ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 R5.0 Motherboard Review

3DMark Benchmarks

For all versions of 3DMark, the CPU tests were run. Theses tests are designed to stress not only the CPU but also the efficiency of the chipset architecture as well. By rendering massive amounts of data the motherboards memory controller is stressed to its limits. All versions were run with their default settings.


3DMark06


This version of 3DMark is multi-core optimized and this added stress does show that the ASRock’s combination of p31 and ICH7 work reasonably well. These numbers really do show off this board's potential.


3DMark05


While a little shocking in their difference from 3DMark06, one must realize that each 3DMark version calculates its numbers differently and that it would not be a fair “apples to apples” comparison. These numbers are decent in their own right and are very respectable for any entry level system.


3DMark03


In 3DMark03 the idea of multiple cores was not yet realized. This is why the scores are much lower than later version’s numbers. However, these number are on the lower end and do gloss over the power of the newer quad core. This is more a case of the benchmark being faulty and unable to handle multi-cores rather than the board or cpu’s fault.


3DMark01 SE


This benchmark is included more as a counterpoint to 03’s numbers rather than for its usefulness. Even when running its “high quality” benchmarks, the 17 included tests usually ran at anywhere from 60 to 400 FPS. If this system had been release back in 2001 it would probably have been sold as a supercomputer and everyone would have hailed ASRock’s motherboard a marvel of engineering prowess.