Intel D975XBX (Bad Axe)

[Sunfox]

Woo hoo! The BA2 and QX6700 I've had on order since November 1st finally arrived today! Problem is I'm heading off to CES in Vegas now and I won't be able to touch anything until I get back in a week... ack!

[Sandog]

Congrats dude! Your the first one around here with the QX6700.

Be great to hear how well it runs on the BA2 in regards to heat and OCing.



Sandog

[SpeedDMN]

Originally Posted by Sunfox

Woo hoo! The BA2 and QX6700 I've had on order since November 1st finally arrived today! Problem is I'm heading off to CES in Vegas now and I won't be able to touch anything until I get back in a week... ack!

Now all you should do is list your home address so I can errr... come over and congratulate you! Seriously though you should love that set up. I wish I could afford one of those quad cores about now.

[Sunfox]

:-)

System will be the aforementioned BA2 and QX6700, plus 4gb Kingston DDR2, 4 x Seagate 500gb SATA (system RAID 10, working RAID 0), ATI X1900 (that I've had sitting around new in a box for about half a year), Sound Blaster X-Fi, ATI TV Wonder 650, Plextor 18X DVDR, all in an Antec P180 with Phantom 500 power supply, Zalman CNPS9700 CPU & VF900 video coolers, plus 4 of 12 possible quiet 120mm fans (I bought a variety to try out).

Oh, and a floppy drive for that stupid RAID driver!

I'm really looking forward to this...

[SpeedDMN]

Wow that's a lot of drives. I have to say I would want a little better video with that awesome CPU. If you plan to use Vista you wouldn't need the floppy drive... For the price you could do better on the PSU too. I would look at the Silencer series from PCP&C. I just do not trust Antecs these days...

[Sunfox]

Eh, the video will do for now. I got it free at any rate, and I'm generally happy with the X850 I'm using now. I've been using a Phantom 500 in my current PC for the last 16 months and have been very pleased with it.

I do plan to use Vista, but due to a lack of Vista drivers for some things related to my business I can't abandon XP yet and will need to dual-boot. Sort of still wondering exactly how I should partition things... I guess I'm going to need two system partions and another for my RAID 0 working drive.

[sea-speak]

Just gearing up to build my first full windows pc (have built fanless/driveless linux pc before). Considering buying an open box BX1 from Newegg. THis would go with an E6600 CPU, and I would like to experiment with overclocking. Planning to use Antec Solo case, NeoHE430 supply, three hard drives (1 small one for OS/programs), etc.

I have a few major questions:

-What memory is optimal for this board + overclocking?
-Do I definitely need a floppy drive if I want to implement Raid 1 with 2 drives?
-How much CPU cooler do I need if overclocking moderately? And which ones fit properly?

Advice on this bad axe would be MUCH appreciated!!!

thanks,

Brandt

[sea-speak]

And in particular, can/should I go higher in RAM speed than 667? Can I go above 1.9 volts? I will admit that I'm totally confused on the RAM topic right now....

[JBNimble]

I broke down and got XP. That will force me to abandon my beloved DOS database, and make do with a messy Windows substitute. The upside is that that eventually I could not use DOS, AND the present database conversion capabiity would be gone.

With XP, the audio volume, which was uselessly weak in W2000, now works JUST FINE. So much for Intel's claim that the XBX2 is compatible with W2000.

I had tried the audio drivers on several new W2000 S/W builds; all failed. I am persuaded that Intel's audio is simply incompatible with W2000. No hardware changes were made, just a clean install of XP.

Thanks for the help along the way.

[bbakermai]

Why not just run VMWare and install a DOS or Windows 2000 virtual machine to continue to support your legacy software? I have several Virtual Machines just for that purpose. I even Virtualized my old XP Pro workstation and dual PIII-600 server onto my current x64 workstation (Asus P5WD2-Premium running a 955EE with 4GB of DDR2-800) so I can always get back to Kansas.

[JBNimble]

seaspeak,

My D975XBX2 has an Antec NeoHE550, with two hard drives and a low-power video card (ATI 1300Pro). I've had some power problems because Antec will not divulge which outputs are on the same rails (regulator circuits). Hence, it's easy to overload one of the rails at peak power moments (the NeoHE550 has three 18-amp rails and five plug-in outputs, plus the hard-wired cables connected to indefined rails).

I certainly would not buy a NeoHE 430, and probably not any NeoHE. If you want a PSU with multiple regulator circuits, make certain the manufacturer defines which cables and output plugs feed off the same rail.


bbakermai,
Thanks. I will check into VMWare.

I had tried DOSBox, but it does not work for my application, which needs expanded memory and some of the same hot keys used by DOSBox.

[Daddyrabbit]

This might be worth looking into as well:

Can't post the link cause I'm a Newb was to Microsoft Virtual PC 2004, which is now free from MS and might be helpful.


A Google on "What Works and What Doesn't In VirtualPC 2004" should take you to the compatibility list

[bttkcooled]

sorry to thread jack kinda? but can someone help me please?

first things first, I have been reading about overclocking for a good 2 months. reason why I havnt OC'ed yet is because I was trying to find a conductivity pen, but no one local had one. so today I was off of work, so I gathered my balls, got risky, and did my FIRST ever soldering job ever lol

long story short, what do ppl have there settings at with system specs like me? I dont want to mess anything up

system specs:
core 2 duo e6600
Intel d975xbx ( bad axe ) rev. 304 ( with oc debug mod )
2gig mushkin 800Mhz 5-5-5-12 timing
Evga Geforce 7950 GX2 (1gb video ram )
Enermax Liberty Power supply ( 620 watts )
thermaltake Bigwater SE watercooling ( idle temps are 38-40 radiator fan on medium speed ) ( also has the extra 5.25 coolant reservoir )
2 x 80gb HD In raid
500gb HD
Cooler master Centurion ( CAC-T05 ) case
Plextor dvd rom
Plextor dvd-rw dual layer
21-1 Card reader

thank you in advance
Scott

[Dandruff]

Originally Posted by Dandruff

4. no option to disable this ugly intel-logo/screen

Now with the help of the Intel Integrator Toolkit I replaced this thing by a plain black image

[Daddyrabbit]

Originally Posted by Dandruff

Now with the help of the Intel Integrator Toolkit I replaced this thing by a plain black image

I was thinking of replacing mine with a custom pic, how easy is it (the toolkit) to use?