As mentioned previously, we used a pair of 6600GTs and a pair of 6800Ultras, but all the graphs shown in this review are with the 6600GTs in action. We compared the MSI K8N Diamond board with the ASUS A8N SLI Premium (AMD64 3500+) and the ASUS P5ND2 SLI Deluxe (Intel P4 3.73Ghz). The Intel CPU is more powerful than the AMD CPU. Keep that in mind when you observe the graphs in this review, because in most cases, the Intel-based motherboard will perform better, but in fact, the powerful 3.73GHz CPU makes the difference, and not the motherboard. You can see our testbed below:

• Processor: AMD64 3500+
• Case: Antec 1080AMG
• Motherboard: MSI K8N Diamond
• Memory: 2x512MB Corsair 400MHz (dual channel)
• VGA Card: 2x nVidia 6600GT (SLI mode)
• Hard Disk Drive: WD800JD 80GB 7200RPM
• DVD Burner: LG GSA-4163B
• Power Supply: EzCool 550Watt
• OS: Microsoft WindowsXP Pro SP2
• DirectX: v9.0c
• nVidia Drivers: version 78.01

Benchmarking Software
3DMark05,03,01
PCMark05
Codecreatures Benchmark Pro
AquaMark3 v3.0
Performance Test V5.0
Farcry v1.3
Half Life 2
Doom 3
Thief 3
Ground Control II
Colin McRae '05