Intel D975XBX (Bad Axe)

[Intel_User]

The link you put Sandog, shows good news at least for Woodcrest. 3GHz is gonna be excellent even if it ends up in fall rather than summer.

For desktops, it indicates 2.66GHz, which is not so good, but the pricing indicates there *MAY* be a 2.8GHz Conroe. But then, its just IMO.

I think it also means we may see a 3GHz version put as Extreme Edition with 1333FSB, and 3.33GHz a quarter later, just like the Northwood EE's and the Presler EE's. Something tells me June is too early even for 2.66GHz DESPITE the rumors.

For laptops, I don't know, 2.33GHz doesn't look that good, but it should be an excellent performer, and in mobiles, Intel is all good. For mobiles, June is pretty much likely, I think. Since highest Merom will have same clock speed and chipset as Yonah, Intel must be pretty confident about Merom's performance per clock .

[Intel_User]

Actually, the early date is not June, but July/August.

[Hansson]

Have you seen this at X-bit labs?
"Conroe’s Incompatibility Issues with Contemporary Mainboards Revealed"

I can´t post the link but after www it is:
xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20060202133551.html

[markodude]

Been doing some testing with this board and my new card.

Stock 955XE and X1900XTX

3dmark06 - 5700

3dmark05 - 8762

3dmark03 - 18475

PCMark05 - 5669

I find this board is reading temps a bit on the high side, especially in BIOS, IDCC seems a bit more realistic but still high so I am not overclocking it - I am looking forward to getting the ASUS P5WDG2-WS and water cooling to see how far the XE can go, also I will pick up an XT master card for Crossfire at some point.






FYI the Apogee block does not fit on the 975XBX without modification.

[Sandog]

Originally Posted by markodude

Been doing some testing with this board and my new card.

Stock 955XE and X1900XTX

3dmark06 - 5700

3dmark05 - 8762

3dmark03 - 18475

PCMark05 - 5669

I find this board is reading temps a bit on the high side, especially in BIOS, IDCC seems a bit more realistic but still high so I am not overclocking it - I am looking forward to getting the ASUS P5WDG2-WS and water cooling to see how far the XE can go, also I will pick up an XT master card for Crossfire at some point.






FYI the Apogee block does not fit on the 975XBX without modification.

Nice pics markodude.

[Sandog]

I ran a whole bunch of 3DMark benchies tonight, some at defaut and no AA/AF, default and x4AA/x8AF, and then with everything OC'd. I can not complete 3DMark06 at 4.2GHz, it always fails at the CPU tests which are tough but it completes it at 4.0GHz. My highest 3DMark06 score was 4959 with the Leadtek card OC'd and about 4K with nothing OC'd.

I prefer to run my video card at stock 450GHz/1250MHz and x4AA/x8AF. My CPU runs games fine at 4.2GHz but I guess I will start running it at 4.0GHz since it will not pass 3DMark06. I want my system to be as stable as possible. The Corsair RAM is at SPD which is 667MHz/8-2-3-3/2.1VDC. I have a very stable, fast, good looking system with the video card at x4AA/x8AF. The CPU is normally at 2.8GHz and only at 4.0GHz when under heavy usage such as games which is very sweet.

[L0NEW0LF]

I purchased the new Pentium D 950 CPU on the spur of the moment. My first Intel CPU for over six years. Given my background with AMD hardware, I need some help selecting RAM and a motherboard.

In terms of a motherboard I've been advised to go with the Intel D975XBX for compatability/stability reasons. I will solely use the machine for gaming. What concerns me is that the board appears to have 3 x PCIe slots and only 2 x PCI slots. I have two PCI cards at the moment (i.e. X-Fi Fatal1ty daughter board, eSATA card) and a single (although double slot) PCIe graphics card. Will I be able to use both PCI slots on the board?

Secondly, I know nothing of DDR2 RAM. Again I've been advised to go with DDR2-800 RAM, but I read from the Intel site that officially the D975XBX only supports DDR2-667 RAM. Is DDR2-800 my best bet and will I be able to use it? If not, why does RAM makers like Kingston and Corsair list their RAM speeds as DDR2-675 and not DDR2-667? Will these work the DDR2-667 specification?

Thanks

[markodude]

Sandog - what PSU are you running?
The 3dmark06 CPU test spanks my PSU so much it makes chirping sounds, it doesnt do that any other time! Thats a 4x15a 700w FSP.
I noticed the -WS does not have the 8-pin CPU connector like this board this means only 1 rail of my PSU will be used for it.....I may have to change it out for a PCP&C or OCZ with single +12v rail.

[markodude]

BTW guys IDCC works just fine on my board.....but I only have 4% overclocking available, I thought this board was going to allow 30%.

Also LONEWOLF - Given the choice I would suggest the ASUS P5WD2-E Premium over this board, but its up to you. If you want to overclock at all go for the ASUS.

As for RAM any 667/675mhz will do (dont worry about the rating being 675 its cool), 800Mhz is even better, the board has an option in the BIOS to enable 800Mhz DDR2, even though its not "officially" supported.

[Intel_User]

BTW guys IDCC works just fine on my board.....but I only have 4% overclocking available, I thought this board was going to allow 30%.

