Serial ATA performance
The Serial ATA disk controller is one of the most important components of a modern core logic chipset, so we threw each platform a selection of I/O-intensive storage tests using a Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD.

IOMeter
We'll begin our storage tests with IOMeter, which subjects our systems to increasing multi-user loads. Testing was restricted to IOMeter's workstation and database test patterns, since those are more appropriate for desktop systems than the file or web server test patterns.

IOMeter throughput is a little lower on the 780i that it is with the 680i, perhaps due to the slightly different driver revisions used for each board. The ICH9R south bridge paired with the P35 and X38 Express fares better than both nForce chipsets overall, ramping transactions more quickly in response to load increases and scaling a little bit higher under the heaviest loads.

Differences in IOMeter response times are really only apparent under extremely heavy loads, where the nForce chipsets yield a little ground to Intel.

CPU utilization is low across the board, rarely breaking 1%.