MSI dominates 3DMark 11 Performance

[btarunr]

In the highly competitive world of extreme performance, MSI has once again grabbed the reigns with its Z77 MPOWER and R7970 Lightning Graphics card. Inspired by the availability of the MSI Z77 MPOWER several professional overclockers have started challenging the top scores in 3DMark 11. With the synergy of the MSI Z77 MPOWER mainboards and MSI Lightning series graphics cards, some incredible new scores have been set including the first single graphics card system to break 18000 marks in the 3DMark 11 Performance benchmark by Ukraine's T0lsty.



Z77 MPOWER baseline for performance
Contrary to popular belief, MSI mainboards that are most represented with professional overclockers in these benchmarks where the highest efficiency is demanded from the platform. This is the result of feedback over the past year of professional overclockers and which now translates itself in a situation where the Z77 MPOWER is the go-to mainboard for overclockers. The latest world record by T0lsty is the highest CPU speed for any 3rd generation Intel Core CPU in 3DMark 11 @ 6213 MHz (validation).

Lightning: Unprecedented leadership
MSI's Lightning series graphics cards are built from with the purpose of amazing performance, with great components and overclockers' desired features. This is best demonstrated by the fact that almost every single overclocker prefers an MSI Lightning graphics card for their record breaking attempt. As a fact: 90% of the 20 highest scores in the single card 3DMark 11 Performance rankings are set with an MSI Lightning graphics card. T0lsty's R7970 Lightning was able to reach a core speed of 1760 MHz and 8 GHz memory!

The complete top-20 can be viewed here.

Champion: MSI Z77 MPOWER
The Z77 MPOWER shocked the overclocking world as a mainboard that offers 24/7 stability for gamers and offers a down-to-earth approach to overclocking 2nd and 3rd generation Intel Core processors. Currently the MSI Z77 MPOWER powers three out of the five highest scores in 3DMark 11 Performance. Powered by Military Class III components the MSI Z77 MPOWER proves its stability not only during the "OC Certified" testing but also under the extreme circumstances of extreme overclocking.

Champion: MSI R7970 Lightning
MSI's R7970 Lightning continues the Lightning legacy and is this year's most favorite graphics card for overclockers. With 17 out of the top-20 scores in 3DMark 11 Performance set with the R7970 Lightning, it is clear what is the card to get if you want to set amazing scores yourself.
Built with Military Class III components the MSI Lightning graphics cards deliver the best performance and stability, no matter if you're a gamer or extreme overclocker.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[ChristTheGreat]

That's a very nice score xD

 

[EzioAs]

One of the reasons I choose MSI for my current video card and my next motherboard upgrade.
That and the fact that their products while having great features, aren't really expensive when you compared them to the likes of Asus for example

 

[Konceptz]

I only buy EVGA or MSI boards.

 

[NeoXF]

LOL, I was so expecting this... with the 12.11 drivers and all... seeing as how the 10-20% increase in 3DMark11 numbers is godly... and AMD where already top-dog in most of those scenarios.

Anyway, what's the word on the "GHz" version of the R7970 Lightning!?


Edit: And Hell yeah, Z77 MPower is probably the best price/performance 1155 MB in the performance segement, I'm probably still gonna go with a ASRock Z77 Extreme4, but still... such a small difference, especially when I see ASUS or Gigabyte's bloated/pricey Z77s...

Anyone know if the Z77 MPower supports Intel VT-d?

 

[EarthDog]

Its the CPU that supports it.. all bios should have an option to enable disable depending on what CPU is sitting in it.

 

[BlackOmega]

I love MSI motherboards. Even my "old" 790FX-GD70 has the one of the most extensive BIOSes available for AM3 overclocking. Has WAAAAAAAAAAAAYY more features to tweak than my Crosshair III formula.

I really like their GPUs' too. Their Twin Frozr cards are really nice. Good build quality.

 

[drdeathx]

These are all extreme overclocks. I would like to see the same person use a board with the PLX chip. Marketing at its best I guess.

 

[EarthDog]

These are all extreme overclocks. I would like to see the same person use a board with the PLX chip. Marketing at its best I guess.

If it does touch a PLX chip for some reason on single GPU, the added latency means it could be a bit slower anyway. I dont understand the point of that statement...why would you want to see that?

EDIT:I mean, that is like asking that runner Usain Bolt (w/e his name is) to put on some Timberland boots to run the 100m, ya know? Whats the point in handicapping something as they are going for speed here.

