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	ASUS P5K Deluxe	ASUS P5K Deluxe w SoundMAX	ASUS P5K3 Deluxe w SoundMAX	Gigabyte P35T-DQ6	Gigabyte P35-DS3P	MSI P35 Platinum	MSI P35 Diamond	MSI P35 Diamond w X-Fi	MSI P35 NeoF
1st Run
Min	92	93	93	99	94	93	93	93	93
Avg	154.65	155.51	156.8	163.95	158.22	156.27	154.67	151.95	152.59
Max	218	232	238	250	236	219	225	225	214
2nd Run
Min	93	93	92	97	93	94	92	93	93
Avg	157.21	153.93	157.96	160.35	157.2	157.14	154.77	154.9	152.94
Max	230	237	230	254	233	236	219	219	211
3rd Run
Min	93	93	93	98	94	93	93	93	93
Avg	156.59	157.35	156.33	160.14	157.14	156.88	155	156.04	153.92
Max	233	231	227	246	232	228	234	218	221

*numbers are in frame rates - higher is better

From the graph, you can tell the Gigabyte P35T-DQ6 slightly edges out the other boards. Looking at the raw results rather than the average fps confirms that assessment - it's about 4 fps faster. Interesting. Our first guess would the higher bandwidth from the use of DDR3 modules, but that's not likely seeing the ASUS P5K3 and MSI P35 Diamond don't offer the same level of performance. Better BIOS tuning perhaps? More likely, nonetheless the P35T-DQ6 is faster in this benchmark.

Unfortunately, ALchemy doesn't have a profile for Quake 4, so we were unable to show results from the MSI P35 Diamond with X-Fi when Alchemy is enabled.

	ASUS P5K Deluxe	ASUS P5K Deluxe w SoundMAX	ASUS P5K3 Deluxe w SoundMAX	Gigabyte P35T-DQ6	Gigabyte P35-DS3P	MSI P35 Platinum	MSI P35 Diamond	MSI P35 Diamond w X -Fi	MSI P35 NeoF
1st Run
Min	68	67	64	66	69	60	63	73	65
Avg	90.55	89.41	94.17	93.96	92.9	92.52	89.35	92.23	90.28
Max	110	108	118	116	115	115	107	112	109
2nd Run
Min	63	68	65	63	69	64	68	65	62
Avg	89.9	90.27	94.52	89.97	83.14	92.92	89.66	91.57	90.94
Max	109	109	117	109	114	115	107	111	110
3rd Run
Min	67	68	70	65	64	61	67	64	67
Avg	90.04	89.83	94.47	87.5	92.9	92.31	89.65	91.83	90.66
Max	110	109	118	107	112	115	107	110	110

*numbers are in frame rates - higher is better

Interestingly enough, the graph shows this particular benchmark seem to favor boards using codecs ot Realtek. Look ath the difference just by using ADI SundMAX drivers on the ASUS P5K3 Deluxe and the MSI P35 Diamond with X-Fi Xtreme audio. Clearly, these sound solutions frees the processor just a little bit - enough to offer you about 3 to 4 fps higher. Now, there's something funny with both Gigabyte's board - look how performance changes from one run to the next. Although whatever Gigabyte did offered a slight performance advantage in Quake 4, it certainly didn't work that well in F.E.A.R and Serious Sam II.

	MSI P35 Diamond	MSI P35 Diamond w X -Fi	Alchemy
1st Run
Min	63	73	67
Avg	89.35	92.23	90.96
Max	107	112	110
2nd Run
Min	68	65	68
Avg	89.66	91.57	91.88
Max	107	111	115
3rd Run
Min	67	64	69
Avg	89.65	91.83	92.23
Max	107	110	113

*numbers are in frame rates - higher is better

There's no doubt about it, using X-Fi Xtreme audio frees enough processor time for you to get better performance.sting. Even turning on EAX by way of ALchemy doesn't incur any performance penalty at all. In that respect, its hard not to see the value of bundling the X-Fi Xtreme audio - even if it doesn't boast a full complement of audio ports and extra features found on premium X-Fi cards.

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