Our testing methods
All tests were run at least twice, and their results were averaged, using the following test systems.

Processor Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 2.6GHz
System busHyperTransport 16-bit/1GHz
Motherboard Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Foxconn C51XEM2AA-8EKRS2H
Bios revision603612W1P20
North bridgenForce 590 SLI SPPnForce 590 SLI SPP
South bridgenForce 590 SLI MCPnForce 590 SLI MCP
Chipset driversForceWare 9.35ForceWare 9.35
Memory size2GB (2 DIMMs)2GB (2 DIMMs)
Memory type CorsairTWIN2X2048-6400PRO DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz
CAS latency (CL)55
RAS to CAS delay (tRCD)55
RAS precharge (tRP)55
Cycle time (tRAS)1212
Command rate1T1T
Audio codecIntegrated nForce 590 SLI MCP/AD1988B with 6.0.0.61 driversIntegrated nForce 590 SLI/ALC882D with Realtek HD 1.39 drivers
Graphics GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB PCI-E with ForceWare 91.31 drivers
Hard drive Western Digital Caviar RE2 400GB
OS Windows XP Professional
OS updatesService Pack 2

Thanks to Corsair for providing us with memory for our testing. 2GB of RAM seems to be the new standard for most folks, and Corsair hooked us up with some of its 1GB DIMMs for testing.

Due to the peculiarities of the Athlon 64's on-die memory controller, our systems are actually running their memory at 742MHz. The Athlon 64 doesn't have enough memory dividers to hit 800MHz exactly at every speed grade, and the closest the 5000+ comes without going over is 742MHz.

Also, all of our test systems were powered by OCZ GameXStream 700W power supply units. Thanks to OCZ for providing these units for our use in testing.

We used the following versions of our test applications:

The test systems' Windows desktop was set at 1280x1024 in 32-bit color at an 85Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests. Most of the 3D gaming tests used the Medium detail image quality settings, with the exception that the resolution was set to 640x480 in 32-bit color.

All the tests and methods we employed are publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.