ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Review
by Ian Cutress on December 3, 2012 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- ASRock
- Trinity
- FM2
Metro2033
Metro2033 is a DX11 benchmark that challenges every system that tries to run it at any high-end settings. Developed by 4A Games and released in March 2010, we use the inbuilt DirectX 11 Frontline benchmark to test the hardware at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings. Results are given as the average frame rate from four runs.
The AMD performance on Metro2033 seems competitive enough when dealing with a single GPU, but as we increase the GPU count, performance dips quite considerably. In 2-way CFX, the Z77+i3-3770K combo has a 14 fps lead over an FM2+A10-5800K, despite both systems using 8x/8x scenario with PCIe lanes. In our 3-way test, the Z77 board comes out ahead again, even with all the boards presented using the third GPU in an x4 PCIe 2.0 configuration via the chipset.
As usual in our testing, NVIDIA comparisons do not usually show much variation between motherboards. We can only test one-way on our motherboard, as it does not have SLI certification.
Dirt 3
Dirt 3 is a rallying video game and the third in the Dirt series of the Colin McRae Rally series, developed and published by Codemasters. Using the in game benchmark, Dirt 3 is run at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings. Results are reported as the average frame rate across four runs.
The results for Dirt3 only exacerbate the issues found in Metro. Dirt3 is a game known for loving everything you can throw at it – GPUs, memory speed, CPU cores, and CPU speed. Thus the FM2 boards flounder against the Z77 when more than one card is used, but is competitive in single card. Amazingly the inclusion of a third card causes an FPS dip on the ASRock board, and its performance over the ASUS board seems a lot better. This is an odd variation despite our rigorous testing methodology.
Again with our NVIDIA results, not much has changed.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
19 Comments
View All Comments
Garestle - Thursday, March 26, 2020 - link
Click on https://www.google.com/">google and get more infoslacr - Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - link
I wish there were high end FM1-2 motherboards that include more than the standard 6-7 SATA ports. For a HTPC/storage solution with lower power consumption than my current P45/Q6600 setup, having to go really high end Z77 or similar in order to get to the 9-10 SATA port cards, or buying separate (expensive) sata controllers is not great.ForeverAlone - Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - link
Why the dual PCI-E slots? None of the APU processors are powerful enough to properly support crossfireX or SLI anyway. Pointless.Even the A10-5800K isn't going to have enough power to support a proper Crossfire setup. Crossfiring anything below a 6850 is a stupid idea. An A10 won't support crossfired 6850s.
CeriseCogburn - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - link
Don't worry g, you are not alone - you are correct.It's called AMD fanboyism - and the marketing PR team decided so long as they hack out the insane non workable boards, the amd fanboys will buy them, telling themselves all is well in fanboyville.
Nil Einne - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Whoever told you two PCI express is only used for graphics cards appears to be the real fanboy here ....jobby99 - Friday, January 18, 2019 - link
Some people need low cpu and graphics memory only. Thus, they have some insane multi-monitor setups with two independent video cards. Coders for one use at least two monitors. Financial analysts use 3 or 4 for day trading. I just wouldn't assume crossfire is the only use for two or more video cards.batguiide - Sunday, December 9, 2012 - link
Thanks for these tips! I love the tip about checking where the model is in the store. I just finished reading another article that has some more research based tips about making sure you get the best big ticket items for you, which I also found useful. website:[socanpower,ca]Thanks again and happy shopping! Power supply Australia!
xerces8 - Thursday, December 20, 2012 - link
How is 12 sec a fast boot time?I have a cheap Medion PC which also has 12 seconds from power switch to boot menu (the one loaded from the boot sector).
2 seconds is fast. (my previous Asus netbook had such boot/POST times)
But kudos for actually measuring this usually neglected property.
PS: For more accurate measuring configure the boot loader to present a menu. Or even beep (should be trivial with GRUB). Also recording the measurement on video should make it easier to read the timings)
Nil Einne - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Combining DVI-D with D-sub isn't going to work since the D-sub is supposed to be usable with the HDMI and DVI-D for triple monitor/Eyefinity support. (While some dislike D-sub for these purposes because of the quality loss due to the D-A-D conversion steps it's still fairly popular because many monitors still have D-sub ports but lack Displayport and they can't be bothered spending for an active converter to get HDMI/DVI from the Displayport.)