First Look: VIA K8T900

MP3 Encoding:

There is nothing to choose between the two chipsets in our MP3 encoding scenario - a dead heat at 151 seconds a piece.

Xvid Encoding:

The DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR was slightly slower over the course of this 22-minute Xvid encode - VIA's K8T900 reference board was a mere 12 seconds faster over the course of the benchmark.

Multitasking:

The nForce 4 SLI-based DFI LANParty motherboard was more efficient at processing multiple tasks - it proved to be 6 seconds faster than the VIA K8T900 when watching High Definition video at the same time as encoding Moby - Play from WAV to MP3.

Image Manipulation:

Our final general performance test is an image manipulation test. We processed a folder of 162 assorted images with various file sizes and dimensions using a grayscale and then a 50% size reduction. Again, we found the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR to be marginally faster than the VIA K8T900 reference motherboard.