During our benchmarking sessions, we used the configuration listed below. Between our benchmarking sessions the only variable was the processor being tested and the motherboard, as socket AM2 CPUs require a new motherboard.
 
Hardware Configuration

• Socket 939 Motherboard: MSI K8N Diamond Plus (BIOS 1.12, December 22nd, 2005).
• Socket AM2 Motherboard: ASUS M2N32-SLI De Luxe
• Socket 775 Motherboard: Intel D975XBX
• Memory: Two Corsair CMX1024-3500LLPRO modules with 1 GB each, installed on DDR Dual Channel configuration (2-3-2-6 timings) for socket 939 CPUs.
• Memory: Four Corsair CM2X512-8500 modules with 512 MB each, installed on DDR2 Dual Channel configuration (using 4-4-4-12 timings) for socket AM2 and socket 775 CPUs.
• Hard Drive: Maxtor DiamondMax 9 Plus (7,200 rpm, 40 GB, ATA-133).
• Video Card: XFX GeForce 7800 GTX.
• Video resolution: 1024x768x32@85Hz.
• Power Supply: OCZ ModStream 520 W.

Software Configuration

• Windows XP Professional installed using NTFS
• Service Pack 2
• DirectX 9.0c

Driver Versions

• NVIDIA video driver version: 84.21
• NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI X16 driver version: 7.15
• Intel Inf driver version: 8.0.1002
• All motherboard drivers were installed

Used Software

• SYSmark2004 – Patch 2
• PCMark05 Professional 1.1.0
• Cinebench 9.5
• 3DMark06 Professional 1.0.2
• Quake 4 – Patch 1.2

We adopted a 3% error margin; thus, differences below 3% cannot be considered relevant. In other words, products with a performance difference below 3% should be considered as having similar performance.