ASUS M4A78T-E 790GX AM3 Motherboard Review

Gaming Benchmarks - Radeon HD 3300 IGP

As previously mentioned, one of the M4A78T-E's key features is the Radeon HD 3300 integrated graphics processor (IGP) that is part of the 790GX northbridge. Based on the RV610 core, this model features a 700Mhz core clock, 4 ROPs, 40 Shaders, and 128MB of DDR3-1333 SidePort memory built onto the motherboard, as well as a UMA option to access up to 512MB of system memory. Although recently surpassed by NVIDIA's GeForce 9300/9400 series, the Radeon HD 3300 was a breakthrough in IGP performance when it was first released, and it remains a surprisingly competent performer. Let's take a closer look below.



Far Cry 2 is the impressive new first-person shooter from Ubisoft's Montreal studio, and the first game to utilize the new visually stunning Dunia Engine, which will undoubtedly be used by numerous future games. Using the included Benchmarking Tool, we ran the Long Ranch demo in DX9 mode at both 1024x768 and 1680x1050 and with all settings set to low.


Much to our surprise, the Radeon HD 3300 did quite well in Far Cry 2 at 1024x768. It is certainly playable, with only very few sub-30 FPS moments. Sure the game doesn't look great, but in a pinch this IGP could be used for some light gaming sessions. As expected, the GPU runs out of steam at the higher resolution and the frame rates are significantly lower than at 1024 x 768. Having said that, we cannot overlook the significant improvement that occurs at 1680 x 1050 once UMA is enabled, at the expense of 512MB being borrowed from the system memory. Clearly, this is a worthwhile trade-off if you are using the IGP as your main graphics adapter.



With its lush landscapes and intense action, Crysis is renowned for being extremely GPU dependent, and it remains a terrific gaming benchmarks and system stress test. We utilized the gpu_benchmark demo in 64-bit DX9 mode and with all detail levels set to low.


Yes, that's right...an IGP can play Crysis above 30FPS. As with Far Cry 2, the game looks fairly poor but it is playable and that is what matters when you're in a bind. At resolutions above 1024 x 768, the HD 3300 starts suffering from its small memory buffer. This is somewhat rectified when you enable the UMA option, and allow the IGP to utilize some system memory, but the performance improvements still don't allow a playable frame rate at 1680 x 1050.



Developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft, World in Conflict, commonly known was WiC, is easily the best and most visually appealing real-time tactical video game in recent memory. We ran the in-game benchmark in DirectX 9, and using the low quality setting.


At 1024 x 768, WiC is very playable at the low setting, but it looks absolutely hideous with graphics reminiscent of games circa 1999-2000. However, at least it will run and at a playable frame rate. It is a better experience than a blank screen or an error message. This is also a great example of how useful the UMA option can be, as it has made the 1680 x 1050 resolution borderline playable.



Left 4 Dead is the latest disorienting, fast-paced zombie apocalypse mega-hit from Valve. L4D uses the latest version of the Source engine with enhancements such as multi-core processor support and physics-based animation. We test here at 1680x1050 with in-game details set to their highest levels, with MSAA 4X and AA 8X. For benching, we used a pre-recorded 20 minute timedemo taken on the No Mercy campaign during The Apartments mission.


Once again demonstrating the unparalleled flexibility of the Source engine, L4D runs at a surprising average of 50 frame per second. Most importantly, the lesser graphics quality really doesn't diminish the gaming experience very much, which is something that cannot be said for the other three games. While enabling UMA doesn't make 1680 x 1050 playable, we still see a more than 100% performance improvement.


In summary, the Radeon HD 3300 is...surprisingly capable in the gaming department, and it is a very welcome addition to this motherboard, especially when you consider that it's not really costing you anything and it can bail you out if/when something happens to your primary graphics card. Also, if you have 4GB+ of system memory definitely enable the "SidePort + UMA" option, because as you can see above the performance gains can be significant.