Also LONEWOLF - Given the choice I would suggest the ASUS P5WD2-E Premium over this board, but its up to you. If you want to overclock at all go for the ASUS.

As for RAM any 667/675mhz will do (dont worry about the rating being 675 its cool), 800Mhz is even better, the board has an option in the BIOS to enable 800Mhz DDR2, even though its not "officially" supported.

I heard from Sandog there should be more advanced options on the BIOS, which allows 10% for regular PD CPUs and 30% for EE's.

[Sandog]

Originally Posted by markodude

BTW guys IDCC works just fine on my board.....but I only have 4% overclocking available, I thought this board was going to allow 30%.

Also LONEWOLF - Given the choice I would suggest the ASUS P5WD2-E Premium over this board, but its up to you. If you want to overclock at all go for the ASUS.

As for RAM any 667/675mhz will do (dont worry about the rating being 675 its cool), 800Mhz is even better, the board has an option in the BIOS to enable 800Mhz DDR2, even though its not "officially" supported.

You mean IDCC only allows +4%? Last time I checked I had +30% in BIOS. Not sure about IDCC. I do not OC the FSB at all since I have an unlocked multiplier CPU. I will check again. The new D975XBX does have better OC options than the D955XBK. There is higher DDRV (2.1, 2.2V) and you can increase the FSB voltage. I basically assumed the board would OC +10% for all non-EE CPU's since that is the limit Intel has been using since the D925XCV boards first came out. I have no way of testing this without a CPU.

[L0NEW0LF]

Originally Posted by markodude

Also LONEWOLF - Given the choice I would suggest the ASUS P5WD2-E Premium over this board, but its up to you. If you want to overclock at all go for the ASUS.

I heard that the Intel board is more stable than its ASUS counterpart. I know its slightly slower but since I don't overclock stability and even compatability is really key for me. Any views on that?

Originally Posted by markodude

As for RAM any 667/675mhz will do (dont worry about the rating being 675 its cool), 800Mhz is even better, the board has an option in the BIOS to enable 800Mhz DDR2, even though its not "officially" supported.

Silly question, but does the Intel or ASUS board have the option to enable DDR2-800? I assume it's the Intel board but I just want to double-check My supplier is currently selling DDR2-800 Kingston Hyper-X RAM at a very low price so if I could use those it would be really sweet

[GFORCE100]

Originally Posted by L0NEW0LF

I heard that the Intel board is more stable than its ASUS counterpart. I know its slightly slower but since I don't overclock stability and even compatability is really key for me. Any views on that?



Silly question, but does the Intel or ASUS board have the option to enable DDR2-800? I assume it's the Intel board but I just want to double-check My supplier is currently selling DDR2-800 Kingston Hyper-X RAM at a very low price so if I could use those it would be really sweet

If you want proper overclocking options then you need to go for the Asus, Intel boards aren't designed to overclock ad such, they just support it to a certain degree but the flexibility on offer is usually average at best.

The P5WD2P could do 800, 900, 1000MHz (and lesser numbers) DDR2 in the BIOS hence the P5WD2-E I'm sure can do all this too.

Sandog can correct me if I'm wrong but on the Intel board you can't set the RAM to more than 667MHz DDR2.

[babbler]

[quote=Sandog]There is nothing I can do about that now except wait for Conroe. Don't forget the 840EE is two full blown 3.2GHz Prescotts w/1MB cache each side by side and then OC'd to 4.2GHz. At default 3.2GHz, the 840EE runs in the 50'sC and goes into low 60'sC when under load. Besides the heat, this processor runs excellent. Did I mention it runs well at 4.2GHz then drops to 2.8GHz at idle? That is freakin' neat. Also I ran 3DMark05 yesterday and scored over 8600 which is more than my buds 4000+ gets clocked higher than an FX-57.
QUOTE]


Sandog, I think that you may want to try reinstalling your water block. My 955EE is idling at about 39C and is never reaches 50C under load, even when running at 4.0Ghz. I just installed everything in a new case, Lian Li V1100B II with 2 radiators, Black Ice Pro, which should probably be less efficient than your single radiator Koolance setup. On top of that, I use 10mm OD tubing and have a waterblock on my 7800GTX, including the memory, which runs at about 35C. From the pictures you posted before, it looked like your 7800GTX was air cooled. The ambient temperature is about 24C.

[smdavis1020]

My next project is a little more boring than most of you good folks. It will incorporate a 975x motherboard that must be rock stable (no OC). The aim is to be a XP Media Center Edition 2005 showpiece that will satisfy all but the most determined gamers. Central processes will incorporate an ATI THEATER 550 PRO Card to stream from high quality video and audio sources, a cooler/quieter PCI 16 video card (512 MB aimed at video editing quality) and the fastest SATA II drives I can find. Intel 920 processor with two (2) 1GB native 800 speed memory sticks (I will be glad to pay extra for minimum latency).

Gaming is just a side thing, video editing and production is the primary goal.

Significant work still needs to go into motherboard, memory and video card selection. About the only thing I have definately decided on is the PC Power and Cooling T51SLI Turbo-Cool 510 Express / SLI power supply.

If anyone has had a chance to hands-on or witness any 975 set-ups, please share.