Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6
revision 2.0

     The PC Health Status is the collection point for voltage levels, fan speeds, and component temperatures. Functional and to the point, though I would like to see actual voltage levels in place of OK or FAIL.

Setup / Benchmarking

     So we now that the system is all together, it's time to find out just what it can do. Here's the list of components that make up the test subject.

     CPUZ still remains one of my favorite semi-graphical system displays of all time. The first set of benchmarks are going to be run with the CPU at default settings and a DRAM speed of 800Mhz. This will set up the baseline for future overclocking comparisons.

     One of the newest tests in the Sandra benchmark suite is the processor mutli-core efficiency test.

     SiSoftware's Sandra has many benchmark routines that impose very little overhead to setup and execute. The information is always easy to read and interrupt. In all of the above charts, the Gigabyte P965-DQ6-R2 system is represented in RED.  Though SiSoftware has been using this format for a while now, older Sandra benchmark charts grouped the results per system. Now, they are grouped per category. In the case of DRAM bandwidth testing, Integer buffered tests are on top and Floating Point tests are on bottom. Then you group the color codes to the test system (usually red) or the system from the data base using the key on the left side of the chart.

     For a quick reference to gaming performance potential,  a run of 3D Mark'06 will be used at default settings. Now, lets start with some basic overclocking and see if we can get some higher scores.