Our testing methods
We're comparing the SN27P2's performance to that of a couple of full-size Socket AM2 motherboards from Asus and Foxconn.

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 bus HyperTransport 16-bit/1GHz
Motherboard Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Foxconn C51XEM2AA-8EKRS2H Shuttle XPC SN27P2
Bios revision 603 612W1P20 SN27S00S
North bridge nForce 590 SLI SPP nForce 590 SLI SPP nForce 570 Ultra
South bridge nForce 590 SLI MCP nForce 590 SLI MCP
Chipset drivers ForceWare 9.35 ForceWare 9.35 ForceWare 9.16
Memory size 2GB (2 DIMMs) 2GB (2 DIMMs) 2GB (2 DIMMs)
Memory type CorsairTWIN2X2048-6400PRO DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz
CAS latency (CL) 5 5 5
RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) 5 5 5
RAS precharge (tRP) 5 5 5
Cycle time (tRAS) 12 12 12
Command rate 1T 1T 1T
Audio codec Integrated nForce 590 SLI MCP/AD1988B with 6.0.0.61 drivers Integrated nForce 590 SLI/ALC882D with Realtek HD 1.39 drivers Integrated nForce 570 Ultra/ALC882 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 updates Service 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, with the exception of our XPC SN27P2, 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.