Intel D975XBX: Intel brings their Bad-Axe to Market
by Gary Key on January 26, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Final Words
The Intel D975XBX is an interesting solution for the Intel Enthusiast at this time. The performance of the board was average or below in all testing phases while stability was superb. In fact, unless we were overclocking the board past its obvious limits, we never experienced any stability issues. Unlike other boards reviewed recently, we did not find any test issues with our peripheral inventory. The Intel D975XBX exemplifies Intel's trend of offering very stable and secure board solutions with excellent documentation and support.
With that said, let's move on to our performance opinions regarding this board.
In the video area, the inclusion of two physical PCI Express x16 slots that fully supports x8 bandwidth operation for dual graphics cards is a valuable feature for the workstation user or enthusiast. The board fully supports ATI CrossFire mode in our internal testing. We are waiting on a X1900XT MasterCard to arrive for further CrossFire testing, but we did not discover any issues with the X850XT CrossFire solution and 6.1 driver set.
In the on-board audio area, this board offers the Sigmatel STAC9221D High Definition audio codec. The excellent Intel Audio Studio software suite provides Jack-Sensing, S/PDIF Out support, interrupt capability, and Dolby Master Studio support among other options. The audio output of this codec in the music, video, and DVD areas is very good to excellent. The audio quality in gaming was acceptable, but the performance was mediocre considering the lack of EAX compatibility. If you plan on utilizing this board for gaming, then our only recommendation is to purchase an appropriate sound card. Further information about the Sigmatel family of HD audio codecs can be found here.
In the storage area, the Intel board offers a wide variety of storage options with additional SATA RAID ports. The board fully offers Intel's excellent Matrix RAID system and offers Hot Swap, NCQ, and 3Gb/s capability. Intel supplements their native SATA capability with the Silicon Image SiI 3114 SATA chipset featuring support for Hot Swap and 1.5Gb/s operation. The SiI 3114 resides on the PCI bus and Intel's implementation is for RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 operation only. The board offers the standard eight Intel USB ports and two IEEE 1394a ports utilizing the TI TSB43AB23 chipset. However, we believe that Firewire 800 should have been offered on this board, since it was included on the D955XBK.
In the performance area, the Intel D975XBX generated scores that were lower than the other boards in most benchmarks. The overall performance of the board was disappointing at times, but was within range of the other 975x offerings. The stability of the board was superb during testing and the results in certain game benchmarks offer hope for improvement in the future. We will review the performance of this board again when our retail version arrives and then update our findings.
Intel took a few steps forward with the board and yet at the same time, it took a few steps back. Intel did rectify the D955XBK cooling issues around the MOFSETS and increased the stability of the board with the 5-phase power regulation system. The inclusion of true x8 operability for the primary and secondary PCI Express connectors along with full ATI CrossFire support addressed the lack of performance for multiple GPU solutions. The improved BIOS options and increased voltages are a step in the right direction and shows that Intel is trying to match other suppliers in their ability to increase performance.
However, we feel that Intel made the following errors in the design and execution of a board targeted to the "advanced gamer and power-user". The entire process of setting up the BIOS in the advanced section for overclocking should be simplified. If Intel is serious about targeting the enthusiast user, then the question and answer section in the BIOS needs to be dropped. The process for overclocking the system via FSB adjustments needs to change from a fixed percentage rate to the ability to enter a FSB value. The voltage, memory frequencies, and bus options need to be further expanded. The BIOS needs to be able to self-recover when the board is unable to boot at extended settings. The current shutdown/jumper/startup process ensures frustration on the user's behalf. The bottom line is: if you are going to allow overclocking, then make it as user-friendly as possible.
The inclusion of the SiI 3114 RAID chipset is an error when the excellent SiI 3132 is available at this time. The SiI 3132 is a PCI Express device unlike the SiI 3114 and offers NCQ, Port Multiplier, and 3Gb/s support. The removal of FireWire 800 support that was offered on the D955XBK board is also an error.
We certainly look forward to Intel's next enthusiast board as they definitely are on the right path. Our expectations were quite high for this board, but it has left us with heartache, as it could have been much more.
