I did 3DMark2005 first, will run 2006 later tonight, here is the setup:

T2400 1.83GHz
2GB DDR-2 667 Corsair
Seagate Momentus 100 GB 7200rpm SATA
ATI Driver: Version 8.204
All drivers are install from Asus CD, will try Omega drivers later.

3DMark2005






3DMark2006




I've decided to download new ATI driver form Intel website before I install the Omega driver.

With new ATI Driver version V8.233
3DMark2005



3DMark2006





Now with Omega Driver version 3.8.252 and ATI tools:
3DMark2005



3DMark2006


Merom Setup:
T7400 2.16GHz 64Bit
2GB DDR-2 667 Corsair
Seagate Momentus 100 GB 7200rpm SATA
ATI Driver: Version 8.233

3DMark2005

Wow, the Z96J didn't take as big of a hit in performance than I thought it would. I figured it would be knocked down around the 3200. It will be interesting to see what the Omega drivers do for it. Lol, but I still don't trust them. I forgot to mention earlier that on my desktop, it had disabled the "w,a,s,d" keys... so I could no longer walk around in Oblivion. I could only use the spacebar to jump and the mouse to turn/attack. It was really odd. Good luck with the Omegas though. I look forward to seeing the results. I think this is the first set of benchmarks I have seen for the Z96J.

Actually I just found out it was at "High Performance" insead of Super Performance, I am running the Benchmark again.

update:
Turn out High Performance and Super Performance has the same score.

Exclusive for NBF.

It shouldn't be a surprise because both the S96J and Z96J have identical GPUs and memory. The 3DMark benchmarks runs at the same resolution on all machines so scores should be identical.

Now, when somebody tries to run Oblivion at the native resolution they may find they have to use lower settings than the S96J to get acceptable frame rates. That's where the difference will come into play.

But.. my S96J got better marks by about 130 with the intel drivers than the Z96J. I wonder why.

Krista

Hmmm... the plot does thicken. Do you happen to have a t2500 or 2 gigs of ram? If you don't I have no idea why you would be 200 higher. If you do, that would be my first guess... but I don't know.

Nope T2400 (If that's the 1.83 ghz) and 1 gig (single dimm) RAM.

I did turn off some background stuff. antivirus and the like.
I used the free version of 3Dmark05. So didn't set anything special. Hopefully the Z96J hasn't underclocked or anything.

Krista

Are you saying the Z96J will take a performance hit on high end games because of the higher resolution?

Wow that gave it a decent increase... I'm still surprised the Z96J is getting that high of a score. I wish I still had 3dmark05 downloaded on a computer so when I get my S96J I can mess with it. (I may go up to a wireless hotspot to download it or something) I'm impressed with these benchmarks.

Yeah I 'll recommend everyone download the new ATI drivers from Intel website.

And for S96J owners who has BIOS Versin 0406 I would recommend they update new BIOS, I've made a bootable CD in NERO image files for dowload, just use NERO to burn the image files into CD and follow the instructions to update BIOS and the whole process won't take more than 5 minutes:

1: Download NERO image files: http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/images/N...-BIOS-0601.nrg
2: Use Nero to burn the image file to the CD
3: Insert CD and when first power on the laptop press "ESC" at Intel logo scree
4: Select Optical drive at boot options screen
5: at "A:\" prompt type "Update"
6: it'll automatically update the BIOS and don't turn off or reset the computer during BIOS flash.
7: screen will go back to "A:\" prompt when finish8: restart the computer and boot to Windows, it'll start to find all kinds of new hardwares.

Hey... that's how you flash the bios. I have been wondering if I would be able to figure that out. Thanks for the walk-through. I don't know if I'll need to or not, but if I do, I think from that walk-through that I will be able to do it. Thanks.

You don't need to update BIOS, all new shipments came with new BIOS already.

Haha... sweet. I guess I can just refer to that if I ever need to update it in the future then. Anyways, I still think a thanks is in order. I just don't see this kind of customer service from computer companies that often...it's not like you have to help us update the bios or anything. It gives me a piece of mind about my purchase seeing that you are willing to help your customers even after they have gotten their laptops.

Which driver do I need to download. The ones that I see are for the Intel graphics chipset not ATI? I am sure I am missing something.