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.

The fact that we're forced to run the 790GX's storage controller in IDE mode, thus losing out on Native Command Queuing, hurts the chipset's performance here. The 750a offers higher throughput at nearly every load level.

Our IOMeter response time results aren't nearly as stark, but the nForce delivers quicker response times across multiple load levels.

At least in IOMeter, the CPU utilization of these two systems is essentially identical.