System Performance Results
Because this system is overclocked out of the box I decided we should look at the BIOS settings that AVADirect shipped at.  Are the settings the same that we would have done and are the voltages within reasonable specs?

AVADirect Custom Overclocked Gaming System Review - Systems 45

On the FSB and Memory Config screen we can see AVADirect has set the buses in an “Unlinked” mode in order to separate the front-side bus and memory bus completely.  The CPU FSB was set at 1700 MHz, a big boost over the 1333 MHz default speed, in order to reach the 3.4 GHz total clock speed.  The memory is running at DDR3 1600 MHz @ 9-9-9-24 timings which is very fast!

AVADirect Custom Overclocked Gaming System Review - Systems 46

The second BIOS screen we will gander at is the System Voltages screen where see that AVADirect really had to bump up the voltages to get 100% stable overclocks of the CPU and memory.  The CPU is running at 1.3875v, a somewhat safe overvoltage, while the front-side bus and north bridge voltages were boosted to the red levels.  All of these voltages changes are worth mentioning but with the cooling setup we saw in the system should be more than safe for your system.

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Here is our CPU-Z screenshot that clearly shows the Intel Q9450 running at the aforementioned 3.40 GHz speed. 

Testing Configuration

AVADirect System Setup

CPU

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.40 GHz 

Motherboards

XFX nForce 790i Ultra SLI

Memory 

2 x 2GB OCZ Platinum DDR3-12800

Hard Drive

Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB
2 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB
 

Sound Card

On-board

Video Card

BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GTX+

Video Drivers

Forceware 178.13

Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 850 watt

DirectX Version

DX10 / DX9c

Operating System

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

  

HP Blackbird 002 Test System Setup

CPU

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 – Review

Motherboards

Asus nForce 680i Motherboard

Memory 

Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C4

Hard Drive

Western Digital Raptor 150 GB – Review

Sound Card

On-board

Video Card

EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra

Video Drivers

NVIDIA Forceware 169.18 Beta

Power Supply PC Power and Cooling 1000 watt

DirectX Version

DX10 / DX9c

Operating System

Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit

 

Digital Storm Test System Setup

CPU

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 – Review

Motherboards

EVGA nForce 680i MotherboardReview

Memory 

Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C4

Hard Drive

2 x Western Digital Raptor 150 GB – Review

Sound Card

On-board

Video Card

EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra x 3

Video Drivers

NVIDIA Forceware 169.18 Beta

Power Supply PC Power and Cooling 1000 watt

DirectX Version

DX10 / DX9c

Operating System

Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit


3-Way SLI Test System Setup

CPU

Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 – Review

Motherboards

EVGA nForce 680i MotherboardReview

Memory 

Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C4

Hard Drive

Western Digital Raptor 150 GB – Review

Sound Card

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value

Video Card

EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra x 3
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB

Video Drivers

NVIDIA Forceware 169.18 Beta

Power Supply PC Power and Cooling 1000 watt

DirectX Version

DX10 / DX9c

Operating System

Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit


Intel CPU System Setup

CPU

QX9770 – 3.2 GHz / 1600 FSB
QX9650 – 3.0 GHz / 1333 FSB
QX6850 – 3.0 GHz / 1333 FSB
Q9450 – 2.66 GHz / 1333 FSB

Motherboards

Asus P5E3 Deluxe

Memory 

2GB Corsair DDR3-1066

Hard Drive

Western Digital Raptor 150 GB – Review

Sound Card

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value

Video Card

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

Video Drivers

NVIDIA Forceware 169.18 Beta

Power Supply PC Power and Cooling 1000 watt

DirectX Version

DX10 / DX9c

Operating System

Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit



  • CineBench 10
  • SiSoft Sandra XII
  • PCMark Vantage
  • Call of Duty 4

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