Test: Foxconn MARS - UK

Test

Hardware
• Foxconn MARS
• QX6850@3.0GHz and E8400@3.0GHz
• CellShock DDR2-1000
• 80GB WD Raptor SATA150 harddrive
• BFG 8800GTS OC 320MB
• OCZ Powerstream 600watt PSU

Cooling
• XSPC X2O Delta, 10mm
• Hydor L30 pump, 1200L/h
• Alphacool NexXxoS Pro Dual radiator

Software
• Windows XP Pro w. SP2
• PCmark05
• CineBench 10
• SuperPI mod.1.5 XS
• DVD Shrink 3.2
• 3Dmark03
• 3Dmark06
• Aquamark3
• Crysis CPU timedemo
• PREY timedemo
• FarCry Regulator Demo

Let us start with a bunch of non-3D related benchmarks to get an idea of the performance level.

PCmark05

This benchmark contains regular officetype tasks like unpacking zip archives, scanning for viruses, rendering a webpage ao.
 

Mars wins the race with a small margin, and it is a close race.
 

Cinebench 10

The Cinebench test contains a small moviesequence running on OpenGL drivers, and a photo that is rendered twice. First with only one cpu core calculating, and then with all available cores put to maximum use. Ideally a quadcore cpu should quadruple the speed.

Mars makes it to the finishline in good time, and again it is a close race.

SuperPI 1M

It is time to crunch some numbers. One million decimals on PI must be calculated in shortest possible time.

I did not expect to see any deviations from the norm here, and we have a good result around 17 seconds.

DVDshrink 3.2

Before we hit the 3D marks, one final test to see if Mars is up for some DVD conversion. 1.1GB of DVD files must be compressed to 60% of the original size.
 

Here we see Mars doing really well, with a finishing time 4 seconds faster than the others. I ran the test 5-6 times, and every time it came out with the same result. It might be something in the chipset timing that makes Mars especially fond of large files. But then again one would think it should be more apparent in some of the other benchmarks. Anyway, these are the results.

Right then - time for some 3D testing. You do not want to invest in a new board if it is not up to the 3D challenge.
 

3Dmark03

Even if 3Dmark03 is an old girl, we still get a good idea of the performance level, as the test is more dependant on the combined system than ie. the 05 version. Mars falls a little behind, but not enough to cause panic. We are in the area of 1% difference between Mars and our fastest contender.
 

3Dmark06

Lets see if the 06 version can offer some resistance.

Again slightly lower score, but with a very small margin. 

Aquamark3

We will have one more synthetic test before we hit the demos. Aquamark is also an oldie, but still it gives us a quick overview of any potential performance problems.

Mars does not seem to be suffering from any such problems, and we get a nice score above average.

We leave the rest to the 3D gamedemos. I have run the tests at different resolutions and filtering levels to get a more nuanced testsequence.
 

Crysis CPU benchmark

The demovesrsion of Crysis contains a CPU demo that I will use. The test is run at low, medium and high settings.

Here Mars performs well, and have a pretty high maximum fps at low settings. The average framerate is on par with other boards we have tested.
 

Prey Demo

This game runs on the DOOM3 graphics engine, and I am using Guru3D's testprogram to obtain three different resolutions and two different filtering levels.

Again Foxconn Mars shows a good average performance level, and is on par with the competition.
 

Far Cry Regulator Demo

And now one would think that the FarCry Regulator demo would turn out with an average just like the others, but no. For some reason Mars decides to kick serious butt, and comes in at plus 15% above average. I ran the test in concession with the other benchmarks on this page, and there should not be such a big difference, but there is. Well, as long as the deviation is on the good side we cannot really complain, can we.
 

Overclocking

The final part of the test is as always dedicated to overclocking. And since Foxconn has been bragging with high FSB and design philosophy, I have borrowed the same E8400 cpu we used when testing the ASUS Rampage motherboard. I therefore know that this cpu will run 575MHz on the frontside bus at 8x multiplier with no problems. So what this one is about, is to see how much the powersupply on Mars will deliver and keep stable, and I have some doubts concerning the four-phased MosFet design. Keep in mind though that Foxconn claims to have reached 575MHz on this board.
 

 
They must be using a Celeron-something that does not draw too much power, because when I reach 530MHz there is no more headroom left for my E8400. I have tried feeding it more power but to no avail.

Oh well - 530MHz busspeed is darn nice for any motherboard. But now that Foxconn themselves brag with a higher level than this, and I know my cpu can take the beating, the resulting OC mood is somewhat glum. I was hoping for a bit more fun on this one.