Update 16/07/2008: Previously we had found the performance of the Intel X38 chipset to be quite poor, which was surprising as the X48 really only brings 1600MHz FSB support to the table. However after spending hours upon hours testing with the ASUS Maximus Extreme, we were unable to beat the P45 performance with this X38 board. Therefore we ordered the Gigabyte X38T-DQ6 to re-test the X38 chipset, and as it turns out the results that we were receiving on the Maximus Extreme were much lower, as the X38T-DQ6 was able to match our X48 board.
So far we have been unable to work out why the Maximus Extreme is delivering such poor Crossfire performance and had initially suspected it to be a Catalyst driver issue, though we are now doubtful that the drivers are to blame. For those that had already read the article previously we do apologize. The Gigabyte X38T-DQ6 has been thoroughly tested over the past two days and we are now certain that we have true X38 Crossfire performance with the Radeon HD 4850 graphics cards.
By simply firing up 3Dmark Vantage we found that the new X48 chipset was able to provide 17% more performance than the older P35 chipset when using two Radeon HD 4850 graphics cards in Crossfire mode. Moreover, the X48 was less than a percent faster than theX38 and P45 chipsets. These numbers would not exactly have X38 owners rushing out to pick up an Intel X48 motherboard.
As we began testing with some real games such as Crysis, we quickly discovered that the X48 chipset was in fact slightly faster than the P45 while still delivering similar performance to the X38 chipset. All up we saw a 41% increase when adding a second graphics card in Crysis on the X48 board. Although the Crysis performances was impressive, Crossfire is not all that well suited to this particular game, so we continued on and hit Devil May Cry 4, which works a treat.
Now when testing with the new hit title Devil May Cry 4 we found that a typical P45 setup is going to be 36% faster than a P35 system at 1920x1200 when running Crossfire Radeon HD 4850 graphics cards for example. The X48 was also roughly 6% faster than the P45 chipset, and I would suggest that this is a best case scenario for the high-end X48 chipset. Here the X48 and X38 chipsets delivered identical performance at 1920x1200.
Right now it is possible to purchase a decent ASUS P45 motherboard, such as the P5Q Pro for example, at just $150 US. Pairing this board with Crossfire Radeon HD 4850 graphics cards would cost around $550 US, making for an extremely lethal combo! The cheapest ASUS X48 board on the other hand, is the P5E Deluxe at $220 US, and we are not sure that at this price it is worth the 5% Crossfire performance gain. Still, if you are looking to get the most out of your Crossfire setup, then the X48 is the weapon of choice.
Reviewed By Steven Walton