The Intel D975XBX is an interesting solution for the Intel Enthusiast at this time. The performance of the board was average or below in all testing phases while stability was superb. In fact, unless we were overclocking the board past its obvious limits, we never experienced any stability issues. Unlike other boards reviewed recently, we did not find any test issues with our peripheral inventory. The Intel D975XBX exemplifies Intel's trend of offering very stable and secure board solutions with excellent documentation and support.
With that said, let's move on to our performance opinions regarding this board.
In the video area, the inclusion of two physical PCI Express x16 slots that fully supports x8 bandwidth operation for dual graphics cards is a valuable feature for the workstation user or enthusiast. The board fully supports ATI CrossFire mode in our internal testing. We are waiting on a X1900XT MasterCard to arrive for further CrossFire testing, but we did not discover any issues with the X850XT CrossFire solution and 6.1 driver set.
In the on-board audio area, this board offers the Sigmatel STAC9221D High Definition audio codec. The excellent Intel Audio Studio software suite provides Jack-Sensing, S/PDIF Out support, interrupt capability, and Dolby Master Studio support among other options. The audio output of this codec in the music, video, and DVD areas is very good to excellent. The audio quality in gaming was acceptable, but the performance was mediocre considering the lack of EAX compatibility. If you plan on utilizing this board for gaming, then our only recommendation is to purchase an appropriate sound card. Further information about the Sigmatel family of HD audio codecs can be found here.
In the storage area, the Intel board offers a wide variety of storage options with additional SATA RAID ports. The board fully offers Intel's excellent Matrix RAID system and offers Hot Swap, NCQ, and 3Gb/s capability. Intel supplements their native SATA capability with the Silicon Image SiI 3114 SATA chipset featuring support for Hot Swap and 1.5Gb/s operation. The SiI 3114 resides on the PCI bus and Intel's implementation is for RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 operation only. The board offers the standard eight Intel USB ports and two IEEE 1394a ports utilizing the TI TSB43AB23 chipset. However, we believe that Firewire 800 should have been offered on this board, since it was included on the D955XBK.
In the performance area, the Intel D975XBX generated scores that were lower than the other boards in most benchmarks. The overall performance of the board was disappointing at times, but was within range of the other 975x offerings. The stability of the board was superb during testing and the results in certain game benchmarks offer hope for improvement in the future. We will review the performance of this board again when our retail version arrives and then update our findings.
Intel took a few steps forward with the board and yet at the same time, it took a few steps back. Intel did rectify the D955XBK cooling issues around the MOFSETS and increased the stability of the board with the 5-phase power regulation system. The inclusion of true x8 operability for the primary and secondary PCI Express connectors along with full ATI CrossFire support addressed the lack of performance for multiple GPU solutions. The improved BIOS options and increased voltages are a step in the right direction and shows that Intel is trying to match other suppliers in their ability to increase performance.
However, we feel that Intel made the following errors in the design and execution of a board targeted to the "advanced gamer and power-user". The entire process of setting up the BIOS in the advanced section for overclocking should be simplified. If Intel is serious about targeting the enthusiast user, then the question and answer section in the BIOS needs to be dropped. The process for overclocking the system via FSB adjustments needs to change from a fixed percentage rate to the ability to enter a FSB value. The voltage, memory frequencies, and bus options need to be further expanded. The BIOS needs to be able to self-recover when the board is unable to boot at extended settings. The current shutdown/jumper/startup process ensures frustration on the user's behalf. The bottom line is: if you are going to allow overclocking, then make it as user-friendly as possible.
The inclusion of the SiI 3114 RAID chipset is an error when the excellent SiI 3132 is available at this time. The SiI 3132 is a PCI Express device unlike the SiI 3114 and offers NCQ, Port Multiplier, and 3Gb/s support. The removal of FireWire 800 support that was offered on the D955XBK board is also an error.
