Windows Benchmarks, Continued

3dMark06

3dMark06 benchmarks a system's graphical performance with features inherent in DirectX up to version 9.0c. While neither machine ihas a mainstream gaming GPU, both the GeForce 6100 and Radeon X1250 are capable graphics cards for basic gaming, and both are DirectX 9 compliant. 3dMark06 was run with default settings with all tests selected.

Unreal Tournament 2004

My de-facto benchmark for gaming is Unreal Tournament 2004. When the game came out, I was still chugging along with a GeForce 4600 videocard that gave me spectacular gameplay at the time, but the two integrated chipsets in these machines should provide a much better gaming experience as they are far more feature-rich.

CPU Utilization

I've also decided to include a new benchmark, CPU utilization. Since the GeForce 6100SM-M and P2-M2A690G utilize different video cards and audio chips. Especially in a work environment, audio and video usage shouldn't work against productivity. This depends on your standpoint, however. The worse a computer is at audio and video work, the less likely it is that the employee will look at videos instead of working.

Conclusion on Windows Usage

It would seem that the P2-M2A690G comes out on top in most of our benchmarks. The ECS GeForce 6100SM-M board keeps up in the Super Pi, 3dMark06, and PCMark05 benchmarks, but still leaves something to be desired in other areas. For a small barebones system, Asus has put in the quality it's known for in the system.

Super Pi and PCMark05 are memory and CPU-intensive benchmarks, so it's no surprise that there's little difference in scores. 3dMark06 and UT2004 are both graphic-intensive benchmarks, and the older GeForce 6100 manages to keep pace with the Radeon X1250, but the Radeon still carries a good lead.