KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
HQV Benchmark 2.0 is an updated version of the original tool and it consists of various video clips and test patterns which are designed to evalute motion correction, de-interlacing, decoding, noise reduction, detail enhancement and film cadence detection.
There are two versions of the program, standard definition on DVD and high definition on Bluray. As our audience will be concentrating on HD content so will we.
This has a total of 39 video tests which is increased from 23 in the original and the scoring is also up from a total of 130 to 210. As hardware and software gets more complicated, the software has been tuned to make sure we can thoroughly maximise our analysis.
Read our initial analysis over here.
| AMD HD6970 | |
|
Dial
|
4 |
| Dial with static pattern | 5 |
| Gray Bars | 5 |
| Violin | 5 |
| Stadium 2:2 | 5 |
| Stadium 3:2 | 5 |
| Horizontal Text Scroll | 5 |
| Vertical Text Scroll | 5 |
| Transition to 3:2 Lock | 5 |
| Transition to 2:2 Lock | 0 |
|
2:2:2:4 24 FPS DVCAM Video
|
5 |
|
2:3:3:2 24 FPS DVCam Video
|
5 |
|
3:2:3:2:2 24 FOS Vari-Speed
|
5 |
|
5:5 FPS Animation
|
5 |
|
6:4 12 FPS Animation
|
5 |
|
8:7 8 FPS Animation
|
5 |
|
Interlace Chroma Problem (ICP)
|
5 |
|
Chroma Upsampling Error (CUE)
|
5 |
|
Random Noise: Sailboat
|
5 |
|
Random Noise: Flower
|
5 |
|
Random Noise: Sunrise
|
5 |
|
Random Noise: Harbour Night
|
5 |
|
Scrolling Text
|
5 |
|
Roller Coaster
|
5 |
|
Ferris Wheel
|
5 |
|
Bridge Traffic
|
5 |
|
Text Pattern/ Scrolling Text
|
5 |
|
Roller Coaster
|
5 |
|
Ferris Wheel
|
5 |
|
Bridge Traffic
|
5 |
|
Luminance Frequency Bands
|
5 |
|
Chrominance Frequency Bands
|
5 |
| Vanishing Text | 5 |
|
Resolution Enhancement
|
15 |
|
Theme Park
|
5 |
| Driftwood | 5 |
|
Ferris Wheel
|
5 |
|
Skin Tones
|
7 |
| Total | 196 |
We couldn’t see any image differences between Catalyst 11.2 and 11.1. Not really a bad thing mind you as the IQ is exceptionally good anyway. The HD6970 is really as good as it gets right now.
Dear god, I need a cold shower, shall read it more in depth later today! awesome
That motherboard is just insanely well designed. the heatsinks are incredible. the bullet showing through etc? wow asus might need to be worried!
I have been thinking of upgrading to this board now for a week, I have a 980x and want to ditch my current intel board as I can’t get past 4.2, even with a D14. its a lot of money, but hey we all need perks, right? 🙂
that is a crazy board design. crazy good, not crazy bad.
The cost is incredible however. I can under maybe £350, but £450? that would get a nice SLI setup.
Gigabyte just shot up in my books due to this. the other products in the range look slightly better value for money however :p
5ghz, thats a mega achievement for a standard cheap watercooler. look forward to the kuhler review zardon
good read, and what a great design from gigabyte. I wonder how much of hte heatsink design is just for show however.
990x is great, but not that exciting, just a clock bumped 980x. still nice oc too.
The audio side looks stunningly well done for a reference onboard option. did it sound good?
The last gigabyte board I had was alright, the bios was dodgy, but it might just have been an early revision. I sold it after a few weeks as I couldnt return it and I wanted something more stable.
Between asus, msi and gigabyte, they produce mega motherboards.
This product is really a showcase of their engineering skill, its hardly practical for 99% of the enthusiast market. Still I wouldnt mind it, if you are giving it away.
crank the nuts off it ! 5ghz is good, it should go higher but you are right, over 1.5volts is risky business.
Additional power connectors on the motherboard are of no importance if you are going with classic cooling (air or water) – excluding here some extreme experiments. Additional power is primarily designed to ensure stability with LN2 (just like with Asus R3E).
There is plenty of things which I like, but it is more interesting what I don’t like.
Price utterly prohibitive. With LGA 2011 around the corner, I simply don’t get it. Also they stuck with heat-pipe between NB and SB. It’s bloody mad to transport heat from red-hot north-bridge to south-bridge (OC!). For that kind of money I would expect at least 2 NICs, at least 10 SATA ports, 4 electrically x16 slots and some form of active cooling on north-bridge. Passive cooling of X58 that is pure madness. With big coolers you can run into problems because of that massive heatsink.
Hi Hakuren. some interesting points, but im not sure I agree with them all. Why would you need a dual Killer Nic configuration. Is this for a specific demand you need? Gamers will never need a dual setup. Also I dont follow your cooling theories on the NB and SB heatpipes. they shouldnt be transferring heat between components, more ‘evenly’ removing them across the whole area.
Absolutely brilliant, what a setup. I can only dream…
If anyone wants to donate this to someone, I can send my address? 🙂
450 quid for a motherboard. I thought they were taking the piss until I saw what it can do. Im sold, now I just need a new job!
My friend bought this and it’s brilliant. He is loaded, and now i guess he will be selling his 980x for an ‘upgrade’ 🙂
I have that set up now, I bought it a week ago. I am waiting on the watercooling get to arrive before I OC the board.
BUT as of fight now I am in shock at how good this computer set up is and works out of the box.
G1. Assassin
990X
12 GB 1600 DDR3
2 P128 Corsair SSD
Coolermaster HAF X
Was thinking of buying this board myself, and once I get the funds sorted im ordering one for my 980x. not sure what case to get. the HAF x looks good. might opt for a lian li.
Excellent review, loads of info. the ocing is great. im sick of crap x58 boards so i might bite the bullet and order this.
I dont know what some dude was saying earlier in this discussion, this gigabyte board is one of the best on the market, bar none. its an overclocking force.
Got no idea why you recommend this board over eg an UD5/7…
Are those gimmicks really worth the extra cash ?
Would loved to have seen the Killer NIC test and sound test. That’ is what makes this board special … Or a Bclock test… as 143 Bclock my grandma can do that…
There is a Killer nic test in the review Alby. Sound testing can be rather subjective. I think the board looks great. people who dont want the extras will buy a cheaper board, thats pretty obvious, right? Some people love all the high end capacitors and extras. I know I do, but not sure id pay for it.
My bad , overlooked that part :p