We certainly look forward to Intel's next enthusiast board as they definitely are on the right path. Our expectations were quite high for this board, but it has left us with heartache, as it could have been much more.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
34 Comments
View All Comments
BigP - Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - link
Im a self build Virgin - but I'm going in at the deep end. Intel's site makes their Dual Core stuff sound awsome!(a) Is it?(b)Should I look to spend my cash elsewhere when considering a motherboard/processor?Gary Key - Saturday, July 15, 2006 - link
This board is fine for stock performance and if you get rev-0304 it works very well with Core 2 Duo.FOXY25 - Sunday, February 4, 2007 - link
hi that are my system setting. My system sometimes make complete restart and i dont know why. I have change entire board with another and nothing. Do y think that could be in memory i have 2x DDR2 1024 MB at 800 Mhz Kingmax. thanks for answer.Foxy====== Board ======
Manufacturer Intel Corporation
Product Name D975XBX
Version AAD27094-306
Serial Number BQBX645001ND
BIOS Version BX97510J.86A.1476.2007.0119.1334
BIOS ROM Size 512 KB
BIOS Release Date 19.1.2007
====== Processor ======
Manufacturer Intel(R) Corporation
Processor Name Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6400 @ 2,13GHz (2 Cores)
Bus Speed 1067 MHz
Processor Speed 2,133 GHz
Stepping 6
Form Factor Other
Hyper-Threading Technology Status Not Supported
====== Cache ======
L1 Cache Data Cache 32 KB, Code Cache 32 KB Per Processor Core
L2 Cache 2048 KB Unified Cache (2048 KB Cache Per 2 Cores)
====== Memory ======
Error Correction Single-bit ECC
Maximum System Memory 4 GB
Memory Slots 4
---- CHAN A DIMM 0 ----
Socket Designation CHAN A DIMM 0
Current Memory Type DDR2
Installed Size No Module Installed
---- CHAN A DIMM 1 ----
Socket Designation CHAN A DIMM 1
Current Memory Type DDR2
Installed Size 1024 MB
Memory Speed 800 MHz
---- CHAN B DIMM 0 ----
Socket Designation CHAN B DIMM 0
Current Memory Type DDR2
Installed Size No Module Installed
---- CHAN B DIMM 1 ----
Socket Designation CHAN B DIMM 1
Current Memory Type DDR2
Installed Size 1024 MB
Memory Speed 800 MHz
====== Onboard Devices ======
#Device Type Ethernet
Device Description Intel (R) 82562 Ethernet Device
Device Status Enabled
#Device Type Sound
Device Description Intel(R) Azalia Audio Device
Device Status Disabled
#Device Type Other
Device Description Silicon Image 3114 SATA RAID Controller
Device Status Disabled
#Device Type Other
Device Description Texas Instruments TSB82AA2 1394A/B Controller
Device Status Disabled
====== Hard Drive ======
#Model ST3320620AS
Max. Transfer Mode UDMA 6 (ATA/133)
Active Transfer Mode UDMA 5 (ATA/100)
S.M.A.R.T. Status Enabled
Size 298,09 GB
#Model ST380811AS
Max. Transfer Mode UDMA 6 (ATA/133)
Active Transfer Mode UDMA 5 (ATA/100)
S.M.A.R.T. Status Enabled
Size 74,53 GB
JarrettV - Thursday, February 23, 2006 - link
Does this board support dolby digital live in the sigmatel audio chipset? I'm looking to replace my old SoundStorm setup.Also, does Intel High Definition = Dolby Digital Live support?
neilfeier - Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - link
Unlike most users of this motherboard that want to use the dual x8 PCIe slots for graphics, I want to use them for benchmarking a pair of x4 data acquisition boards we are developing. I want to test max rates to and from memory, as well as peer-to-peer transfers between the two boards (assuming the MCH allows this).So my question is: Do you think I can I put a x16 or x8 PCIe graphics card in the third x4 PCIe slot hanging off the south bridge? I don't care about graphics performance too much, I just want a dual monitor card that will work in that slot and leave the main two slots free.
And ideas on this would be helpful. Thanks!
Gary Key - Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - link
I will try it this weekend and report back.neilfeier - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link
Thanks Gary, I anxiously await the results of your experiment.Neil
Gary Key - Thursday, March 9, 2006 - link
Hi Neil,I had video working in this slot. I updated to the new bios release today and will test the performance in a couple of days.
Thanks,
Gary
Gary Key - Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - link
Neil,Performance is average but it works.
Gary
Missing Ghost - Monday, January 30, 2006 - link
error! That's not how pcie works! pcie is always full duplex, and never single-ended!