 

[INSTG8R]

18k! Nice!

And here I got all excited after I installed the 12.11's and figured I would see if these"Never Settle" Drivers really had any weight behiind and ran 3DMark 11 run.

I was pretty happy to see I finally broke 10K and that was stock GPU beating my last run with the 12.6's and an OC(1100/1500)by over 1100K.

So yeah they have made some progress...

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I only buy EVGA or MSI boards.

Im sorry, but EVGA boards are trash.

 

[drdeathx]

If it does touch a PLX chip for some reason on single GPU, the added latency means it could be a bit slower anyway. I dont understand the point of that statement...why would you want to see that?

EDIT:I mean, that is like asking that runner Usain Bolt (w/e his name is) to put on some Timberland boots to run the 100m, ya know? Whats the point in handicapping something as they are going for speed here.

I was stating in crossfire the board runs in 8x( I don't understand what you don'r understand). When manufacturers use the PLX chip it is faster, not slower and better benchies(more lanes). The MPower board does not use a PLX chip so the PCIE slots run in 8X. Using the PLX chip they run in 16X and benchmarks will be higher.

 

[EarthDog]

I'll try to find some benchmarks, but I recall seeing that Native 16x/16x (X79) vs PLX 16x/16x the PLX lowered benchmarks a bit due to the added latency of the PLX chips in some results...

 

[drdeathx]

I'll try to find some benchmarks, but I recall seeing that Native 16x/16x (X79) vs PLX 16x/16x the PLX lowered benchmarks a bit due to the added latency of the PLX chips in some results...

Negative. If so, the tested did something wrong. I will be happy to run benchmarks on a MSI MPower and Gigabyte Z77X-UP7 if you wish. The UP7 has a PLX chip if I remember. Although the bandwidth is not fully used in 8x, lanes PCIE lanes all running in 16 x get slightly better scores. Usually less then 1% on average.

 

[EarthDog]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6170/...x-8747-featuring-gigabyte-asrock-ecs-and-evga

With all this data transference (and that should data be going the other way to memory then the PLX chip will have to have a buffer in order to prevent data loss) the PEX introduces a latency to the process. This is a combination of the extra routing and the action of the PEX to adjust ‘on-the-fly’ as required. According to the PLX documentation, this is in the region of 100 nanoseconds and is combined with large packet memory.

Back in the days of the NF200, we experienced a 1-3% overhead in like-for-like comparisons in many of our game testing.....

(a paragraph or so down........)

The downside of this comes with a single GPU setup, whereby the added latency and routing caused by the PLX chip can reduce single card performance. The PEX 8747 chip attempts to promise a reduction in this overhead,

(a couple more below that......)

While the chip can handle multiple inputs and outputs, that eight lane restriction to the CPU could become an issue.

Positive? It introduces latency. Native lanes are the way to go... now, the difference is barely above negligible, but... its the way to go. Perhaps my sprinter analogy was a bit dramatic though, LOL! Please read the entire page as I know I took those snips out of context.

MSI Mpower is a Z77 based board and cannot support 16x/16x natively so that testing wont help as I am talking about SLI/Crossfire for the most part... but it still does add latency to single GPU setups...as negligible as that may be.

 

[DOM]

i want a lighting and thats a nice cpu

 

[drdeathx]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6170/...x-8747-featuring-gigabyte-asrock-ecs-and-evga



Positive? It introduces latency. Native lanes are the way to go... now, the difference is barely above negligible, but... its the way to go. Perhaps my sprinter analogy was a bit dramatic though, LOL! Please read the entire page as I know I took those snips out of context.

MSI Mpower is a Z77 based board and cannot support 16x/16x natively so that testing wont help as I am talking about SLI/Crossfire for the most part... but it still does add latency to single GPU setups...as negligible as that may be.

I am running the benchies now. Give me a half hour. I have both boards.

 

[EarthDog]

I appreciate that... but since we were both really talking SLI/Crossfire and native 16x/16x lane performance vs PEX 16x/16x, not sure how you can manage that with Z77 boards. You need an X79(native 16x/16x) and Z77 with PEX. Also, less than 1% is really within the margin of error so Im not sure if this would be conclusive in the first place if that is the difference.

I'll catch the results when I wake up.

EDIT: I suppose this will show single GPU latency from it like that article states. Make sure both rigs have the same hardware and same clocks all around, memory speeds and timings, chipset drivers... etc.

