11. Features Of The Test And Comparison Systems

The Asus V6000V is a brand new notebook model based upon the 915PM notebook chipset. Asus is positioning their device in the performance segment, with a graphics subsystem using ATi's PCIe GPU X600 and 64 MB video RAM. The X600 is viewed as the legitimate successor to the Mobility Radeon9600/9700, and like those units offers four pixel pipelines and two vertex shaders. For the test, Asus equipped the system with the fastest Dothan in current circulation: the Pentium M 770 with 533MHz FSB.

We looked at two systems in order to compare the old platform with the new one. For starters we configured a desktop system based on a MicroATX board from Aopen, the Aopen i855GMe LFS, a special board that allows a Pentium M to run in a desktop PC. Intel's 855GME chipset provides an AGP 4X port, two UltraATA/100 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, an AC97 2.1-compatible sound system, and four DDR333 memory banks. We used the Hercules 3D Prophet Pro as a graphics card. The clock speeds of the graphics core and the video memory were reduced using a tool to those of the X600 inside the V6000V. A fast SATA drive was used: the HDS722516VLSA80 model (160 GB, 7200RPM, 8 MB) from the Deskstar 7K250 series. We went with a memory timing for the two 512 MB Corsair XMS3200 modules of 2.5-3-2-6 - typical values for a 1st generation Centrino notebook.

To simulate both the possible memory configurations of an 855 platform in the first round of measurements, we selected a memory clock speed of 266MHz. A second round followed using a memory clock speed of 333MHz. As a processor for the system, we decided on the Pentium M 755. All in all, this setup represents a very high-performance Pentium M system of the first generation based on the mobile 855 chipset.

To compare the battery life of the new Sonoma platform to its Carmel predecessor, we used the Asus W1000N. The configuration we chose was based on the mobile 855PM chipset, an MR9700/9600 with 64 MB video memory, a Hitachi 5400 RPM hard drive, and the Pentium M 755. The two memory slots were outfitted with Infineon 512 MB DDR1-2700 modules. This configuration was designed to provide a very clear indication of whether the new platform is significantly faster with a dedicated PCIe graphics chip in normal operation.