Intel D975XBX (Bad Axe)

[TQ]

Originally Posted by Sandog

It takes a while for us old guys to get excited.

It does take a few turns of the crank...

[H]

Originally Posted by bingo13

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandog
Also in that paragraph take note at the end that the 975X chipset supports a whopping 8GB of RAM and ECC at that. [/size]

Only if you are using XP64 or Server64, otherwise you have the same limitation to 3GB addressable with XP32.

How about Vista?? what will that allow for in terms of RAM size?

[Sandog]

Look on page 20 and 197 for memory interface information (975X chipset MCH)

ftp://download.intel.com/design/chip...s/31015801.pdf

[bingo13]

We finally got some of our early Presler scores up - http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2631&p=7

These are with the 950 D version. The XE has a little better performance.

[Sandog]

Nice review full of encouraging 975X chipset words. Using a Thermaltake Volcano HSF I believe they stably reached 4.5GHz out of the D950 Presler chip. Maybe at stock speed (3.4GHz) the D950 will not be too hot.

I have been reading up a little on Intel's chipset roadmaps and I am almost 100% certain the D975XBX will run Conroe. There will be no D975XEBX with higher FSB's like before because all FSB's are included like support for 1333MHz. It will just be a BIOS update needed to get Conroe support.

[TQ]

Originally Posted by Sandog

I have been reading up a little on Intel's chipset roadmaps and I am almost 100% certain the D975XBX will run Conroe. There will be no D975XEBX with higher FSB's like before because all FSB's are included like support for 1333MHz. It will just be a BIOS update needed to get Conroe support.

Cool. Very cool.

[Sandog]

What I should have explained was I read about the Broadwater chipset. From what I can understand this chipset is aimed at a different platform, not aimed at a different CPU and OS (Vista). I am sure it will run both the Conroe and OS fine though. Actually, we are lucky we are seeing the 975X chipset so early, it was scheduled to arrive in conjunction with Broadwater next June (965X chipset). The 975X will be the enthusiast or top chipset for the whole year and therefore will undoubtedly have to run Conroe.

[TQ]

I say again: cool...very cool.

[Sandog]

Whoot! Found the first US company posting the D975XBX mobo for sale. This is just a very early listing though and no indication of when it will be in stock. It does tell us two things though. One is the actual SKU# for this board which is BOXD975XBXLKR. The second thing is the initial ballpark price which is around $260.00 USD.

$$$

[bingo13]

Originally Posted by Sandog

Nice review full of encouraging 975X chipset words. Using a Thermaltake Volcano HSF I believe they stably reached 4.5GHz out of the D950 Presler chip. Maybe at stock speed (3.4GHz) the D950 will not be too hot.

We reached 4656GHz with the Gigabyte G-Power cooler and were able to complete all of the benchmarks three consecutive times. We did get into WinXP at 4.8 on air and took a couple of snapshots with CPU-Z but the system was not stable enough to run any of the 3DMarks. It is a toss up between the two coolers as far as the temps but at 4.6GHz and under full load we were at 58c at 1.4875V.

At 3.4GHz we were at 1.3125V normal, idle at 32c, and under full load at 44c on the Asus board.

[Sandog]

Originally Posted by bingo13

We reached 4656GHz with the Gigabyte G-Power cooler and were able to complete all of the benchmarks three consecutive times. We did get into WinXP at 4.8 on air and took a couple of snapshots with CPU-Z but the system was not stable enough to run any of the 3DMarks. It is a toss up between the two coolers as far as the temps but at 4.6GHz and under full load we were at 58c at 1.4875V.

At 3.4GHz we were at 1.3125V normal, idle at 32c, and under full load at 44c on the Asus board.

Was this in a closed-case environment after prolonged use? If so that is much better than what I am seeing on my water cooled 840EE. At stock speeds my coolance never evens out less than 36C and this is at least 10C less than actual. I believe my stock core VCC was 1.375V. Also I am running at 3.2GHz stock, not 3.4GHz like the D950ES but I also have HT enabled but still the Presler has twice the cache. This is very good for a dual core 3.4GHz with 4MB of total cache to be running at 32C don't you guys think?

Very encouraging news bingo13, thanks.

[bingo13]

Originally Posted by Sandog

Was this in a closed-case environment after prolonged use? If so that is much better than what I am seeing on my water cooled 840EE. At stock speeds my coolance never evens out less than 36C and this is at least 10C less than actual. I believe my stock core VCC was 1.375V. Also I am running at 3.2GHz stock, not 3.4GHz like the D950ES but I also have HT enabled but still the Presler has twice the cache. This is very good for a dual core 3.4GHz with 4MB of total cache to be running at 32C don't you guys think?

Very encouraging news bingo13, thanks.

Yes, all of our Intel tests are run in a closed case environment. We utilize the Thermaltake Tsunami case with standard cooling options (2x120mm fans) and is of course loaded with the typical user setup of two optical drives, two/three storage drives, and video. The temps increased to 34c at idle with two XFX 7800GTX in SLI. The EVGA 7800GTX 512 did not affect the temps and actually ran cooler than a single XFX 7800GTX. Remember this is on the Asus board with Stack Cool 2 and the eight phase power regulation setup. Informal testing has shown the board to run about 5~7c cooler than other boards with CPU temps dropping about 2~3c on average. In fact, the board temps were around 27c~29c during testing.

[Intel_User]

Maybe Tomshardware result about Presler benchies were all BS. Tomshardware showed 975X chipset showing absolutely no improvement in performance in non-SLI/Crossfire benchmarks over 955X. Anandtech results show 975X is indeed faster than 955X.

They also showed very little improvement in Presler EE 3.46GHz/1066FSB over Smithfield EE 3.2GHz/800FSB. While Anandtech shows at the same clock and same FSB Presler EE is faster than Smithfield EE. This is pretty good news.

Also I am running at 3.2GHz stock, not 3.4GHz like the D950ES but I also have HT enabled but still the Presler has twice the cache.

Presler EE has HT.

I have been reading up a little on Intel's chipset roadmaps and I am almost 100% certain the D975XBX will run Conroe. There will be no D975XEBX with higher FSB's like before because all FSB's are included like support for 1333MHz. It will just be a BIOS update needed to get Conroe support.

Uhh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Intel's datasheet papers that you linked shows that 975X only supports 800 and 1066FSB. It looks like Conroe will have 1066FSB on mainstream versions, with EE possibly supporting 1333FSB. I bet there will be revised 975X versions called 975XE or something.

[Intel_User]

bingo13, do you know if the very first Prescott tests about heat were tested with closed case or not??

[Belisarius]

Originally Posted by Sandog

This is very good for a dual core 3.4GHz with 4MB of total cache to be running at 32C don't you guys think?

Very encouraging news bingo13, thanks.

Yes they are very good temps indeed in my opinion for a dual core CPU. I eagerly await more information. Keep up the good detective work people.