EDIT2: Found another link...http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/4...l_x8_x8_p67_performance_analysis/index10.html

There seems to be a constancy, though, when we're under high VGA load. Not hitting a CPU brick wall or anything like that, the x8 / x8 via the native P67 chip is a faster setup. When we see lower resolutions and the CPU play a larger picture, the x16 / x16 via the NF200 is faster.


So what's faster? You know, there's probably not a clear winner when it comes to overall speed. The better question would be; so what's better? Well, the x8 / x8 setup that ASUS choose to implement seems to be. Yes, it's not always faster, but when we're all about the video card power, it is the faster setup. The times we see the NF200 setup come out ahead is when we're looking at benchmarks with really high FPS.

We can see under intensive situations like Aliens vs. Predator and Unigine Heaven, the x8 / x8 via the native P67 chip is the better option. When it all comes down to it, there's little difference between the two setups. The decision for ASUS to go down the x8 / x8 path via the Intel chip instead of the better looking x16 / x16 NF200 path seems to be the right decision.

 

[drdeathx]

I appreciate that... but since we were both really talking SLI/Crossfire and native 16x/16x lane performance vs PEX 16x/16x, not sure how you can manage that with Z77 boards. You need an X79(native 16x/16x) and Z77 with PEX. Also, less than 1% is really within the margin of error so Im not sure if this would be conclusive in the first place if that is the difference.

I'll catch the results when I wake up.

EDIT: I suppose this will show single GPU latency from it like that article states. Make sure both rigs have the same hardware and same clocks all around, memory speeds and timings, chipset drivers... etc.

EDIT2: Found another link...http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/4...l_x8_x8_p67_performance_analysis/index10.html

I have no idea where you get X79. This thread is Z77

 

[drdeathx]

Here is MSI MPower

 

[EarthDog]

I have no idea where you get X79. This thread is Z77

You dont seem to understand how things work to cpmare what I am talking about, or I am somehow completely missing the point here.... I have reread the your post, then mine, and am betting on the former (or Im just THAT tired!!).

The only way to test the performance difference in SLI/Crossfire with and without a PEX is by using 2 different(Chipset) boards.

X79 = 16x/16x native
Z77 = 8x/8x native
Z77 = 16x/16x PEX

Out of those, the 16x/16x native on the X79 should be the fastest by a small margin over the rest as its native. The only reason it could be different is that the X79 based boards are PCIe2.0 with SB-E chips in them...vs Z77 with IB in it is PCIe3.

Here is MSI MPower

Ok..........where is the other SS? It took you ~50 mins to run a 6 min bench and post the picture ? Being serious, thanks again for the testing.

 

[drdeathx]

You dont seem to understand how things work to cpmare what I am talking about, or I am somehow completely missing the point here.... I have reread the your post, then mine, and am betting on the former (or Im just THAT tired!!).

The only way to test the performance difference in SLI/Crossfire with and without a PEX is by using 2 different(Chipset) boards.

X79 = 16x/16x native
Z77 = 8x/8x native
Z77 = 16x/16x PEX

Out of those, the 16x/16x native on the X79 should be the fastest by a small margin over the rest as its native. The only reason it could be different is that the X79 based boards are PCIe2.0 with SB-E chips in them...vs Z77 with IB in it is PCIe3.

Ok..........the other SS........................................?

No No earth. I am sorry. Tired too. the UP7 By passes the PLX chip and they run in 16X. my bad

 

[EarthDog]

As I understand things, that isn't possible. IB doesn'thave 32 pcie lanes in the first place. So how can it bypass that chip to run 16x/16x? Without those chips, z77 goes to 8x/8x.

Though my understanding could be wrong, lol!

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Im sorry, but EVGA boards are trash.

Can't speak for them now but my P55 FTW kicks ass and looks great doing it with zero issues after two plus years and I expect it to be going for another couple more as a home server. Lots of slots and good features for that purpose too for a "consumer chipset" board incl. 2 eSATA ports w/ one supporting boot and port multiplier (via a Marvell chip), plus VT-d and even headless support.

 

[drdeathx]

As I understand things, that isn't possible. IB doesn'thave 32 pcie lanes in the first place. So how can it bypass that chip to run 16x/16x? Without those chips, z77 goes to 8x/8x.

Though my understanding could be wrong, lol!

Ok Earth a new day. I am going tho finish the run with the UP7. Gigabyte says it passes the PLX when using the black slot. Any how. I want to see what the difference is between the 2 boards.