much faster response to changes in the network than we are used to seeing from Marvell and Realtek LAN controllers. You can also be certain that you are going to get full support from companies like VMWare and Citrix with Intel controllers over the other options.